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I Finally bought a Nighthawk! I always wanted one, so when a friend mentioned he had one that sat in his garage for the past 6 years that he needed to get rid of I couldn't resist. I was going to just clean the carbs and put a new battery in. The bike has 13,000 miles on it.


After tearing into the bike, it was really dirty and rust had started on the frame and bolts. The aluminum needs to be polished out too. I decided to tear it down to the frame and start from there. I plan on powdercoating the frame, getting the engine cleaned up and remounted, then clean and reseal the shocks next(after installing tapered head bearings). I did manage to remove the engine from the frame without taking the cam cover or the oil pan off. It was no fun though My Clymer manual said to remove it from the left side but no way that was going to happen...it came out the right side. Now...to make a tool to get the swing arm off :umph:


I finally found a more constructive use for my golfballs too!

Frame back from powdercoat...





New tapered stem bearings...



Engine back in. It was just as hard getting it in as it was getting it out! Also putting the guts back in and figuring out the wiring harness...

On the engine I removed all the clearcoat that was peeling off of the valve cover and side plates and then polished them out. If they only sold elbow grease at the hardware store Guess I'll have to keep it waxed, but I don't plan this bike seeing any rain in it's future. The right side has been buffed out in this pic, the left side was really oxidized where the clearcoat had worn off. The difference was night and day, although the pic doesn't do it justice...


All the chrome on the bike looked like this...


I soda blasted all the chrome with my $20 Harbor Freight gravity fed sandblaster loaded with Arm and Hammer baking soda from Wally world. I was amazed how well it worked. Same part here...

Waiting on some parts so I did a little cleaning on the controls. The Dot 5 brake fluid is amazing for bringing back the black in faded plasstic. My ugly handlebar controls were grey. I disassembled them, soda blasted then wiped them down with the fluid after soda blasting them.
before...


after cleaning




As it sits now...awaiting fork parts.

Some weekend progress. Rebuilt the forks with new seals, wipers, and progressive springs. The new springs were about 2" longer than the originals. I cut the old spacers down to 1" to get the proper preload. Here they are for comparison, original spring on bottom.



I came across the last part that needed clear coat stripping(fork brace) and polishing. This stripper from Autozone is awesome, spray on and brush the clear away as these pics show.




I opened up the speedometer to give it a good cleaning. Found an old spider nest in there along with other crud.



Once the forks were mounted I got the fuse box wired in and the electrical controls mounted to the handlebars. Lots of wires crammed in behind that fuse box.




I'm sending the skins out for paint this week so I attempted to fix my right side panel mounting tab that was broke off instead of paying upwards of $100 on Ebay. I made a new stem from aluminum to epoxy into the plate. The previous owner screwed the plate into the lip of the tank with a sheet metal screw. That is why there is a hole in the second picture.




Paint color will be black with Honda wings on the tank and Nighthawk on the side covers. I'm going to cut the "650" off the original decals. My paint guy recommended that he add red pearl to the paint that brings out a red color in the bright sunlight. He's going to prep, paint, install the decals AND clear everything for $250! But, it's more of a payback for some previous favors.

Man!! Awesome work, I always loved those Nighthawks...my buddy had one in high school and I was always jealous...but I had a muscle car, so he could afford fuel and I couldn't...but I was more popular in fall/winter...

Makes me want to get in the garage and get to work on my bike...but I will have to wait until this cold snap passes...it's -34C right now...Brrr, frikkin cold!!

You'll have a sweet ride when you are done!! and the best part is, you built it...not a purchase...jealous again...

Later.

Finally got the skins back from paint. Decided to go with a metallic black.





The original flat black parts of the front fender and right side plate are now gloss black to have a slight contrast to the metallic black. Also a gloss black stripe on the tank along the crease lines. Very subtle but in bright sunlight you can make it out. All the paint was actually the same color, with and without the pearl color additives. The metallic is more subtle than the pics show, not really sure why. In the shade it all looks gloss black.





I also ordered progressive 412 shocks for the rear, and getting new tires put on tomorrow. The bike has been on standby as everything needed to go forward with project was $$$. Hopefully I can get it off the stand in a few days. I'm also waiting for both clutch and brake master cylinders to come back from powdercoat.
I removed the old tires and am in the process of giving them a good cleaning before the new rubber gets mounted. Here is a before cleaning pic...

Great 1st thread boltbusterdw. I read this with hope that you would keep it stock, as I had a black '83 that I bought in '85 that was a great looking bike back in the day. Your final product is shaping up to look just like it only better. Great job - I can't wait to see the final product.

Some more progress, after cleaning all the grime off the wheels(2 evenings and 2 large boxes of q-tips) :knary: I had new Dunlop 404's installed. After clearcoat stripping, polishing and repainting the black stripe and Honda logo on the seat trim, I reassembled the rear fender/tail light assembly. The spring retainers that hold the trim in place are a real PITA, along with the rubber o-rings.




Ready to install...



Oh yea, my Progressive shocks came in too. Wow, do they look sooo much better than stock (I hear they ride as good as they look :smiler:)
Here are the new tires/shocks/fender assembly...



And the front. This thing is starting to resemble a motorcycle again!




I also got my 2 master cylinders back from powdercoat today. That is the next item on the list. Rebuilding them and installing new sight glasses.

I'm getting ready to rebuild both master cylinders. I made special plugs to protect the bores while getting powder coated, and removed the yellow cracked sight glasses.



plugs removed





I bought this sight glass window kit from a guy on Ebay for $15. It didn't come with o-rings though, just 2 windows and stainless reservoir screws.



I've been working on the exhaust too. Here are some "before pics...





I soda blasted them then spent last night polishing them with steel wool and Naval jelly. I then switched to Turtle wax chrome polish/rust remover. Blasted the rust off and painted over the cast iron with high temp paint this morning. As they sit now...



Here are the clamps. Can you guess which 2 have been soda blasted? The blaster has been a real life saver.