[Motorcycle Input] 1983 Honda Nighthawk 650sc

M

Milk-Man

Veteran XX
I'm going to go get my license to ride soon and wanted some input on the bike from anyone who has ever owned/ridden one, as I pretty much know nothing about motorcycles.

I stumbled across this thing on the cheap. I don't care about looking awesome or gaining street cred. I just want something fun with a little power that I can bang around town on, take to the beach, and save some gas money along the way. Besides, I like the looks of this little guy.

Anyway here's the bike I was looking at. Tell me anything you know about it

urbB4.jpg


1983 Honda CB 650 SC Nighthawk specifications and pictures
 
wtf kind of "car" is that in the background? mail jeep?

the bike looks fine I started on a really old bike cause it was cheap and i wouldn't care if i dropped it. 63hp from the factory you could still get yourself into trouble with it real easy.
 
Great starter bike. Powerful enough to be fun, but not enough to get in trouble. Nothing wrong with the model or brand either.
 
have you ever ridden dirtbikes before?

if you don't have your license yet i would wait to buy a bike until you do. take the MSF course and you'll learn enough about bikes to pick a good one. you'll get to hear all the horror stories of people trying to learn on bikes that are too powerful for them also.
 
Actually, that is a perfectly good first bike.

Looks nice, so you'll start out babying it to try to keep it that way. Because you ARE going to drop it a few times the first year.

A 600cc street bike is right where you want to be. Enough power to get your jollies but not geared to launch you into the nearest curb (aka: bike magnet) at the twist of a wrist.

It was (is) a popular bike so mechanics and parts will be easy to find and relatively cheap.

If it's in your price range (and it's obviously caught your eye, as well it should) I'd say go for it.

Just budget in an extra ~$50 to have a qualified mechanic give it a good pre-purchase once-over.
 
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I ride a 750cc Nighthawk.

I'll tell you this – you grow into the power very quickly and might soon want something with a little more oomph. I'm okay with mine now, after I did a few mods to it to juice up the horsepower. :D

Mine is a 1991, so I can't really say to much about this specific year of the bike; however, I can say that Nighthawks in general are great 'middle-of-the-road' bikes, and they handle exceptionally well. They're also very easy to do maintenance on.

Make sure you get a repair guide and learn to do your own work. With the internet these days, there's no excuse for not knowing how to fix your own bike and keep it maintained properly.
 
Make sure it's serviced correctly, maybe throw on a windshield if you live in a high insect area, and you'll be good to go.

I would expect better mileage than that page shows also, 40 mpg is pretty low for a bike that size.
 
Bounty said:
P.S. – Did I help inspire this?

Saturday Motorcycle Ride with Bounty [HD Video with Commentary] by Bounty - Page 2 - TribalWar Forums


Awesome, if so. :bigthumb:
Click to expand...

Damn straight you did, though I didn't realize you had a NightHawk. I've pondered the idea, but it wasn't until I moved back home to Northern Cali from Az that I really wanted to get one.

Yes I've ridden dirt bikes and street bikes before. It's really pretty easy and I find it hard to believe I'd dump it over, but who knows, shit happens :)

He's asking $900 for it which is just under it's "excellent" status by a couple hundred according to kbb. If I can get it for 7-800 I'll probably go for it if it's in good working order. Also I'm pretty mechanically inclined so doing my own work shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks Bounty and pals. I wouldn't mind hearing more from owners of the bike if there are any. Seems like a pretty cool bike to jump in to.
 
only crappy thing about those bikes is the back brake is a drum brake and has a tendency to have problems. I used to have an 84 hawk and it was the only problem we ever had with it.
 
Just ask if it was 20k the first year and then barned since or if it's been roughly 1k/yr. bikes, like cars, don't tolerate sitting all that well - prepping them is helpful but not as good as regular use.
 
it's an OK bike but the tank is pretty small, 150 miles if you ride nice. highway could be less if you ride into the wind.

it's not hard to control a bike and throttle and ride smart so 'starter bike' is really a bunch of bullshit people make up to justify their dumb first purchases... i did the same think and traded up 3 times in 2 years.

it would have to be real cheap and very well maintained before I would consider it as anything that old becomes a money pit fast. I went to look at one with a friend and the hydraulic brake lines were shot and the fluid was dark rusty brown.

my best suggestion if you are going to take a course is try as many different bikes as you can and really decide where you want to ride and how far etc. my cruisers have been great and I loved them in the city and in traffic but hit the freeway and highway and they really lose their appeal fast.

I rode a Suzuki M50, and Ride a Kawasaki ZX11 and Suzuki Vstrom 650. the M50 was a fantastic cruiser around town as I mentioned. The Vstrom takes me anywhere and does almost anything I want including camping and lots of 10+ hour / day trips. the ZX11 just makes me smile and giggle and pumps my adrenaline.


as for dropping the bike.. seriously? gotta be some posers in this thread.
 
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