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the last major thing I needed for my 84 Nighthawk was new tires. I ordered them online and took them, along with my wheels, to my local motorcycle shop for installation. I also asked for new wheel bearings as the old ones were a little notchy.

During the wheel removal process..I had bike on center stand and wood blocking under motor...removed front wheel with no problem...removed rear wheel and I must have bumped it just enough to start it rolling forward. With the massive front weigh bias the bike did the unthinkable...and rolled off the center stand, off the wood and onto the floor. It was staying fairly upright but I wedged some 2x4 wood under the exhaust to keep it from tipping. I then put some tires around it to keep it from falling. This thing weighs 400+ pounds, without wheels. My first thought was 'holy sh*t..how am I ever going to get this back up?

Fast forward 2 weeks and I have my wheels back from the dealer with the new tires installed. A nice chunk of aluminum was missing from my front wheel and my rear wheel hub had a nice ding in it (likely from the wheel bearing removal/install??).. The damage was clearly not there prior to the wheel install but I have no proof..it's a 40 year old bike...it still sucks, though. Makes me rethink learning how to do my own tires.

Yesterday I had 2 buddies come over to help me lift the bike back on the center stand. The 3 of us didn't even budge it! I called a 4th guy and we lifted it right up and onto the center stand, easily, on the first try. I got the wood blocking back under and then got the front wheel on, which is the key to keeping it upright.

Installed my wheels today, new petcock, and put it all back together. Can't wait to ride it with the new rubber on. Total cost of new tires, wheel bearings and installation was...gulp.. about $775. Still a little bitter about the wheel damage...but unfortunately it is almost to be expected. Oh, well, ready to ride!

OK, now that the forum is back up and running I can vent...and I'm sure some here will relate. I tried starting my Nighthawk 650 last week...drained the battery trying to get it to start. Recharged battery and tried again later that day....same thing...battery drained, no start.

Recharged battery overnight. Tried again next day. No start. I thought it must be fuel related...so opened drain screws on float bowls..nothing coming out. Ah ha! must be petcock related! Removed (full) fuel tank...set on ground. Sucked on little vacuum hose going to petcock...no fuel came out..looked silly doing it, too... then thought, why don't I check the petcock in all positions?

Turned petcock to what I thought was 'off', sucked on vacuum hose and fuel came right out...Defective petcock? Nope...dumb me confused the 'on' and 'off' positions.  Aaarrrrggggghhhhh!

Reinstalled fuel tank, turned 'on' petcock, bike fired right up. Damn petcock.

I visited my local motorcycle dealer yesterday to pick up an oil filter and crush washer for my little Ninja...while there at the parts counter I asked if they'd happen to have a filter in stock for an '84 CB650SC (my Nighthawk)...he looked at his computer and said yes, they have one on the shelf! Now this filter is not hard to find..anywhere..but the fact that a Honda dealer still stocks this that goes on a 40 year old bike (and was used on plenty of other Hondas, too) is pretty impressive.

I also planned on going for a ride on my Ninja today (30F out, -1C)...and I hoped it would start, as I recalled checking voltage a week or 2 ago on a newly charged battery at about 12.39 volts. Well, no luck. It spun slowly and then made some high pitched noise as the battery didn't have the juice. So a new battery is on my list for the Ninja. Not totally unexpected, as the battery is 5 or 6 years old.

I ended up on the Nighthawk but came home after only 5 miles as my left mirror was swinging loose and my hands were freezing..there's always something to fix on motorcycles!

my project bike, 84 Nighthawk, has a 40 year old, faded, grayish, light 'used to be black' motor. It has lost its shine over the years. I had never used one of the 'engine brightener' products but figured it's worth a try. I cleaned and degreased my motor..then used some S100 engine cleaner...dried it off with a small blower/vac...and sprayed the black parts with the S100 Engine Brightener.

It kind of looks like a shiny clear coat that makes dull black look glossy. I'm sure it will fade over time and it's probably over priced, but dang, it sure looks good! My bike doesn't get wet so I'll see how long it lasts..

before and after pics..

saw this link posted on a reddit scooter forum...interesting to see the different models available in the Philippines.

https://www.motodeal.com.ph/motorcycles/honda

My 84 Nighthawk carbs are clean and ready to go with the exception of the floats. Each float is measuring low and I'm attributing that to the age..about 40 years. A little sag is not unexpected after all this time. I've double checked my measurements and they are all, indeed, low. So I'm biting the bullet and buying 4 new Honda OEM floats...for ...gulp...$224 USD (195 GBP, 228 EUR).

I just keep telling myself that carb float heights are critical to proper operation of a bike...and it's money...well...spent...ouch...

it's been a few weeks since I bought my Nighthawk and I've made a little progress. I have a new battery and have cleaned the battery box and the battery cable connections. I've removed the front forks to replace the seals and bushings..1 oil seal, 1 dust seal and 2 metal bushes per fork. I have one completely disassembled, the other I'm soaking in PB Blaster to try to loosen the completely rusted c clip that holds down the oil seal. The dust seals were in bad shape and apparently let water in to rust the metal c clips.

Once forks are rebuilt I'll take apart the calipers. I have master rebuild kits for both brake and clutch master but I'll need to see what is going on with the calipers since the brake lever does not pull in. thinking stuck caliper...

I have had fun searching the various sites for parts...I didn't realize we had a David Silver Spares (great old Honda NOS parts supplier based in England) location in the US! I found 2 NOS aluminum headlight brackets for $50 (the old ones are slightly corroded and have been hit on one side, bending them both, slightly).

I have a bunch of parts ready to go when I get to them (carb rebuild kits, the master rebuild kits, clutch slave cyl rebuild kit). I'm excited about my latest package to arrive...new Galfer stainless front brake lines for only $37!

Here's a 'before' pic and an 'after front wheel and fork removal' pic.

I wish I could devote 5 solid full days to this and knock it out but life doesn't work that way.....keep on wrenching!

saw this on FB Marketplace..in Minneapolis..probably the roughest Like 200i I've ever seen, $350, although seller claims it 'runs real good'.

Not sure I believe him...