07-16-2019, 01:54 AM
If this counts, I had a '93 Nighthawk. Model was a CB750, so I say it should count. It was Tahitian Blue (I still have a new NOS right side panel, hint hint), and I found it parked a block from the beach in Laguna.
I could tell that it had led a pampered life with its original owner, and was now left to sit outside in the salty beach air. The second owner bought it and decided quickly that he didn't want to ride. My wife could see the urgency with which I needed to rescue this machine before the ravages of sea air did too much of their dirty work.
Besides, I decided I needed a "beater bike", and although it was scratched up here and there, and had a tad bit of tarnish, I was going to leave it alone.
I cannot leave anything alone. Just going to paint that one engine bracket to clean it up a bit. Well, now everything around that bracket looked shabby. Within hours, I had the bike torn down and scattered around the garage, cleaning, prepping, painting and polishing.
Two weeks later, I had a bike worthy of Pebble Beach. However, a Nighthawk is the two-wheeled equivalent of a Honda Civic sedan. It's never going to be a collector machine, but I did get a ton of comments that equated to "Wow, that's the nicest one-of-those I've ever seen". Basically the same thing you'd say if you saw a perfect 1993 Honda Civic sedan.
I loved the ride, and sold it to a friend when his commute tripled in distance. I know it's probably more disheveled now than when I bought it, but the CB1100 reminds me of how I loved that bike, in feel and sound, just with a little more power, and a heluva lot more style.
I could tell that it had led a pampered life with its original owner, and was now left to sit outside in the salty beach air. The second owner bought it and decided quickly that he didn't want to ride. My wife could see the urgency with which I needed to rescue this machine before the ravages of sea air did too much of their dirty work.
Besides, I decided I needed a "beater bike", and although it was scratched up here and there, and had a tad bit of tarnish, I was going to leave it alone.
I cannot leave anything alone. Just going to paint that one engine bracket to clean it up a bit. Well, now everything around that bracket looked shabby. Within hours, I had the bike torn down and scattered around the garage, cleaning, prepping, painting and polishing.
Two weeks later, I had a bike worthy of Pebble Beach. However, a Nighthawk is the two-wheeled equivalent of a Honda Civic sedan. It's never going to be a collector machine, but I did get a ton of comments that equated to "Wow, that's the nicest one-of-those I've ever seen". Basically the same thing you'd say if you saw a perfect 1993 Honda Civic sedan.
I loved the ride, and sold it to a friend when his commute tripled in distance. I know it's probably more disheveled now than when I bought it, but the CB1100 reminds me of how I loved that bike, in feel and sound, just with a little more power, and a heluva lot more style.