My bike isn't vintage but other boards hate me

[czynips]

Hi all. Just picked up a bike after not riding for almost 20 years. Long story but suffice it to say my wife didn't appreciate the story of me pulling the front wheel going over 100.

Now I've finally convinced her that I'm older and "wiser" and I'm looking for a cruiser. She finally caved and I found a sweet 1985 nighthawk 650. I've put a little work into it for the Summer with a complete teardown and rebuild to start this winter. I cut the rear off, got rid of the factory signals, headlight and dash were replaced with newer, bomb painted black and added drag bars. Tranny needs 4th gear replaced but she'll be fine for now and could stand a gasket job. None of that matters since I'll be tearing down this winter.

Like I mentioned, I know the bike by definition isn't "vintage" but it's pretty freaking old and I'm trying to make it look even older. Hopefully you guys let me play in your sandbox because the nighthawk forum and a few others were pretty much the biggest group of assholes I've met and gave me shit for messing up a perfect bike instead of restoring it.

Pics

The way I found her for sale



The way she ended up at my house



Chopped



How she'll roll for the Summer

[undergroundempyre]

Fuck them! I Love the bike! I wouldn't kick you out of a ride. Welcome aboard!!!

[czynips]

Thanks! I've got a lot more to do but it's nice to know someone else thinks you can modify a bike and actually improve the look. I bought some whitewall tires and obviously replaced the seat. I'm toying with the idea of painting the exhaust with high temp paint on a rainy weekend when I can't ride. I'd like to cut off those megaphones but after reading, it looks like it requires a rejet and that doesn't guarantee it will run right.

[hogsausage]

It looks much better after your hacking. I would suggest a rear fender if you ride to the show this weekend. Chance of rain and you don't want some nasty swamp AZZ!

[czynips]

Thanks for the invite hogsausage. This bike is a fair weather bike for sure. Got a job where 9 hour shift on Saturdays are mandatory so Sundays are my only day to ride.

[novafrk]

You need to look into the chopper underground... www.thechopperunderground.com
Their motto is "Chop what ya got!" You are of course welcome here. I just know that site is out there. I don't think they are very elitest... Could be wrong though I didn't hang there long.

[czynips]

Thanks novafrk. I'll look into that. I was looking for a group of locals when I found this site on craigslist so I'm hoping to hang out here and maybe get a 60's era ride.

[undergroundempyre]

Do your own thing czynips, don't follow something just to fit in, or buy something because someone else likes it. In the end, it is only YOUR bike. Your happiness means more than someone elses opinion.

[tango911]

welcome. 80's are vintage now.

[czynips]

Been lurking and riding but I did find the time to put a few more hours worth of work into the bike. Replaced the tires and painted the rims along with using high temp paint for the exhaust. It's looking more and more rat rod and I'm working on a cool set of exhaust hangers to replace the aluminum hanger/footpeg brackets.

Apparently something in or on my ass is angelic and has caused my white Italian leather seat to start glowing. I'll have to get that checked out.

[undergroundempyre]

I REALLY love the Rat Rod!

[czynips]

Jul 3, 2013 10:47:07 GMT -4 undergroundempyre said:

I REALLY love the Rat Rod!

Thanks. It's really turning out the way I wanted it. I'm going to try and get that front fender off this weekend and reroute the brake and speedo cables. After that, I'm going to hunt for some lower profile or maybe underbar mirrors then black out the new chrome headlight and speedometer. It looks like the forks are leaking pretty good so I might have to tackle that sooner than I expected but it rides out real well.

[cw1969]

Yo czynips welcome to the forum.... Some of us actually ride (some pose) lol... There's a group of us tht live/ride downtown and got a barter style bike shop... Schweet honda.... We ride every sunday.... Holler back....cw