A New Rider in the Family

Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2016 1:47 pm

My 29 year old daughter Becky just passed the rider safety course this past weekend and now has her license. She's anxious to start putting her new riding knowledge to use and is looking for her first bike. She really likes the older Nighthawk CB700SC's. They seem to be readily available for reasonable money. Any downsides with these? Too big for a first bike? She's fairly tall - around 5'7". I don't want her getting in over her head, but it would be nice if she can get something she can enjoy for a couple of years before outgrowing it.

It's going to be a great day when I get to ride with both of my kids for the first time. There will be a group shot for sure.

Tom

Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2016 4:53 pm

Known to have second gear problems caused by worn shift forks.
Conversely, i knew a guy with a high mileage '86 that had no transmission problems at all. Don't know if they fixed the problem in the later years or if it was his diligent upkeep of the bike.

Can't think of a better way to spend time with the family than through motorcycles.

Hawk Joined: Jul 21, 2015 Posts: 509 Location: Norway

can't say i know anything about the nighthawk but, regarding height ..

Link

Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2016 1:04 am

I've got Jacob's CB450SC Nighthawk that will be put up for sale soon... He started riding BlueThunder. I started Jacob at this size for the same reason - I didn't want him to get over his head. Its real easy to get into trouble with a larger bike.

Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2016 2:17 am

Tom, I had an 84 700 nighthawk and loved it. Fast little bike. wot... when it hits 8 k rpm, tell her to hang on. That's when the afterburner kicks in and that rocket lifts off. No problems mechanically, but i only had it a yr or so.. 1 thing though. the starter is chain driven off the crank, and if it breaks, split the cases time...... Or push start it

Short history on them...only made 3 years 84-5-6. Developed by Honda to get around the embargo the gov put on any import bikes over 700 cc's because Honda was flooding our market with cheap, below cost mc's. Almost put Harley Davidson under.