Just got my first NH and need some help

[bondjr]

Purchased a 2003 NH red in color from my father in law. Great bike in LN condition.
I am very excited to have such a cool now classic bike.

I was hoping i could get some help on some gear.

1# I would love a back rest so i can carry some gear with me. Does anyone have one there selling or know of any for sale on the internet new or used.

I have been hunting but looks like this bike does not have a good aftermarket supply.

2# If the bike runs good should i bother with adding sea foam now and then? Looks like that is the hot stuff to keep it running in top shape.

#3 Any nice bags that will work with a rear rack if i can find one. Looking to carry some photography gear when i go on light assessments.

#4 Also looking to attach my phone /gps on the bike for longer rides would love thoughts on this as well as getting it some power.

Thanks for the help and would love to join some local rides if there are some in the central va area.

[av8orcree]

I've seen backrests for sale on CL and eBay. If I come across any I'll PM you. Also keep an eye out here on NHF as members frequently post good finds. Congrats on the new purchase!!!

[creaky]

  to the forum, great looking bike. You lucked out, the red ones are the fastest.

[tomb raider]

     One easy and great Mod that can be done to the newer NH is the Tim Hodge carb and exhaust mod's.  Bikes are lean and this lets them run much better....   Ride safe, great place to hang out 

[bondjr]

Thanks for the response. Looking forward to using this community of riders to further my knowledge of the bikes.

I did see those two mods but was wondering if they lower the gas mileage average much.

[marriedman]

First off, welcome to the forum! Second, that is a beauty of a bike. Looks like mine but with the cool blacked out engine.

As for the sissybar/backrest:
Here is an Ebay search: http://motors.shop.ebay.com/__?_from=R40&_trksid=p3686.m39.l1313&_nkw=honda+750+nighthawk+backrest&_sacat=
And here is the Company that makes them: http://www.mutazu.com/products.php?cat_id=22&menu=Honda%20Sissy%20Bars&product_id=355&s=prod.php

I believe that Mutazu makes all of the ones you will find on Ebay, unless of course it is a Hondaline. Which you will pay dearly for.

As for the seafoam, I had wonderful results with it. My NH is a 1992 and it only had 7,400 miles on it. It was in like new condition so it did a lot of just sitting in the garage. The carbs were probably just gummy. The good thing about seafoam is that it won't hurt anything, so go ahead and do it.

If you are looking for bags, once again, be prepared to dish out some money. Good ones start @ $150. I lucked out and found a set of Hondaline soft bags on Craigslist that the previous owner treated as if he hated them. I paid $20 for them, but I had to clean the crap out of them, re-dye them, and now I am making a reinforced cage out of PVC to make them have the proper shape again. And I still only expect them to last a season or two until I can save up some money for the ones that I want.

I also am looking for a safe and reliable way to mount my phone to the handlebars, but I haven't found anything that I like so far. I did however find a bluetooth headset that I can wear under the helmet and listen to my GPS tell me directions. As a side bonus, I can have some music too. I am getting ready to rig up a battery charger so that my phone can rest under the seat in the net compartment and not have the battery die on my pleasure rides.

[ariwhiteboy]

  to the forum, great looking hawk you have there! 

As far as Seafoam goes...add it if you want to. I run a bit through around every oil change, but I suspect it has more of an effect on my peace of mind than it actually does on the bike. Either way, she fires right up every time and runs smoothly.  Make sure you pick up some good crash gear if you haven't already, it's saved more than one forum member's life. (Including myself) Take care and ride safe. 

[Wahrsuul]

Seafoam is great every once in a while - every oil change as Ari said.  It's also useful as "shock treatment" for slightly gummed up carbs.  I've used it successfully many times.

Hard bags and HondaLine back rest are hard to find, and usually pricey if found.  The repro backrest seems decent.

http://www.ram-mount.com/ For GPS/cell Phone mounts

[NightHawked]

 Hey  to the Forum. I can confirm those red ones run the best. Damn good loookin ride there.
 Just a heads up on those Mutazu backrest/racks you have to bend or cut off the cross member nearest the seat for it to fit correctly. Some members have purchased and corrected the rest/rack.
 Enjoy

[bondjr]

Ok going to just run some sea foam for good measure even though it runs good now i guess it can't hurt things.

Those racks on ebay has anyone used them or know if they are any good compared to the originals?

