I have to say Mark did a superb job of cleaning that bike up, it looks immaculate! Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
-----Original Message----- From: Paul <[email protected]> Sender: [email protected] Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:59:08 To: Nighthawk Lovers<[email protected]> Reply-To: [email protected] Subject: [Nighthawk Lovers] Contribution for the website that I thought you would enjoy! *Hey everyone!* * * *I wanted to share a recent note I got from someone along with a couple pics that were sent to me for inclusion on my website. I thought you would all really appreciate this.* * * *Paul * Dear Paul - When I was about five years old my dad used to put me on the seat in front of him on his 1964 Honda 250 Scrambler so we could ride the dirt road from our newly developed housing tract to the 7-11 store about two miles away. He sold that bike in 1967 and did not buy another until I was in my mid-teens. At that point we were riding dirt bikes - He had a 1972 Yamaha DT250 and I had a 1974 Honda Elsinore 125. We rode both desert and motocross tracks in Southern California until about 1979, when both bikes got sold. 33 years later I got a phone call from Dad, asking if I could join him to check out a used Honda streetbike. I had picked up riding again in about 2000, buying an Aprilia RSV 1000 and had rebuilt a basket-case 2007 Triumph Tiger 1050 in late 2011. When I arrived at the apointment with my father, a candy scorpio red 1985 Nighthawk 650 was waiting for us. The bike was purchased by the current (2nd) owner 16 years earlier and had 11K miles on it. It appeared to have been sitting in the corner of his garage for at least five years; The gas was rotten and he had burned up the starter trying to get it going. It was covered in garage and brake dust and the tires were shot, but I could see that underneath the dirty veneer was a great bike with unbelievably intact original paint. As we were looking at it, my dad confided that he had been looking for this bike for years and felt that he had finally found 'the one'. You have to understand how particular my father is to truly understand this statement. Did I also mention that he is also very careful with money? To say that he bought this bike right would be the understatement of the year. While my dad travelled the next month, I went through the bike from top to bottom and front to back. After cleaning the carbs and replacing the starter and battery the bike fired for the first time since he bought it. What a thrill. A quick carburetor balance, some fresh tires and new fluids and that bike had me laughing like a kid as I whisked along at 8,000 rpm. Who knew that a bike of this age could run like that? I delivered the bike to my father on March 7, 2012, about three weeks before his 73rd birthday. Here is a photo of my dad, Bill Hamburg, along with a hot lady he picked up with his new bike (also known as my mom, Loretta) the evening it was delivered. I'm pretty sure he liked it, as he immediately made plans to get his MC license. He e-mailed me a couple of days ago to let me know that he had passed his course and to also tell me that he had finally cracked the throttle a bit. We both had a good laugh at how fast the 650 is, even by today's standards. Thanks for putting such a great site together. I had no appreciation for these bikes until I found it. May the Nighthawk 650's always be appreciated for the fine machines they are. Mark Hamburg Southern California -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en.
