Well guys and gals, I just got back from a 450 mile trip up of winding roads up spectacular highway one from San Rafael to Fort Bragg and back. I'm waiting on the seafoam because lately I've noticed the problem has decreased. I took Dennis' advice and I don't rev her past 2000 rpms until she's warm. Also it's true that she runs best after 20 minutes. I think I was impatient about her warming up. I NEVER heard the tapping noise on this trip and temperature outside varied from 50 to 95. I have to tell you guys this is one great bike..but I guess you already knew that.
It did get cold and foggy on the coast after a night in Fort Bragg so did go inland on highway 20 to Willits where it was just too hot (but a pleasant road), so I went down to Ukiah and from there I took an awesome road. Highway 253 runs from Ukiah to Manchester back to the coast. It's 46 miles of unending pleasure. It is mostly newly paved and I had to pass only 3 cars on the way to the coast. It starts climbing on long fast sweepers with amazing views of the Siskyou foothills, and then you're in the deep redwoods where the mountain road is narrower and a bit bumpy. I locked up the rear just once where a nasty downhill 90 degree right turn onto a tiny bridge almost sent me in the brush, so I stopped on the bridge to regain my cool and to see trout swiiming about below me. After about 40 minutes of forest the road smoothes out again and stretches downt to the coast. It was a fantastic ride with dozens and dozens of banked curves, sweepers, and top gear straights that I recommend highly to anyone trekking through northern California...which is a motorcycle paradise. All riders wave at you. I never did make it to famed (to local bikers but obscure to others) Highway 36 which is rated the best moto-road in the west...but that's for next time when it isn't 98 inland and 50 on the coast. Luckily I packed both warm and cold weather gloves, and my Cortech jacket has a removable lining so I was comfy but I just didn't have the courage to go another 3 hours of mist and fog north to take on that 137 mile road to Redbluff where it was 99 degress and which would have meant extending my trip into the weekend traffic. Besides my camera quit working which really sucked. maybe the temperature extremes and the bumps shook somethiung loose. Except for some seemingly excessive exhaust rumbling on downshifts (which sounds cool but probably isn't normal), The bike ran flawlessly with smooth seemless power and no flat spots. I got into a rythym and scraped the pegs and my boots a few times...surprising race bike owners on this bike's honest ability. After taking an hour to paint a watercolor of Point Arena lighthouse, I met a friendly guy on a bicycle from Switzerland who wouldn't stop drooling over the bike (not the painting) and an old guy in Ukiah with a Harley shirt told me he used to have a 550 that he loved. I could tell he wanted another Nighthawk. On the way back between Point Arena and Fort Ross I went around a downhill hairpin and came upon a poor guy from washington who had lost it on his brand new Kawa Versys. He was a bit shocked with dirt on his face, rips on his shoulder, a nasty scrape on the left rear of his helmet, and he said his ankles would hurt for a while. He would have been badly injured if not for his armor...yet another example of how important it is to gear up! His bike however was bad. The rim was shot, the fork bent, the windshield cracked, and It bounced up and down as I coasted it it to a safe spot. We were 11 miles from the nearest town and I had tons of gear with my sleeping bag and back pack...but luckily a HP guy showed up by chance and saved the day as the cell phone was worthless on the coast. Anyway this has been my most daring adventure on this bike yet (about 400 miles of winding road) through extreme heat and cold mist, and I love the Nighthawk more than ever. Dennis Yankfroggy Farez On Jun 27, 10:58 am, Dennis Hammerl <blues...@yahoo.com> wrote: > Ah yes, the loose baffle rattle. That's the trouble with long-distance > problem guessing. All we have to go on is a descrirption. > I could > supply an audio file (MP3) of a good 700s running but what is needed is audio files from bikes > with noises. Thankfully I don't have any of those. Maybe better descriptions would help. > I wonder what would help expedite the process of resolving issues more; > better > descriptions from owners or a primer on diagnosis. How many have cleaned carbs when it was ignition ? > How many have bought ignition parts to solve carb problems > ? And, worst of all, how many motor repairs performed to find muffler rattles ? Let's all try to > figure out a way to prevent needless money spent and time wasted. I don't type very well but I have found that > a good description helps get my problems solved. Brevity isn't always the > best thing. > > --- On Sat, 6/27/09, jason scott <sscott...@sc.rr.com> wrote: > > From: jason scott <sscott...@sc.rr.com> > Subject: [Nighthawk Lovers] Re: Intermittent Tappet Noise? > To: nighthawk_lovers@googlegroups.com > Date: Saturday, June 27, 2009, 9:34 AM > > my 86 nh 700sc sounds like it has a lose cam chain but if i put my foot on > the muffler it stops. make sure your muffler is not causing the noise. > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "yankfroggy" <fa...@marinmail.com> > To: "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" <nighthawk_lovers@googlegroups.com> > Sent: Sunday, June 21, 2009 7:05 PM > Subject: [Nighthawk Lovers] Re: Intermittent Tappet Noise? > > OK I'll try the seafoam additive if you reccomend it. Any ideas as to > why it goes away when bike is tilted to the left?. > > Thanks again, > > Dennis > > On Jun 21, 1:06 pm, Dennis Hammerl <blues...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > Well, first off, it isn't normal. What weight oil ? Any additives ? Maybe > > it's an occasion for the Seafoam thing. > > > --- On Sun, 6/21/09, yankfroggy <fa...@marinmail.com> wrote: > > > From: yankfroggy <fa...@marinmail.com> > > Subject: [Nighthawk Lovers] Intermittent Tappet Noise? > > To: "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" <nighthawk_lovers@googlegroups.com> > > Cc: blues...@yahoo.com > > Date: Sunday, June 21, 2009, 3:54 PM > > > Ever since I bought my 2003 750 Nighthawk (1.5 years ago at 6400 > > miles), It's had an intermittent valve noise. It now has over 10,000, > > and after two oil changes it hasn't gotten worst or better. It's odd > > to me because It doesn't seem to be related to how warm or cold the > > motor is. Sometimes it appears after riding a few minutes rather than > > right after starting. It isn't loud but it definately happens almost > > every ride. It does seem to vanish after a lengthy 20 minutes or more. > > The real interesting and possibly tell-tale thing, is that at idle it > > disappears if I lean the bike to the left, but continues upright. I > > haven't been real concerned because i understand it can be normal on a > > cold engine, but sometimes it appears after a few minutes of riding > > and maybe it's time I address the issue. > > > Is it an oil circulation issue? These bikes have self adjusting valves > > right? Should I be concerned?Any ideas? > > > Thanks, > > > Dennis Yankfroggy Farez- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. 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