[tomb raider]

T/H mods didn't hurt my g/m. I poor in some s/f about every 4 tanks. How many miles on that Ride.

[bondjr]

Just a little over 8,000 miles on it now. Ok so mods don't mess with fuel economy. Want to get the best mileage i can on it. Thanks for the info. Is there a link to both mods on here that you guys are talking about?

[NightHawked]

Another thing you need to do with the Hondaline and I believe the aftermarket one, is cut the plastic under the seat for attaching brackets to fit.
 Off the top I do not have a link, a search here should give you results on the rack and the TH mod. Those results may show you not all were happy with the TH mods.

[tomb raider]

Carbs http://www.nighthawk750.com/mods/carbneedlemod.html

 Exhaust http://www.nighthawk750.com/mods/exhaust.html            Some figured it would make there bike sound like a Harley, NOT EVEN but a tone one can
                                                                                          enjoy. For me it made my bike fire up and run better cold, better throttle These
                                                                                            bikes are Lean built. If your happy with the way she runs now then go with it. You get
                                                                                           any more power.

[scoathy]

  to the forum. Nice bike!

[JB1290]

  and nice looking bike.

Where do you call home?

[DWR577]

For $138 delivered the aftermarket racks are a decent deal.

Hawks_Nest posted in a thread about his install here:
http://nighthawk-forums.com/index.php/topic,8752.msg153911

Read through that thread.  Hawks_Nest has some very good pictures of his install and the issue of the crossbar/seat clearance.

You should be able to click the red text above this line and see pictures of my install from another thread discussing this rack.

The pics show where I cut out a bar and welded in a new one.

As for bags, you could mount about anything using either the Hondaline or aftermarket rack. My bags are soft bags but that doesn't matter, I bolted aluminum plates inside which make them very rigid. It would be very easy to mount hard bags the same way.

To mount my bags I used 4 1/2" "C" conduit clamps for the top and conduit "grounding clamps " for the bottom.  The "grounding clamp" clamps to the grab bars under each side and have a place for a 1/4" bolt that sicks out.  Used bolts of appropriate length to set how far the bags stand out from the bike.

[SirSeanSean]

So you finally decided to post on here. First off, .

Secondly. If you want some good bags, you might want to take a look at these. http://www.compacc.com/p/Fieldsheer-Compact-Saddle-Bag-Closeout

I use them on my 650 and they are very spacious and hold their shape very well.

As for the phone mount, the ram mounts that Wahrsuul posted work well. And this might help you to power it. http://www.compacc.com/p/EKLIPES-Cell-Phone-and-GPS-Adapter

Enjoy the new ride.

[hppants]

Welcome to the group - ride safe.

I was hoping i could get some help on some gear.

http://www.motorcyclegear.com/  - great prices (their closeouts are incredible), fantastic service, ships quick, can't say enough about these guys.

For pants, I bought these:

http://www.jafrum.com/Motorcycle-Gear/Mens-Textile-Motorcycle-Pants/LP2821

Although I'm not proud to admit it, I've fallen twice with these pants and each time, I walked with NO road rash.  I see they have been marked down from $45.00 to $38.00.  I'd put that in the fantastic bargin category.

Hope you enjoy your bike.

[mattrowe19]

  #3 - For securing backpacks and other things, bungee cords are your friend. I use them all the time to secure my camera backpack.

[bondjr]

Thanks everyone for all the help. I will be looking that stuff over very soon to see what will work best for my needs.

Thanks again.

[k45]

If the bike is going to sit for a while (like winter), I suggest putting some Stabil in the fuel and running it for a couple of minutes. The ethanol mix garbage gas we have to buy is bad for long term storage.   Also a battery tender helps if it's not going to be used for a while.

Keep the tank full when the bike is not being used, that will reduce the moisture that gets in to the airspace in the tank.

Nice looking bike!  Enjoy!

Ken

[mchucker]

I have not had to use Seafoam on my 1993 750, but I do add Stabil fuel stabilizer before I fill up. Thats a preventative measure to keep me away from carb issues. I work on small( 2 and 4 cycle) engines and add it to my mixed or regular lawn mower gas. That will likely be helpful in your bike to prevent carb issues.

[allstresdout]

Hey, I am a new Nighthawk owner also in central VA if you want someone to ride with.

[bondjr]

Ya looking to ride this fall. I am located in Lynchburg.