Sport-touring Nighthawk
Rider Magazine, Feb 96
Back issues are no longer available. For a reprint, see
the inside cover of a current Rider for instructions
Once again, the "curse of the copyright" forces
me to delete a magazine article. Fortunately, there wasn't anything
there that can't be adequately summarized. The author, Jerry Smith,
customized his 1992 Nighthawk 750, turning it into a "vanilla"
sport-touring" machine. In a nutshell, he did the
following;
- New Shocks & Fork Springs from
Progressive- The author felt that this
made a dramatic difference in the bikes ability to soak up the
bumps, improved the handling, and slowed the tendency of the fork
springs to dive under braking.
- New Front & Rear Tires-
The Dunlop K591's firmed up the ride
just a bit, and seemed to work well with the Progressive
suspension. The tires are supposed to provide a longer tread life
than the stock Nighthawk tires. My
Comment: This may be bad info. I have been informed by 3 different
dealers that the K591's will give less mileage than the stock
K505's. We'll soon know, as I have just put a K591 rear on
"Vader", my 95 750.
- Corbin Seat- The
author felt that the stock Nighthawk seat was too soft for
extended rides, so he put on a Corbin. In his opinion, it was
taking a long time to break in, but he did enjoy the back support
that the raised section gave him.
- K & N Handlebar- Needing a higher handlebar, the author purchased and
installed a K & N, p/n 90-0320. The installation was a bit
complicated. The choke cable needed to be relocated to the other
side of the frame's main tube to provide enough length, and the
clutch cable, also now too short, was replaced with one from a
CB550 (Honda p/n- 22870-374-000). The front brake hose was long
enough after rerouting it. A few holes had to be drilled in the
handlebar to accomodate the "pinned" on Honda controls. (This
sounds like a lot of fun. I intend to do it myself some
day).
- Rifle Sport Fairing- The author was impressed with the quality of the Rifle
fairing (except for the paint on the mounting hardware). I have
often thought about getting one of these, but I still like the
Honda Clear Windshield. Maybe someday. You can get all the info
you need at the Rifle Web
site.
- Givi hard bags- I've always wanted to see a picture of a Nighthawk 750
with Givi hard bags. Unfortunately, the one I have is a photocopy
of the original (see above), so the quality suffers, but it is
still good enough to give you an indication of how they will look
on your bike. The author was very impressed with the
indestructible feeling of the Givi bags, and how easy the mounting
kit went onto the Nighthawk.
The author felt that his new "Vanilla"
sport-touring machine was the equal of "turn-key" systems costing
thousands more.
