It's sold :(

[flynavyj]

Kinda sad to see it go, but these were the stipulations setup by the wife for the addition of another motorcycle. I had purchased my 85 Nighthawk 650 back in 2010, with the desires of reconnecting with a more "simple" and "pure" motorcycling experience (I had just traded my very "purist" 79 CM400T, for a 02' SV650). The SV was everything I needed in a bike, but it seemed somehow more "advanced" than my previous bike, forcing me to ride it harder to have the same amount of thrills. I eventually worked my wife up to ride two up on the SV, and later the Nighthawk which was great...but she wasn't comfortable on either, and with more of my riding shifting to work commuting I thought a true cruiser might be a little better than the sport cruiser I had.

I found a wicked deal on a 95' Honda Magna 750, the bike I had been looking even prior to purchasing my SV650 in 09'. The bike looked pristine, started, ran (thought well)...I forked over some $$, had some title issues (major headaches) and a fuel starvation issue (minor headache). Anyway, my wife said "you can't have 3 motorcycles" so one had to leave...and even though i could have turned some profits selling the SV, i chose to let go of the nighthawk instead. She's going to a good home, a friend of mine from work. Which is somewhat cool considering i bought it from a friend at work, so it's essentially "staying in the family". So, he picked it up today, and loaded it in the truck, along with all the extras I had for it. I was kinda sad to see her go, especially after seeing some photos of rides I've had on her. I'll pop in on this forum every now and again to see progress on people's bikes, and see what awesome barn finds have shown up! You guys are a great community, and I enjoyed being part of it :) Some photos of the toys.

On one of her longer rides to a town about 50 miles away.


How she looked getting picked up tonight. Gas ruined the rattlecan job the previous owner did, so I put it in primary so the new owner can put his touch on it.  (and only one of the oil spots is actually from the bike)


And the new (to me) ride.

[fortyhourdays]

No need to leave the forum.  We have quite a few folks around from the former nighthawk owners club.  The new bike looks good

[hockeyhawk]

I know how your feel selling the 650, I just sold mine as well. What are your impressions of the magna, I was just kicking tires on one the other night, I'm not looking for one but it was a sweet looking ride, just kind of curious.

[flynavyj]

The magna is a nice bike. The center of gravity is low, so slow speed manuverability is excellent, combined with the wide bars gives you a great feeling of control. The power is more than adequate, and the bike has both low end torque and top end horsepower to keep a rider safe and satisfied. The engine could really use a sixth gear though, as you're turning 4500 rpm at 65 mph, and they increase quickly passed that. As a result, fuel economy out of the 750 doens't exist if you go above 60-65 mph, you could be looking at MPG in the high 30's...I've typically stayed in the low-mid 40's, but that combined with the small 3.1 gallon tank doesn't net many miles/tank and I'm switching to reserve between 95-115 miles depending on riding style. I've never ridden a motorcycle that's fuel consumption is so reliant on how I ride it, most bikes I can beat up or take it easy on and still net the same or very similar fuel consumption (and that's just not true with this bike). Personally, for a cruiser motorcycle, i love it. Things that could make it better though: Sixth gear, larger tank, and shaft drive. And i wouldn't cry if it had a little more horsepower too ;).

[jerjohn]

There have been people who have switched out their engines with interceptor engines. You get a 6th gear and more horsepower. 

[flynavyj]

I had been thinking along those exact lines :)

[allstresdout]

I like the look of that Magna