First Bike: 84' CB650 Nighthawk

[paulve]

Hello everyone! I'm new to the forum and I'm new to riding a motorcycle as well. I bought my Nighthawk about a month ago from a Navy man in Chicago that was going back to serve. He took very good care of it (was his first bike as well) and I've been riding it around enjoying what's left of the good weather before winter sets in. A user who goes by gsdapallo (dotheton.com) recommended me here for the wealth of information on Nighthawks.

I'm actually inspired to turn my Nighthawk into a cafe-style bike, but I still want to maintain the look that this awesome bike has (that I'm growing to love). The pictures of the bike are below.

[ariwhiteboy]

  to the forum! Very nice looking bike you have there. I'm a big fan of the stuff on dotheton.com's stuff. 

[skramer360]

  paulve. Nice looking ride you got there.

[happycommuter]

  and very nice!
The solid tank with the badged side covers is odd, at least if one has a mental picture of the bike in full trim.  Any idea if the tank was repainted?

[gammer]

  very nice 

[paulve]

I'm not sure if it was repainted or not, but I kind of like it with nothing there. I actually want to get rid of the Nighthawk 650 decal on the side covers. Those in the know will know right away what bike I'm riding, so no need to state it right? I like a little mystery and speculating.

[paulve]

My only issue with this bike is that the front fork is showing some oil residue. Not sure if that's normal or not.

[Option13]

Just so you know, Cafe'ing a Nighthawk usually doesn't turn out well. The frame geometry just isn't right, and neither is the tank. My best advice is to enjoy it as it is. When I first got mine I had planned to modify it a bit, nothing too extreme. However, after putting 7,000 miles on it, I find less and less that I want to change.

The two best mods I ever did were an HID headlight and installing crash bars. I can ride at night somewhat safely thanks to the HID, and the crash bars have saved my ass numerous times.

[paulve]

You're probably right option13, but I just saw a '91 NH cafe'd out and my jaw just dropped. Granted, I don't think I'm at the level to do any heavy mods on the bike at this point. For the time being, I want to get rid of the square lights and gauges for something rounded and swap out the original handlebars with drag-style ones.

Question: Where did you get your HID headlight?

[Option13]

Round headlight swaps are quite common on 650's, but I would say you should stick with the 650 gauge cluster and cover it up with a fairing. It's ugly, I know, but you're going to be hard pressed to find round gauges that keep all the features of the stock gauges. If you're willing to sacrifice the gas gauge and gear indicator, you can certainly make something work.

Here's my DDM HID install thread. Still quite happy with it.

Handlebars too, are a toughie. The tank shape of the 650 doesn't work well with lower handlebars, so you really have to test fit them or go with what other members have done. For our sake, please don't beat the tank in to clear the bars. 

[JB1290]

   Bike looks good.