New Project: 1986 Honda Nighthawk 700 S

[KaJuN]

Not to mention older bikes tend to have lower insurance premiums. I only pay about $150 a year for mine with full coverage.

The Pacific Coast is a beautiful bike. Someone rides one to school almost every day and I always ogle it as I walk by. It just looks so sleek and clean.

[Yaco]

Since I never had a bike on the road, how much would insurance cost on a newer bike? I'm not talking about a crotch rocket but more like the one I want, a dual purpose. I'm guessing $100 every six months? I'll in about seven months from now, (and I will be 21,) when I buy after just getting my motocycle license.

Have you seen this?

Its called a Can-Am Spyder.

[BlaRo]

Originally Posted by KaJuN

$500 870's Japanese project bike...sounds oddly familiar!

Word...tell me about it.

Spectre, I never knew you owned a 750! And I agree, they definitely built some crazy stuff back in the 80s - like the Honda CX500 Turbo:



And before that, the Suzuki RE-5 Rotary:



Those Japanese engineers were so bored in annihilating the British motorcycle industry that they went completely bonkers. Kinda like German engineers today and their multitudes of crossovers.

[Spectre]

Originally Posted by BlaRo

Spectre, I never knew you owned a 750!

Yup, it was a fun bike. Handling wasn't all that great, but it was still fun. Of course, I'd replaced the points with a Dyna ignition (mandatory upgrade for the SOHC/4s) and the exhaust was an old Hooker design that was rare when new. Sounded great and worked well, though.

Those Japanese engineers were so bored in annihilating the British motorcycle industry that they went completely bonkers. Kinda like German engineers today and their multitudes of crossovers.

It wasn't just the Brits they destroyed - they got most of the European motorcycle industry save BMW; Ducati went on life support, Guzzi got marginalized, Cagiva and Vespa were relegated to bit players... They also got the US bike industry - Harley had to sell out to AMF (the people that made lawn games and bowling alleys) to stay alive.

Interesting stats:

Three out of four motorcycles or scooters sold on the planet today are Hondas or Honda licensed designs. The remaining makers split the rest of the market.

The most numerous motor vehicle on Earth is the Honda Super Cub and its licensed copies, surpassing the VW Beetle by such a large number it's not even funny.

Finally, the Honda 50cc engine design which came in the Super Cub and the Z50 and which can be punched out to some ridiculous sizes is the most common internal combustion engine on earth.

[Spectre]

Welp, got it home:

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Shave off all the excess bits, matte black and streetfighter style!

[Spectre]

Heh, the thought has occurred to me...

But I've decided to put it back to the original r/w/b trim as pictured upthread.

(It's worth more that way, so if I crash it the insurance will pay up.)

[Redliner]

Yay! Original paint scheme FTW!

[Spectre]

To that end, I've gotten these from eBay:

[Spectre]

Update: Replaced the bent handlebars, broken clutch master cylinder and missing clutch handle. Also properly mounted the seat. Carb overhaul this weekend, tank and side covers should arrive Monday or Tuesday.







Found a replacement fairing and windscreen on eBay, but that will get here next week and require painting.

[starfox07]

Kind of cool to see somebody restoring the bike I was looking at. All of the satisfaction of seeing it get done, without any of the money and broken knuckles!

[Twerp128]

Originally Posted by BlaRo

Word...tell me about it.

Spectre, I never knew you owned a 750! And I agree, they definitely built some crazy stuff back in the 80s - like the Honda CX500 Turbo:



And before that, the Suzuki RE-5 Rotary:



Those Japanese engineers were so bored in annihilating the British motorcycle industry that they went completely bonkers. Kinda like German engineers today and their multitudes of crossovers.

Don't forget the Honda CBX, though I think they started building it in '79. And you thought tuning the carbs on your five-hundred was hard BlaRo.

[Spectre]

One of the pics I posted was of a CBX.

Yes, it was originally built in 79, but it made it into the 80s and that counts.

Originally Posted by starfox07

Kind of cool to see somebody restoring the bike I was looking at. All of the satisfaction of seeing it get done, without any of the money and broken knuckles!

Yes, but the downside is that you don't get to ride or enjoy it afterwards.

[Twerp128]

^Yes you did, my dad would get rid of his wife to have a CBX. Ironically she is why he can't have two bikes in the first place. She won't fall for the gas saver argument again, especially when the bike is carburetted and has six cylinders.

Do you plan on keeping the black headers and exhaust. I have a fetish for black exhausts and black rims. If I had the time, and ability to bust tires, my Miata's rims would be all Kryloned up.

[Spectre]

Yeah, I'm keeping them; the gloss-black headers and exhaust was a signature of the Nighthawk line.

Oh, and among other things - for those that are younger than I am, the reason why my 86 and a lot of other 86 Hondas have the R/W/B color scheme is because Honda (with Freddy Spencer in the saddle of the racebike) cleaned up at the Daytona 200 in all three classes and then went on to dominate the motorcycle World Grand Prix in BOTH displacement classes - again, with Spencer riding. The feat has never since been duplicated, and the 86's received the Honda racing colors as a celebration of their 85 victories and total dominance.

[BlaRo]

Originally Posted by Twerp128

^Yes you did, my dad would get rid of his wife to have a CBX. Ironically she is why he can't have two bikes in the first place. She won't fall for the gas saver argument again, especially when the bike is carburetted and has six cylinders.

Do you plan on keeping the black headers and exhaust. I have a fetish for black exhausts and black rims. If I had the time, and ability to bust tires, my Miata's rims would be all Kryloned up.

Try to keep it in your pants if you're near my bike then - my headers are flat black and I just sent my rims to the powdercoaters' for some lovely matte black.

[Ottobon]

I like the weird design, atleast they were trying to be original. And maybe i'm mistaken but aren't those curvy windscreens coming back? Also, keep the badass paintjob!!!!

[starfox07]

Originally Posted by Spectre

Yes, but the downside is that you don't get to ride or enjoy it afterwards.

Thats what you think.

[Spectre]

Originally Posted by Ottobon

I like the weird design, atleast they were trying to be original. And maybe i'm mistaken but aren't those curvy windscreens coming back? Also, keep the badass paintjob!!!!

Well, that kind of styling was very much in vogue with the California hot rod bike builders in the 80s - Arlen Ness, etc. The curved windscreens go in and out of popularity, they've been around for about 40 years now. As for the paintjob, turns out it's actually damaged, so putting OEM painted parts back on is the only economically sound decision.

Originally Posted by starfox07

Thats what you think.

Three words: "Self Destruct System."
Three more words: "Qualified Expert Pistol."

[Spectre]

Update:

Another shot of what it's supposed to look like:


I'm almost done getting the parts I need to get the thing going again. I'm just waiting on the new petcock strainer and associated O-Ring to arrive tomorrow.

In the meantime, I've had the carbs gone through by the local dealer as I didn't have time to deal with it myself. However, I did bead blast them and have decided to paint them black so as to keep with the blacked out engine image instead of having the contrasting gray/silver next to the engine as pictured above.

Pictures:


Cat, taped up/prepped carbs, and my Mac mini.



Painted carbs.