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Hi All,

Haven't been around much because of vacation. My generous employer has given me a monthlong sabbatical, to which I've tacked on a couple weeks vacation. The last month has been spent flying to backcountry airstrips in the Northern Rockies and camping.

I used to take 2 weeks off every year and ride up the Rockies til it was time to come home (see pics of loaded down bikes in my gallery). When I got my first plane, I switched to plane camping and didn't have the time for 2K+ mile road trips on the bike. Well, I'll remedy that soon.

I've got 16 days of vacation left, so I'm taking the bike up the backroads from Phoenix to Canada. The only stops planned so far are visits with friends in Southern Montana and Central Idaho. I'm also going to revisit my favorite motorcycle road, US Highway 12 west of Missoula, MT. It's about 120 miles of twisty pavement through mostly uninhabited country. Over the years when I've flown over that stretch of road (see below), I wished I could fit a bike in the plane.

Anyway, I just finished mounting a backrest/luggage rack on the old Nighthawk and test fitted my camping gear. Looks just like the old pics. Top heavy, with just enough space for me to squeeze into the seat. Can't wait to hit the road on Sunday morning.

I'll see you all when I get back and post a few pics.

Here's an aerial pic of U.S. 12 through Idaho. It follows that windy river at the bottom of the canyon.

Looks like a good vacation - take care and have fun

Looks like a good time! Have fun and take pics!

Well heck! Sounds like you're going to have an amazing time! Whenever you ride back down through the northern part of Phoenix, you'd better stop by! I've got a place and we oughta finally meet in person!
Wrider

A couple of other Nighthawkers emailed about the backrest/luggage rack, so I figured I'd post here. It's an OEM (Hondaline) rack specifically designed for the Nighthawk. The plastic work on the bike makes it unlikely that anything else will fit. I found it on the 'net about a year ago and hadn't really had a need to mount it until now. It took about 6 hrs. of searching and sending emails before I found a dealer that had one in his parts stock. They haven't made 'em since 2002, so they're getting scarce.

Installation was not as easy as I thought it would be. The rear legs mount to the end of the frame rail, underheath the tail plastic. There are two screws under there that hold the rear fender to the frame. The screws are replaced with 8 mm bolts with bushinigs, and the tail plastic must be cut so the legs can exit the tail.

The front legs attach to the upper shock bolts. The kit comes with longer bolts and spacers. The real trick is getting it all to fit together. It took me about 5 hrs. to do the job and most of that was spent loosening bolts and wiggling the mounts. The fit is exact, so everything (including the cutouts in the plastic) have to be positioned perfectly or it won't bolt together. I must have disassembled and reassembled everthing 6 or 7 times before I got it just right.

Here's a pic of the finished product :

Hope you have a great time, be safe.

I have the same rack. The tubing that connects to the shock mount is a great handle for putting the bike on the centerstand easily.

I've had mine on 4 years now, and it has stood up well. No rust (Metal Polish when new helps protect it), no cracks.

My passengers like the backrest for the security.

Also, I keep a pad and pen and a microfleece cloth in the little zippered area. I keep track of fillups and mileage and it's very handy there.

Have fun with it...

Hi All,

Me again. 5 days and 1900 miles down about the same amount to go.

So far, the only problem I've run into is that I wore out a tire much faster than I thought I would. Wasted half a day trying to find one and get it mounted the same day.

Other than that, I think I've hit every backroad between PHX and Yellowstone.

See 'ya!

I see in the picture you have Battlax BT045's.

I just replaced mine at 7000 Miles. I think that is a little short for our bike.

I am trying a OEM tire (Dunlop K505) and see if it lasts a little longer.

How many miles did you get on the B'stones?

Hey Richard, sorry for the delay, but I was out riding

Good eye! Those are indeed BT-45s on the bike. I got pretty good wear out of them. The rear lasted 10K miles and the front one is still on there with over 12K. That's not too bad for this bike. I only got 9K miles out of the original K505s. Don't know if you've looked yet, but they stopped making the K505 years ago. That's why I went with the BT-45s. They're one of the few makes that offered an exact size fit.

My replacement tire was the only one I could find on the road that would fit (A 130/80-17 instead of the stock 140/70-17). A pricey dual-sport tire from Pirelli called the Scorpion S/T :



It's not supposed to last very long, but it did the job for my trip. One thing I did notice is that it gripped a lot better than the BT-45 on twisty mountain roads, but I guess that should be expected since the soft compound should only last about 5k miles.