The S50 is still available... ;) On May 27, 2015 5:29 PM, <mark.wf...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Went on our 700 mile ride for my wife's birthday from Olympia, WA to > Portland, along Columbia river to Tri-Cities and then up past Hanford nuke > site to Yakima. > There in Yakima was a fella selling a PC 800 on Craig's List. He was > encouraged to show the bike and let me ride it, even if I had no idea > whether I would like it, let alone buy it. > > It is the right size and weight, as far as that goes it is perfect. I ran > it down the road onto the freeway and back. It has a nice smooth > acceleration. No kick in the pants at any particular RPM, like the NH does, > so less fun, but not a bad thing. It was smooth and quiet at 70mph and had > no real lack of power at that speed either. It does not tell you when you > are in the overdrive gear, so a few times I was lifting the shifter, just > to check. But it did run at about mid tach at 65-70 mph so there was still > some headroom. He told me he intentionally put larger tires on it for more > speed per RPM ... whatever. > The wind was hardly noticeable. In fact, I would cut down the windshield > to where my NH has it. > > (On my NH I am not looking through it, but just over the top. I know a lot > of bigger highway bikes have you looking through them, but I use them more > for wind deflection. I like the wind-screen to cross my vision at about the > middle of where the headlight lo-beam lights up the road. That is typically > enough to flow the wind over or just onto the top of the helmet.) > > Then I played around some tight spots in town around some parking lots > with ups and downs around corners etc. It handles wonderfully in close > quarters too. I do not feel like it is a bear to wrestle around tight turns > and small spaces. This is all exactly what I was expecting. > > However, my wife's advice was if you don't feel like it was made for you > and it fits like an old pair of jeans, then you better not fool yourself. > That is what stuck with me. > The seat is ok, kinda like a Motoguzzi or the ST1300, not uncomfortable > but not bad. I did not mind the mirrors being low and part of the body, > they were well adjusted and showed what I wanted. However mirrors being > there was kinda more like a street race bike, and that must have been part > of Honda's influence for this bike. I say that because though the > handlebars are not straight across, they hold your hands more straight. > That was ok, except for the following point, the only real issue I had with > it. > > He had added external pegs outside the cowling. I tried them and liked > them. I like 3 different places to put my feet/legs. I could also get to > the buddy pegs from driving, so there would be the same 3 positions I have > on the NH now. > > The owner had added a back-rest. I like that. You don't have to use one > always, but you can when you need a change in posture. However, with my > arms straight out on the handlebars I could only feel the back-rest, not > lean on it. But then in that position I was leaning too hard on my hands. > Here was the problem. I cannot be leaning on my hands, that is not the > upright riding style I was looking for. It was only close. I was not > actually bent over, like a racer, but I was still slightly leaning on my > hands. Grrr, now I am recalling my wife's advice. The thing is so covered > with cowlings and covers that you cannot just rotate the handlebars back; > the covers would not go back on correctly etc. > There is a kit to raise the handlebars, but that screws with the ignition > switch that is just before the pivot and has a cover that matches it. (You > cannot move the ignition, because it actuates the steering lock.) > See this article and then note how many comments talk about wrist pain or > numbness from leaning on the bars. > http://www.douglasvanbossuyt.com/2010/04/03/handlebar-risers-for-the-pc800/ > > I just can't keep that riding position. I'm an old fart or whatever, but > that's the issue. > > So, as for me, it is the worst of all news. It is almost-perfect, not a > fail or a slam dunk. I may never find anything as good, but I probably > would not be happy with it if I had it ... until I'd tweaked the riding > position. > > In the end he said he was taking it off the market since he had not found > a suitable replacement for this '97 PC800 with 47k miles. > > Dam it!! > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the > Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/nighthawk_lovers/vej0tiPWUhA/unsubscribe > . > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > nighthawk_lovers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to nighthawk_lovers@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at http://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. 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