1983 Nighthawk 650 build

please tell us you only dropped the front because you think it looks cool
"flow of the bike" what does that mean ? becaose you have taken a decent handling . all around street bike with good ergonomics and ass raped it into an ugly ill handling deathrap with the rider put in a ridiculous posture and the rear tire hits the seat pan
post a picture of you sitting on the macine as if riding it
 
xb33bsa said:
please tell us you only dropped the front because you think it looks cool
"flow of the bike" what does that mean ? becaose you have taken a decent handling . all around street bike with good ergonomics and ass raped it into an ugly ill handling deathrap with the rider put in a ridiculous posture and the rear tire hits the seat pan
post a picture of you sitting on the macine as if riding it
Click to expand...

Normally you come off in your posts as pretty much of a dick, but in this case you are just so absolutely correct that I have to agree with you completely. This bike has nothing which makes it cafe to me. It is simply a styling exercise and badly done at that since the aesthetic is completely off and it has compromised some important factors by lack of fenders and a frame loop which will most likely interfere with the rear tire at full compression. I don't see a single thing that resembles a performance upgrade from stock. Suspension? Brakes? HP? Ergonomics? This whole build makes me sad, especially those that are giving pats on the back for this travesty and encouraging the OP to continue. As was said about Valentino Rossi, your "ambition exceeds your skill set".

Here is my suggestion for you, since it wouldn't be fair to just blast you and not attempt to provide good advice. Put the stock fenders back on. They serve a purpose and will help to tie the look back together. Check your frame loop for clearance at full compression of your shocks, but first I would look at getting 1" longer better quality shocks such as from Hagon or Progressive suspension. Put some fork springs in the front end and some quality oil. Get some rearsets so the riding position with the clip-ons improves your ability to control the bike. Change the oil in that thing as they will eat big end rod bearings, I have seen more than 1 do that. Look for some wheels in better sizes that will help the handling and give a better selection of performance tires.
Make a plan that makes sense.
Good luck.
 
Hmmm....tough crowd ::)


You should probably check the tyre clearance though - with the bike on the centrestand you can remove the shocks, then take the spring out of one of them, re-install that one and move the wheel up as far as it will go and check it doesn't hit the hoop. If it does you can get longer shocks.....and move the forks back up to suit.


The fork angle looks pretty sharp, too. Probably a good idea to slide the forks back up anyway.


And fenders are good - get caught in the rain once and you'll wish you had them!
 
ex119x said:
This whole build makes me sad, especially those that are giving pats on the back for this travesty and encouraging the OP to continue.
Click to expand...
Not a single person here patted him on the back. Fucking douche.

If you think this:

-Cool Bike.-

Is a pat on the back form somebody like me then you don't understand sarcasm. Can't a guy give some tech info without making fun of the bike? Shit after a while, with so many retarded mods here, it gets boring and sometimes you just say fuck it, here's how you bleed the brakes on your weird ass bike.
 
DohcBikes said:
Not a single person here patted him on the back. Fucking douche.

If you think this:

-Cool Bike.-

Is a pat on the back form somebody like me then you don't understand sarcasm. Can't a guy give some tech info without making fun of the bike? Shit after a while, with so many retarded mods here, it gets boring and sometimes you just say fuck it, here's how you bleed the brakes on your weird ass bike.
Click to expand...

Sorry Sparky, but it isn't about you. Like you noted, it is about this weird bike and this sorry attempt by the unskilled attempt to turn it into an art project.
 
Leetillman351 said:
Got the seat back from the upholstery shop today. Seat turned out great but not to excited about the flow of the bike. Maybe after I paint the wheels and tank it'll look better. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Have you thought about going with a flat tracker seat from some place like hotwing glass? it would go over your subframe and hide that curvy part.
 
I have/had the 550 version of this bike. It is pretty quick and decent handling. The fork rake is too step the way you have it right now. The leading front axle can make it harder to get the look your after and still perform well. Try finding a different tank and get a new upper triple clamp made to do away with the swept back handle bar mounts. I wouldn't mess with the geometry of the bike.
 
I appreciate the comments, both negative and positive. I thought this bike would turn out like I had planned, however, it did not. Most of the comments were negative and honestly I don't even like the bike all that much. It's a blast to ride but it's not as attractive as i had planned it out in my head. I'm probably putting it up online for whatever I can get, and moving on to something else, maybe a cb350 or something with the lines I like, that way I don't have to try to work around it and have it end up like this. Thanks for the advice though, I leaned a lot that I didn't know when i started this project.

As for the few of you who generously provided me a paragraph of negative comments, I'm glad you took the time out of your day to be so honest and provide your feedback. Negative comments are appreciated, but not immature bashing on someone's work. You're right I'm not very experienced and the bike didn't turn out very good, but I have to fuck up a few times before I figure out 100% what I'm doing. I don't piss excellence, so it's trial and error. I figured if anyone in the motorcycle world knew that, it would be those of you on this forum.
 
And the tire has 3/4 inch of clearance with two riders on it. I checked it before welding the hoop on.

Yes I slid the forks through purely for the look. Was there a better way? Yes of course, but I'm not racing this bike nor riding it like a jackass.
 
Hey bud! Nice build! I am doing the same thing to my 85. Question did you fabricate your own rear hoop or did you buy yours?
 
Tmcbreezy said:
Hey bud! Nice build! I am doing the same thing to my 85. Question did you fabricate your own rear hoop or did you buy yours?
Click to expand...

You know you are asking about a build thread that's from 2015, right?
 
Put a black cover over the battery and some flat black to change the appearance of the tank and it should make a huge difference. How does it handle with the dropped forks? Will it need a stabilizer? Over-all, reall close, just needs a few tweaks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

DTT Light or Dark

  • DTT Light
    • www.jadusmotorcycleparts.com
    www.lostapostle.ca/
    www.sparckmoto.com

    Spread the Love

    Back
    Top Bottom