Sprockets: 1985 Honda CB650SC Nighthawk

I bought this Nighthawk last fall for a ridiculously cheap price, and I have been picking away at it since then. It's really a great bike, shaft drive (ignore the inaccuracy of my post title), hydraulic valves, dual front discs, great instrument cluster, starts right up every time. Only has 7k on it too. I took it half apart to fix some things and make some upgrades - I rebuilt the forks, added progressive rear shocks, cross drilled rotors and new pads, painted the wheels, exhaust, pedals, engine covers, and metal trim, and fitted some lower handlebars, new grips, new seat cover, new mirrors, and a headlight and fairing from newer Buells.

Here's where I started:

And here's where I ended up:

If you're interested in seeing what went on in between, you can check out my thread at nighthawk-forums.com for a more detailed description and lots of pics of the process.

I'm pretty happy with the result of my first two-wheeled project. I have been keeping track of costs as well, and I have roughly $1200 total into the bike, which I'm pretty pleased with considering everything I've done. So can we have a bike class in the $200X challenge some day? I'd probably suck at the autocross though.

what do you call something that's only partly murdered out?

j/k, that's one sweet looking bike. i dig the use of the buell parts.

After looking at that bike and checking out the "new" Nighthawks...

..you can see that Honda started building them down to a price. No dual disks, no shaft drive, no adjustable suspension and close to the same MSRP.

Very nice job on the bike btw. A good ridable cycle right there. I'm surprised to see the paint in such good condition.

AngryCorvair wrote: what do you call something that's only partly murdered out?

Beat-to-within-an-inch-of-it's-life out?

Back in the early '90s I had an identical Nighthawk (except mine was a metallic burgundy color '83). It was a great bike - reliable, handled well, plenty fast enough for me, and very good looking and well built. Ah, the days of the UJM. My wife had a Yamaha '83 Midnight Virago 750, also a seriously cool and good-looking bike, if you prefer cruisers (think JPS Harley).

Great bikes, we miss them.

And now I want a bike more. Damn you.

Nice work!

I love old things that say "Honda" on them. Bonus points for the Maine tags. Living in that state demands motorcycle ownership.

Thanks for the positive comments, guys. I took it for the first real ride yesterday, including a trip to the local Honda dealer for a state inspection, which it passed easily aside from a blown taillight/marker light fuse. I replaced the fuse, got my sticker, and went on my way, and the fuse blew again a couple miles up the road. So I clearly have some issue with the wiring, probably related to the new front signals/marker lights. Hopefully I can track that down without too much fuss, but other than that, it rides great with the new shocks and rebuilt forks/heavier fork oil. I certainly do plan to make use of the beautiful scenery up here in Maine/NH now that I have it back together.

Make sure you have good, clean contact at both ends of all the ground wires. That's a common cause of blown fuses on old Hondas.

Love the round headlight and bikini fairing.

I'm interested in finding a similar headlight bracket and headlight for my "street fighter" VTR250.

Anyone who cares to share a source for an el-cheapo setup like Josh has on his bike...I'd certainly appreciate it. Like...does JC Whitney have something like this ;) [/tounge-in-cheek]

Clem

I'd buy one used from a Buell rider trying to get rid of it. That or buy new from Buell as they aren't that expensive. Some aluminum stock from Lowes and Home Depot and you're set!

Nice looking bike. I've got a line on an 80's Virago that'll be going up for sale this fall. Not my favorite sort of bike, but great to add to the stable for occasional use.

ClemSparks wrote: I'm interested in finding a similar headlight bracket and headlight for my "street fighter" VTR250. Anyone who cares to share a source for an el-cheapo setup like Josh has on his bike...I'd certainly appreciate it. Like...does JC Whitney have something like this ;) [/tounge-in-cheek] Clem

That looks to me like four pieces of 1" aluminum with some clamps around the triple trees.

It doesn't get any more el cheapo than what I did. I got four 1.5" pipe clamps from Napa/Home Depot, and 3' of 1/8" x 3/4" aluminum flat bar, measured out where the headlight needed to be to clear the fusebox, and cut, drilled, and finished them up with a scotchbrite pad. I have about $15 in the brackets, and they are rock solid at 70mph (haven't tested any higher).

I found the Buell headlight for $40 on ebay. New is like $110. I ordered a new fairing and brackets online from Chicago H-D, after I got tired of losing ebay auctions for Blast fairings. That was around $80.

AngryCorvair wrote: what do you call something that's only partly murdered out?

Assaulted out

Cool on the brackets. And then I guess I can get any headlight with the mount lugs on the side of the bucket, huh?

Cool deal...I'll look into that!

I can't see your thread because it wants me to register for the forum...

What sort of paint did you use to cover the chrome...and I'm interested in how it holds up in the long run.

Appreciate the info,
Clem

The paint I used over the chrome was Rustoleum Hammered Black. I gave everything 3 coats and then baked the parts for an hour or so at 350 in an old toaster oven. Without the baking, it doesn't get nearly as hard. I still think I will get some chipping over time, I already have some on the pegs from prying to get the spring in place, but overall I think it will hold up well. I wasn't able to bake the tail trim/grab handle, but those parts cured for a couple weeks before I touched them. That's pretty much necessary without the baking.

Too bad you can't see the thread, I posted lots of pics. They can all be seen at my Flickr account however. Nighthawk 650 on Flickr

GameboyRMH wrote:

AngryCorvair wrote: what do you call something that's only partly murdered out?

Assaulted out

Attempted manslaughter out.

Josh wrote: The paint I used over the chrome was Rustoleum Hammered Black. I gave everything 3 coats and then baked the parts for an hour or so at 350 in an old toaster oven....

What sort of prep? I would think sandblasting might be a good idea, but maybe a good sanding?

I have the tank on my XL125 painted with Rustoleum Red (polished out) and it seems to hold up rather well, even with gas spills.

On the chrome parts, wire wheel then hand sand with 80 grit to rough it up. For the painted aluminum, I used 150 grit on a random orbit to remove the old clearcoat. On the forks and exhaust bracket/footrests, which didn't have clearcoat, I hit them with 2 levels of scotchbrite pads by hand.

Josh,

I can't see your thread without registering. Do you have a picture from the front so we can get better look at the windshield and light?

I didn't take any straight on shots, but these two show off the headlight and brackets better than what I have posted:

The only reason that the top pair of clamps look different from the bottom pair of clamps is that I bought the top pair at Napa, then realized I needed two more, but Napa was closed so I got a pair of slightly different clamps from Home Depot. You might have trouble finding these in sizes larger than 1", not all Napas or HD's will carry them.

You can see a lot more progress and finished pics in the flickr set I posted a link to a few posts above.

These are what I would use if I did it over again:

Stainless Cushion Clamps

I saw these at West Marine, but they only had up to 1.25", so I went with plain galvanized steel ones instead. I just noticed that we do have a Boater's World nearby, so I think I will check if they have the 1.5" size there. If they do, I may just pick up a package to replace what I have on my bike, I figure stainless should hold up better in weather than what I have. If I do get a 10 pack and you have any use for the remaining 6 1.5" clamps I'll make you a good deal on them :).

I miss UJMs, good thing I am finaly getting around to resurecting my dads '83 GS650GD.