"WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR MOTORCYCLE TODAY"

[Allred]

Thank you Oldiron, much appreciated.

It's a testament to the quality of Honda products that it can look this good after 37 years with just a minimum of care!

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[whatarush]

Allred wrote

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That is one VERY NICE Nighthawk Allred!!! It looks like it belongs in a museum.

[Allred]

whatarush wrote

That is one VERY NICE Nighthawk Allred!!! It looks like it belongs in a museum.

Thank you Whatarush, while I've had other bikes during my ownership of the Nighthawk the others have come and gone, but the Nighthawk is so maintenance-free and useful that I just seem to hang on to it.

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[Mad4TheCrest]

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[m143]

The bike is gorgeous but...

I can't find ALLRED anywhere on it.

Allred wrote

Gave the old Nighthawk a 3 hour wash and wax this morning. Not sure how it gets so dirty because I don't ride it that much, certainly not as often as I should, and it is parked under a flannel cotton cover most of the time,...........but it always comes up looking good after a bit of a clean.


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[Allred]

m143 wrote

I can't find ALLRED anywhere on that bike.

LOL! Just for you M143!


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[Allred]

These last few weeks I have been riding the bike more than usual, been going for little 100 mile jaunts a couple of times a week, but today when I dragged the bike out I didn't get very far, just too hot. In these temps at least there are no flies, but for good reason.......it's just too damned hot.

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[oldironnow]

The 40K fork maintenance has caused a pronounced twitchiness.
Even a pull and weave in the coastal 'frain'.

Took the forks off the filthy Buell. Cleaned off the wax (!) I put on the triple clamping areas in a fit of densitude to help get the tubes back in the holes.
Also found the front axle over-torqued which made me think i may have crushed the tinfoil axle spacer.

Spent a lot of time trying to measure the tube while still installed. Made educated guesses with a caliper and micrometer on old bearings that suggested everything was okay. Or, not. The range of acceptability is 0.002 inches. Thank you, Eric. Used the shop manual this time, as it's not locked in the motorcycle shop while they're on vacation. Also, used a feeler gauge to sense the fork tops are equaly .508mm higher than the triple tops. Reset the suspension settings. A little softer. Going to try and get used to more cush.
Finished up in the evening fog.
Will test tomorrow.

[oldironnow]

Also learned today that Joseph Whitworth (yes, that one) discovered the 'thousandth of an inch' on this day in 1844 when he was stabbed in the chest by his enraged wife in a domestic squabble over the quality of her blancmange.
Fortunately, for engineers, machinists and motorcycle crew chiefs worldwide, Mrs. Whitworth's knife of violence was incredibly small. So small as to be invisible to the eye. Joseph Whitworth was forced to scale back the threat to his continued existence in this plane by his pub mates when they scoffed at his claim he had come 'within an inch' of his life.
When the blade was withdrawn and found to be substantially less than 1/64th of an inch, he quickly devised the 'thousandth of an inch' concept to provide impressively accurate large-looking numbers describing small things, so his friends would stop calling him a putz for angering such a fine woman.
"Hell, Whit'. I'd love to have a nice lass bake a blancmange now and again... Putz..."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thousandth_of_an_inch

[Allred]

Added some small saddlebags to the Nighthawk, most of the time I've owned the bike I have had bags on it, the last set wore out several years ago and I have been meaning to buy another set. I found this set on eBay for $26.00 free shipping, they are excellent quality and fit perfectly. How do they do that, it must have cost nearly $26 just to ship them!!!!

Anyway, handy for the occasional times you need to carry small items.


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[oldironnow]

Sharp!
Tidy!

[Mad4TheCrest]

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[Allred]

Mad4TheCrest wrote

Your Nighthawk really is in a museum quality state of preservation, and all-round functional too. I wonder - could Honda build a similar bike around the CB1100 air-cooled motor today, given Euro5? Could they use hydraulic lash adjusters in it? Could they keep the cost to about the CB1100 original MSRP?

I have to say it is probably the most "all rounder" low maintenance bike I have ever known. Shaft drive, hydraulic tappets, 6 speed, hydraulic clutch, twin front disks, gear indicator, etc, etc. (The only thing it doesn't have is a side-stand warning, and I left the damned thing down again yesterday when I went for a ride!!!!!)

