Try this "subtle" technique: If you know you're in first, place your toe under the shift lever and apply gentle upward pressure. Let clutch lever out, also gently, just to the friction point. Once the friction point is reached, increase your upward toe pressure slightly while simultaneously pulling in the clutch lever.
Done smoothly and gently, trans should click into neutral and the light will come on. Same will work from second toward first with toe pressure from top of the lever down. May require a little practice, depending on your bike's particular "personality." On Tuesday, July 3, 2018 at 2:02:03 PM UTC-4, Francis Johnson wrote: > > Well hello there! I am the proud new owner of a 1986 Nighthawk 450! I've > never owned a motorcycle before, but my constant barrages finally convinced > my wife that I needed one, and here we are. I picked this guy up a week ago > for 800 dollars here in Utah. It belonged to an older fellow who bought it > for his wife to ride with him (he had a nice Harley). Well, I guess she > didn't want it anymore because they got rid of it! The bike starts right up > every single time with very few issues. I've been tracking my mileage and > found that with me, a new rider, it is getting about 53 miles per gallon, > which is enough to save me a pretty penny because my car is an SUV that > gets 17 mpg if I'm lucky! So, I'm glad to have a cheaper, funner way to get > around. > > Now, for 800 dollars, the bike is great, but not without issues! Here are > a few that this group may be able to help me with: > 1) The bike's paint is a purple metallic color. This is alright by me, but > I can tell it is a imperfect custom job. I'll likely repaint. > 2) The Tachometer bounces wildely and never shows the actual RPM. > 3) The shifter often has a hard time getting into neutral at a stop. That > is, when I go to park the bike, I have to hold the clutch in while I wheel > myself into my spot because the shifter seems to skip neutral both from > first to second and second to first. Is this a common issue? Or is this a > design feature? I can't quite tell! > 4) The chain seems a tad loose. How tight should the chain be? > 5) I don't have a name for her yet! Any suggestions? > 6) Are there any common concerns or issues I need to search out here? > > I'm fairly confident in my mechanical abilities, but I've never worked on > a motorcycle in my life and I'm eager to find a mentor (or a group of them > here!). > > Thanks for listening! > > -Francis > -- 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.
