fun with my 84 Nighthawk

[Iahawk]

it's been a few weeks since I bought my Nighthawk and I've made a little progress. I have a new battery and have cleaned the battery box and the battery cable connections. I've removed the front forks to replace the seals and bushings..1 oil seal, 1 dust seal and 2 metal bushes per fork. I have one completely disassembled, the other I'm soaking in PB Blaster to try to loosen the completely rusted c clip that holds down the oil seal. The dust seals were in bad shape and apparently let water in to rust the metal c clips.

Once forks are rebuilt I'll take apart the calipers. I have master rebuild kits for both brake and clutch master but I'll need to see what is going on with the calipers since the brake lever does not pull in. thinking stuck caliper...

I have had fun searching the various sites for parts...I didn't realize we had a David Silver Spares (great old Honda NOS parts supplier based in England) location in the US! I found 2 NOS aluminum headlight brackets for $50 (the old ones are slightly corroded and have been hit on one side, bending them both, slightly).

I have a bunch of parts ready to go when I get to them (carb rebuild kits, the master rebuild kits, clutch slave cyl rebuild kit). I'm excited about my latest package to arrive...new Galfer stainless front brake lines for only $37!

Here's a 'before' pic and an 'after front wheel and fork removal' pic.

I wish I could devote 5 solid full days to this and knock it out but life doesn't work that way.....keep on wrenching!

[Stig / Major Tom]

Thanks for the update Hawk

Too bad you and Ruffus don't live on the same side of the street🙂
Please keep your photo reports coming, but I have to break them up, and rest a bit.....between the tasks..
Stig

[Iahawk]

assembled my first motorcycle fork this afternoon. I removed both forks from my Nighthawk and was able to get the big circlip out of one fork, which allowed oil seal removal and complete disassembly. The left fork's circlip was rusted solid in there..I soaked it for about a week in various chemicals, mostly PB Blaster. I was finally able to get the clip to move enough yesterday to get a small flat blade screwdriver in there to get the clip out. It felt like victory!

The dust seal was torn and water had obviously gotten in there and rusted the thick, metal circlip.

I used #0000 steel wool to clean the chrome fork tube of any rust specs  and assembled the fork with new oil seal, washer, dust seal, 2 bushes and new copper sealing gasket for bottom bolt. Filled it with 15.3 oz of new fork oil, pumped it a bunch of times and it's good to go!

Felt great to have one fork done.

Waiting to do the next fork until my washer comes in. The big washer that sits under the oil seal can also be used to help drive in the seal from above when using a 1.5" pvc pipe. I used the washer from the 2nd fork to drive in the oil seal in the first fork but now I need the spare washer to assemble the 2nd fork, if that makes sense.

I used all new Honda parts for the rebuild. When both forks are done I'll move on to the calipers, brake lines and both brake and clutch masters. I want to disassemble the calipers before ordering parts as I'm not sure if I'll need new pistons or not. I'm thinking not, but I'll know more when I take them apart.

Pic of victorious first fork and old parts that were replaced.

[Stig / Major Tom]

Got my coffee and following along here.....

Keep up the good work...and the pix!
Stig

[Viper254]

Often I think the spannering is as much fun as the riding.

Looks like you have an excellent work space there!

[Neil955i]

Looks like you have an excellent work space there!

Looks like it's bigger than my back yard!  Jealous.

[Iahawk]

I use the 3rd stall of my garage as my shop area...although it seems to shrink a bit each year as more junk gets stored in there!

[Iahawk]

a few more pics..removed tank last night (to clean under it and to get ready for plugs and my last step, carb removal and rebuild)...and that seems to be the nicest thing on the bike!

Still waiting on a big washer to come in to put left fork together, then will move on to calipers and masters. Caliper rebuild kits should arrive any day. Will be traveling the next week so work will be on hold...sure hope to get this together to ride before the snow flies!

[Ruffus]

@hawk, seeing this four cylinders makes my mouth watering.😉👍

[Iahawk]

thanks Ruffus, I can't wait to hear her scream! I also just realized that my People S200 had a 163 cc motor...the Nighthawk has a 655 cc motor which means each cylinder displaces...163 cc! So I have a 4 cylinder People S200?! 

[Iahawk]

last work on my Nighthawk before I head out of town for a bit...rebuilt and assembled 2nd fork, pulled off the front calipers, removed the pistons and seals and gave them an initial cleaning. The pistons were stuck in solid in both calipers. The right caliper I was able to push them most of the way out using brake fluid pressure and then after removal an air compressor popped out both pistons.

The left caliper was harder..neither brake fluid pressure nor air pressure would budge the pistons so I used a method I've seen on youtube, lately. It involves putting a small socket and a ratchet extension (attached to ratchet) of the correct size to fill up the piston and then turning the ratchet, which in turn forces the piston to turn. You do this for a bit to get it going and then you continue turning while also pulling out.

It worked surprisingly well! No need for piston pulling pliers.

A little corrosion and gunk in the piston bores but mostly the dust and piston seals were just gunked up and torn up, which didn't allow the pistons to move.  The pistons themselves are in good shape, after some cleaning and #0000 steel wool.

Next up will be rebuilding the calipers and installing the new stainless brake lines and rebuilding the brake and clutch masters.

[Can-Mex]

Nice work Iahawk, you are an inspiration to the rest of us. I bet when you're done it will be very satisfying. Keep it coming.

[Iahawk]

back home after a nice little family vacation to Minnesota..spent part of the morning scraping the hardened crud out of the caliper bores where the seals go. Man, old, hardened brake fluid is like concrete!

Got the calipers all cleaned up and then moved on to the brake master. Got it unhooked and cleaned up, removed all the moving parts...and couldn't let it go back on the bike looking as bad as it did. (and yes, the sight glass is driving me nuts!)

Hit it with a couple coats of Rustoleum satin black and left it to hang to dry.

[Iahawk]

finished up my left fork..was waiting on the 'pin seals' for the TRAC system...Honda's attempt at an anti dive fork in the 80's. All advice from the Nighthawk forum was to leave the old TRAC system alone, so I did, other than replacing the 2 rubber boots. I didn't want water or dirt getting inside.

Then, since I'd just painted the brake master, and realized it looked so much better, I couldn't reinstall my 2 calipers looking like they did. Off to the auto parts store for some Duplicolor caliper paint, gloss black.

Tomorrow I'll mask off the calipers and put a few coats of paint on them.  Now my clutch master and levers will all look out of place...guess there's more painting in my future..

(did replace the rubber grommets where the side panels attach..originals were all boogered up..my 'bike OCD' won't let me look at old, beat up rubber parts without replacing them..no pics, though..)

[Iahawk]

painted my calipers yesterday and they look much better. I had them hanging to dry from the shower curtain rod in our kids bathroom..had to remove them as daughter wanted to shower this morning.

While far from perfect they do look really good...and I have to keep telling myself this isn't a concourse level restoration...it's a $1000 USD bike that I'm getting back to reliable running condition.