I would think that a modern version of the CB1100 with similar attributes would be an extremely useful machine, but whether it would sell or not I'm not sure. While not shaft drive, Yamaha's XJR1300 came close to the perfect UJMC, and sold well in Europe for 16 years, but didn't sell very well here.

 

[Mad4TheCrest]

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[Fatfatboy]

Allred wrote

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Pack a braunshweiger sammich, bag of Lays and a thermos and you have a wonderful day planned.

Looks fantabulous. Every time I see this bike I think I should have one. Very straight forward dependable low maintenance machine.
Just gotta find one in that condition. Not likely.

[Fatfatboy]

Mad4TheCrest wrote

 How he didn't get stopped with nothing but UK dealer plates on I will never know, but maybe his friends were as influential as they were rich.

 A friend of mine is a county cop. He's told me that unless your being stupid they don't mess with bikes registration much.
Which is a good thing. Some of mine are not perfectly legal. The whole inspection, registration crap takes way too much time. They just want the renewal money and make sure your paying personal property tax so why can't I just send them a check and skip all the inspection crap? It's a waste of mine and the shops time.
The shop can only charge $10.00. They can't make any money off that and since I do my own work they don't make money off any possible repair work.

Missouri is slowly changing the rules on newer bikes. My 2015 and 2020 didn't have to be inspected this year. Just had to be renewed. Which you can do via the web now but older bikes still need inspections.

[oldironnow]

This month's long handling quirk must be resolved.
Sure it really arrived when i had the forks serviced for oil and seals, but i need to start eliminating potential sources before i get into pressing bearings.
The swingarm bearings yield a very small amount of looseness. I imagine that comes from being under all that (200 lbs.?) Of constant belt tension.
But removing the oil lines to the swingarm tank requires a $100 quick-release tool.
So I've had a Metzeler Roadtec 01 mounted on the front to replace the Michelin Road5 that had 'shouldered' off the central hard compound. The first ride to work seems very good. A touch of the slow-speed vagueness that plaques remains. Maybe 3%.
The front motor mount ("Isolator") will be next.
I wanted to try Metzeler ever since i took one from the discard pile behind a Honda shop in 1985 and mounted it to the rear of my CB400/Four. I loved it all the way to bald and a fix it ticket.
The shop that sold me the Roadtec tried to wave me off.
"A lot of people don't like the Roadtec," said the owner.
"Perfect," i said. "The Buell is odd. I bet it works."
"Alright. That'll be $220 mounted," she said.
It took a week extra to get here and I'm disappointed the 'allred date' is 3319, but, i need my motorcycle back.

[Allred]

"when I had the forks serviced"........does this mean you had someone else do the work? If so that is where I would look first, maybe they mistakenly put more oil in one fork leg than the other? Or the wrong viscosity? Or maybe they put the one fork spring in upside down?

The Roadtec is already 2 years old, but as you ride regularly I'm thinking you will wear it out before it's absolutely-must-replace date of Aug 2025, so probably not a problem.

Sympathies on tracking down such a fault, they can drive you crazy.
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[oldironnow]

Allred wrote

"when I had the forks serviced"........does this mean you had someone else do the work? If so that is where I would look first, maybe they mistakenly put more oil in one fork leg than the other? Or the wrong viscosity? Or maybe they put the one fork spring in upside down?

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Sympathies on tracking down such a fault, they can drive you crazy.
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Yes. A good, small shop did the work. They did the 20K service. This was 40K. He said the bushings, likely, will be on the next service. Maybe they are due now?

[Allred]

oldironnow wrote

Yes. A good, small shop did the work. They did the 20K service. This was 40K. He said the bushings, likely, will be on the next service. Maybe they are due now?

Fork bushings usually last many, many, many thousands of miles, and an obvious sign that they need replacing is juddering of the front end/forks under braking.

Testing for play can be detected by removing the front wheel (and any fork brace) and pulling on a single lower fork stanchion while the fork tube itself is held firm, there should be zero play. (not to be confused with play felt while pulling on both fork legs......that indicates loose/worn triple clamp bearings)

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