My first bike is a 1996 Nighthawk 750. I have been commuting daily on my bike for the past 8 years and have put over 70,000 miles on the bike. In the past 8 years I've only had to have it towed once and that was about a month ago do to an electrical problem. I've replaced the starter once and battery a few times. Other than that I've had zero problems with the bike.
I think the Nighthawk 750 is probably the best starter bike out there, especially if you're looking for an affordable older bike. I've ridden and owned other bikes sense I bought my Nighthawk but still haven't found anything better for day to day riding. It's a safe bike (as safe as a bike can be) and extremely reliable. It's limitation is that it's not a sports bike and can't take corners at crazy speeds - that's perfect for a first bike. A lot of crashes are because the bikes capabilities exceed the riders skills (this is true for motorcycles and bicycles). You really can't get into as much trouble on the Nighthawk as you can on other performance bikes. I rode a 82 Nighthawk 650 on two multi day trips. One through western Canada and the northwest for 7 days. It was small for that trip but still a lot of fun. The only time I really got scared was on I5 between Seattle and Portland. That bike topped out at about 90mph. It really wasn't capable of keeping up with the trucks and cars flying by on I5. However, the 90's / 2000's 750 is a stronger and bigger bike. Route 66 would be a lot of fun on the bike just stay off the major highways as much as you can - which is the point of riding anyway. I have an ST1100 which is an amazing sport touring bike, however, I don't think I'd ride it across the US. The Nighthawk would be more fun. Good luck - Sean On Tuesday, June 21, 2016 at 2:29:33 PM UTC-10, YIZHUANG LIU 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.
