ehrhart@sri-spam.ARPA (Tim Ehrhart) (04/25/86)
I am in the market for a new bike (presently own a 1982 Honda FT500 Ascot) and have narrowed my choices down to the Honda Nighthawks. Can anyone out there provide me with their experiences or opinions about these two bikes ? I am attrracted to these bikes for their low maintainance items like shaft-drive, hydraulic valve adjusters, and hydrualic clutch while still providing high performance (72hp for the 650 & 80hp for the 700S) and what I consider quite adequate handling. Thanks in advance, Tim Ehrhart SRI International, Menlo Park, CA 415-859-5842 P.S. For all those Yamadog SR500 riders out there: My 'thumper', as she's affectionately known, gets about ~58 MPG.
alanj@orca.UUCP (Alan Jeddeloh) (04/28/86)
>I am in the market for a new bike (presently own a 1982 Honda FT500 >Ascot) and have narrowed my choices down to the Honda Nighthawks. >Can anyone out there provide me with their experiences or opinions >about these two bikes ? I also am a happy Nighthawk owner. I picked up a new '85 650 for $2345 back in March. 1985 was the last year for the 650's, and they knocked quite a bit off the price to clear them out, so you might have to move fast. One dealer also has a few '84 650's for $2245. I'm not an particularly experienced rider -- about a year on my CM540E. The 450 was fast enought for me, but a bit rough and too light, and too small for my body -- my legs cramped up after about 1/2 hour of riding. I was looking for (1) four cylinders and (2) a quieter engine, and (3) a tad more mass. I think the 700S is rather ugly, the low maintenance and looks sold me on the 650. The ride and handling have kept me sold. (I have a friend that thinks the 700S is the prettiest bike out there. No accounting for taste!) I can't speak for the acceleration, I'm still 20 miles short of the 600 miles you're absolutely-not-supposed-to-exceed-5000-rpm-before. (The oil gets changed this weekend). In general: Yes, go grab one! -Alan Jeddeloh tektronix!orca!alanj Question for Portland area readers: I'm not too impressed with Beaverton Honda's service department. Any recommendations? -AJ