Welcome to the group! A 750 Nighthawk is the BIG Nighthawk - they have never made a larger NH and many people consider the 90s and 2000s NH 750 to be THE Nighthawk to own. Let me address a few of your questions: NH 750 for beginners - it is a larger, tall frame bike and can be unstable and hard to hold up at slow speeds. If this were your second bike - I would tell you to buy one without hesitation. By reputation and experience on this group, the NH 750 is a proven bike, for around town and decent length trips. The bigger question you aren't asking is - 'can you handle the bike' - the answer to that is maybe. The NH 750 has a seat height between 31 and 32 inches. (I forget exactly) If you have a leg length that is longer than the seat height and you can keep both feet flat on the ground while sitting on the bike - you're well suited to ride it. NH 750 Maintenance - the NH 750 is by modern standards - almost an antique design - it uses carburetors, traditional shocks, a Standard riding position, analog gauges and is in many ways an evolution of the 1969 CB 750 engine. It is well proven, reliable, powerful and easy to maintain by most standards. However, everyone has a different level of mechanical ability and desire to acquire mechanical skills. The NH 750 you are looking at is as much as 20 years old and like anything mechanical that is older, it will need some attention and maintenance. Learning to do it yourself is cheaper in the long run, plus you are acquiring skills. In the short term you may not do things right or need to consult with others to gain the knowledge, tools, experience, required to keep a bike on the road. Will it break down often? Probably not. Once one gets the bugs worked out of a bike, they usually run for a while before developing major problems. You are quite right - many mechanics will not touch bikes that are more than 5 - 10 years old. Why? I really don't know. The latest mechanics are being brought up with diagnostic tools and taught how to troubleshoot more modern electronically controlled bikes - making the older ones seem unfashionable.
Long distance trips - well - we've had at least one member do some long distance riding on a NH 750 - they can do it. However - the NH 750 was not designed as a touring bike - it was designed as a short distance bike, for around town and trips under 100 miles. (Give or take). Will the bike do it - yes - will it be comfortable to keep it up for the long time required to make a cross continental journey? Well - honestly - I doubt it. I get saddle sore after about 500 miles in a day on a much larger touring bike. If I kept after it for a week or so, I might stretch that a bit, but I would still plan on a long time to get across the country. Welcome to motorcycling and welcome to the group! -Joey Kelley, Group Moderator -Joey Kelley JoeyKelley.com - My Life Online JoeyKelleyPhoto.com - Photographing Today, For Tomorrow On Tue, Jun 21, 2016 at 7:59 PM, YIZHUANG LIU <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello all, > > I just turned 21 and I am looking for a durable motorcycle that is durable > and not too expansive. > A month ago I walked passed a Black Nighthawk 750 and was instantly drawn > to it. After looking NH750 up on the internet, I learned about the great > performance and glamorous history of this legendary bike. Thanks to Paul's > website, I was led to this wonderful forum to meet with you all who > actually have a Nighthawk. > > I have a few concerns about NH750. > First, is NH 750 easy to ride for beginners? It seems to be a heavy bike > with a large 4 cylinder engine, and I hope there won't be much trouble to > handle for a rider who just finished the training program. Safety and > easiness to ride is my top concern, and for this I can only learn form you > who have first hand experience with NH750. > > Another concern is maintenance. Although lots of reviews say that NH 750 > is durable and easy to maintain, there is no new Nighthawks now, and mostly > I find NH750s from 1990s. Would a Nighthawk be easy to break down very > often due to its age? And since is it an old model, would it be difficult > to find places to repair? I heard that some mechanics wouldn't touch old > bikes. > > Besides, can NH750 cover long distance trips? I am planning on a bike trip > from coast to coast after I graduate from college. (going half way up route > 66 and then farther to the east. On the way there are hot deserts and > long-distance-climbs.) Breaking down in the half way of no where would be > sad. > > Despite these concerns, NH 750 is still my dream bike for its excellence > in all other fields. > So excited to see all the passion you have for Nighthawks. This machine > must be wonderful. > > -- > 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 https://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- 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 https://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
