Rear LED Brake Light for the Hawk 250
One more ultra cheap thing on the Hawk 250 are the old school bulbs. After changing the headlight to LED I wanted to do the same with the rear light, which doubles as the brake light. The Hawk uses a P21 bulb, which is also known as 1157. You can find any bulb with either of those models and it should work. But keep an eye out for revisions of the bulb like “A” or “R”. The Hawk bulb has pins on either side that are asymmetrical. One is higher than the other. The revision A usually has pins that are equal, and that won’t work. The R version is usually a red bulb, which you don’t need or want.
I went to WalMart and got the Pilot Automotive (IL-1157W-15-AM) White 15-SMD LED Turn/Tail Light Bulb for $15.
Of course, on Amazon Prime they are $21, so you can follow that link if you want. However, if I was going for Amazon Prime I’d get the SiriusLED P21/5W Dual Brightness LED Lights Bulbs. They are rated at 600 lumens, and the Pilot don’t say how many lumens they are anywhere, but even though its bright – it doesn’t seem like 600 lumens bright to me now that it’s on my bike.
You can quickly see the difference between stock and LED.
To swap the bulb, you simply need to unscrew the two screws holding the back lens cover on and you’ll have access to the bulb. Give it a twist and the old one will come right out.
Screw the LED in and put the cover back and you’re done!
Hawk 250 Brake Light Not Working!
Now, I had a BIG problem, because the brake light wouldn’t come on with my Hawk. I spent quite a bit of time tracing and testing all of the wiring on the bike, and finally figured out that there is an actuator connected to the rear brake and it needs to be adjusted nice and tight so that when you step on the brake it pulls the cable down enough to fire the brake light, but when you’re not on the brake it doesn’t.
Weldangrind over on the ChinaRiders forum suggested that there is an upgrade for the rear brake called a Banjo Switch which would remove the need for the rear brake adjustment. Now I just need to find where to get one for the Hawk! Here’s a video of a guy doing a banjo switch install.
If your front brake isn’t working on the Hawk, it may not be triggering the light. There is a tiny switch under the master cylinder up front that is activated when the brake is engaged. A tiny button pops out with an audible click, and the light goes on. A single screw holds it in place and if you remove it this is what it looks like.
In my case, the front brake light stopped working because the single screw that holds it in place was too tight. It just needed to be loosened up a bit and it started working.
So, in both cases the brake lights simply needed to be tightened or loosened to come back to life.
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Do you know what model the blinker bulbs are?
John, if you feel the current bulbs aren’t bright enough, then spend the extra money on one of these https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/tail-brake-turn/1157-led-bulb-dual-function-27-smd-led-tower-bay15d-retrofit/2625/#/attributes/13
yes, it costs as much for one as it does for two of the sylvanias, but they are MUCH brighter. The world of LED’s is full of misinformation. Don’t focus on the Lumen rating of any LED bulb. What is more important is the Lux of that light.
As far as the banjo brake like switch. I used this one to convert my 42 year old Goldwing from the same style of switch found on the hawks. https://www.amazon.com/Goodridge-Banjo-Built-Pressure-Switch/dp/B000GTV0RC
Make sure to confirm what the thread type is for the banjo bolt before ordering, but I have a feeling it is most likely that exact unit.
Doesn’t make much of a difference.
Well, I didn’t do before and after photos, but believe me it’s about 3 times brighter now!
I just returned a set of these LED 1157 lights (Amazon). I used a lumen meter in a shaded garage in daylight. with the lens cover on. The LED was 900 lumens with the brake engaged. A Sylvania filament bulb measured 2200 lumens with brake engaged.
I test in daylight because someone would need to be blind to not see a 600 lumen brake light at night. In the day time it only takes an average person in a car to say, “Gee, I didn’t see that his brake ight was on.”
I also use Signal Dynamics products to modulate both brake and headlight.
Just my own 2 dollars.
you and your comments!!!!!
Motorcycle technology say 30 years ago was that only the rear brake actuated the stop light. And the stop light switch on the HAWK looks exactly like technology from that time.
If the bike has a hydraulic actuated disk front brake then look for a pressure switch in the hydraulics. It could also be a tiny mechanical pin switch on the front brake lever.
LDBennett