+1 to all of Kurt's points. Don't hack up a good bike especially if it is your only bike. Get a junker instead. Personally it took me 3 bikes before I nailed down what I want in a bike. You might just find down the road that your NH is great just the way it is and regret chopping it. Sure I'd upgrade the shocks and fork springs, replace brake lines with stainless, etc. But a clean stock bike is far more desirable than a cafe/bob/chopper. Mostly because 99% of them end up half assed, as most projects require more skills/money/time then people initially think. Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
-----Original Message----- From: Kurt Nolte <[email protected]> Sender: [email protected] Date: Mon, 18 Nov 2013 09:12:31 To: <[email protected]> Reply-To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Nighthawk Lovers] Winter Project questions... Because of the way the air path is setup, pods are a bad idea. They will make it difficult to tune the afterward, and unless you're willing to really fiddle with them, possibly on a very regular basis, you'll always have rough and flat spots. I don't understand why people dislike the stock airbox, it's completely hidden behind side panels and totally out of sight while you're riding, yet it balances and smoothes airflow quite well to allow for easy maintenance. For your dash questions, yes, you can probably find an aftermarket speedometer that would work, same for tach, but for mounting and wiring you're largely on your own. Make sure whatever speedometer you buy has the same ratio inside, so you stay accurate. Unless you go cutting wires, however (and I CRINGE when I hear about a good wiring harness being cut up) you're going to have a lot of extraneous wires left over when you're done. If you don't like the boxy look, have you considered putting a fairing on it instead of cutting and grafting aftermarket pieces? I believe Maier makes a good looking compatible fairing for about the same amount that a good speedometer and tach would cost you, with the added bonus of not creating wiring hell. Upgrade the lighting with some color matched LEDs and you might be surprised at the difference. My point is, you're a new rider. You have a season under your boots, and that's awesome. But right now, subconsciously you're still trying to figure out what you want in a bike, and that's bleeding through in the urge to mod. I get that. I felt it to. Still feel it, sometimes. But I'll give you the same good advice I got: your first bike is not your last bike. It's not your only bike. Look around, ride some friends' bikes if they are game, get a good feel for what you want and how you could get there. Sure you can mod your bike now. But if it should happen that when everything clicks together in your head you find you want something different, you're going to have a bike that is a harder sell if you've cut up the wiring or gutted the airbox. Things that are reversible like fairings, or are genuinely considered as upgrades like suspension and lighting, are good "first bike mods." A fairing, LED instrument lights, and maybe a relay kit for lighting and spark could scratch that mod itch while being inexpensive, reversible and beneficial while you learn what you really want to ride. Kurt On Nov 18, 2013 8:28 AM, "Mark Ducsharm" <[email protected]> wrote: > I'm a new rider, this is the end of my first season but I have the itch > and it's spreading. I want to do a bit of maintenance to my '83 CB650SC and > I would love some input from people who have done some customizing to their > bikes, upgrades, cafe stuff etc. > First question, I was told by a mechanic that the air box has velocity > stacks built in and that switching it out for POD filters isn't the best > idea. Has anyone done this? I want to get rid of the clunky large air box. > Any tips? Are there velocity stacked pods that will do the trick? > > My other question is about switching up the instrument panel. I want a > new, round headlight and bullet speedo and tac with very basic instrument > panel. Is this just electrical know how? Will anything work in replacement > for the huge '80s back to the future dashboard? > > Finally for now, refinishing the tank, what's the best way to go about > sanding it down and repainting it? > > thanks, and I'll post a pic of my bike and keep up with the photo updates > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
