Honda Nighthawk 250 (CB250)

[maddiedog]

I sold my KTM this weekend, but on the plus side, made $100 after riding it for a year and a half and breaking nearly everything on it. I guess good marketing, good timing, and good location came into play.

I convinced my wife to let me spend a bit over half of the money from the KTM on another bike that I could use to replace the Silverwing for highway touring, but this time only intended for only 1-up riding. I wanted something like the Buell Blast that one of my close friends rides -- that means carberated, aircooled, low-maintenance... Something I can strip on the side of the highway to fix solo, without the need for a garage to rip the whole thing apart.

I went on Craigslist, hit Motorcycles, entered a top price of $800, and caught an ad for a Honda Nighthawk 250 for $700 moments after it was posted. I was the first to call (apparently his phone was BLOWING UP with the bike set at a price so low), and went over and bought it on the spot. It had many, many, many minor issues. I spent all last week after work disassembling and reassembling, getting the bike back in order. It was worth it though, I just rode about 500 miles this weekend on it, it was a blast.

Unfortunately, I had too much fun riding the bike to get many good pictures of it. Here's one of us stopped on the ride near a creek:

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There are websites that take your picture and try to sell it to you, here's one of their pics they took of me riding on the Cherahola Skyway:

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I get roughly 85mpg, which is REALLY good considering it does 85mph tops, and much of the trip was spent at 70+mph.

Next step is to figure out how to get the dog to ride on the tank.

[GeezyRider]

Wow! Great find Dave. Looks like a lot of fun. Aren't you boys in Georgia required to have license plates?

Don

[maddiedog]

I have 30 days from the date of sale to get it, I probably should go by the tag office soon and get that.

[gn2]

Used to have a CD250U which has the same engine.
Cracking little bike, used to do 80mpg no problem at all.

[ScooterKim]

MaddieDog has a new TOY!!!

[WhiteNoise]

You look right at home on the Skyway Say, I never thought to put a dollar amount in CL's search bar...Must try that! The Nighthawk always reminds me of the Rebel. Both bikes are fun ones! Great Buy! I also like your upper body armor, a good safe fit. 4A2BDad

[GeorgeSK]

The motorcycle school I just went through used Nighthawks. Apparently, they are darn near bullet-proof. They certainly are newbie-proof (although finding neutral on the one I had was pretty tricky).

Congrats on the new wheels - it seems to me that you got a deal (although your time should really be added to the price equation).

[Taz]

I hired one of these on the spur of the moment for a day, around 6 mths back, when out of town on biz. Handled heavy compared to my nimble PCX, especially the steering. Cant say I liked it that much, but agree its solidly built and can see why its a good rental bike. I had a suspicion the forks were slightly twisted on mine and the gear shift was a bit bent too, so maybe a newer non rental bike would have been nicer to ride.

[skuuter]

CONGRATS Maddie.....Nice, Bullet Proof Bikes. Only issue I've ever had with Them are the Drum Brakes only....wish Honda had added at least a Front Disc, but I understand Their "never change it and we can keep it cheap" thinking on the 250 Nighthawk. It's still one of my Wife's Favorite Bikes, ever, of the many She's owned. "USA 129 Photos"....my longtime Riding Buddy "Gap Trash" aka Andrew most likely took Your Photo... .....Glad You're enjoying Your New Ride, and hope a "Dog-on-the-Tank" solution happens soon.....

[gn2]

The UK version had a front disc and cast wheels.
http://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/ ... 250_92.htm

[maddiedog]

I do agree that discs would be very nice. I've maxed out the drums twice now, and been wishing for more stopping power. When I rode US 129, I ended up gear braking more than using the drum brakes, the gear braking was more effective once the brakes got hot!

[OriginalRocket]

I too got my M classification with the MSF on a nighthawk. It looked beat up, dropped a lot, no mirrors but every time I thumbed the throttle, choked when temps warrented, the bike started up, was pretty damn smooth, and my front DRUM brake worked so well, I lost points for locking the tires in the emergency stop part of the license test.

Best of all, it sounded like a motorcycle, but not obnoxious! Great find!

[skuuter]

I do agree that discs would be very nice. I've maxed out the drums twice now, and been wishing for more stopping power. When I rode US 129, I ended up gear braking more than using the drum brakes, the gear braking was more effective once the brakes got hot!

Yep, been there, done that... ...why I mentioned the Brakes... ....GREAT Bike though. I've seen the ones used here for the MSF Course dropped repeatedly over the years, and still humming along weekly.....

[tomtic]

Hi Maddiedog
I had one of these as my first step-up from a Honda CG125 once I'd passed by test. What a great bike - probably all most of us ever need, certainly for one-up riding. Very very easy to work on, with just two valves per cylinder and just one carb. They stopped selling them in Britain some time ago, and just before I bought the PCX I did have a search for a good condition one with low miles. Mind you, there was a chap on one of the Googlegroups that sold his with over 100,000 miles on the clock!
Enjoy your new 'toy' ...... it'll still be going well for years to come.

[gn2]

Same engine but a better looking bike (IMO), if I was looking for a bike rather than a scooter for getting to and from work, this would be it:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-CD250u- ... 25808c43fb

As it is I'm sorely tempted, but it just isn't a scooter...

[Mel46]

I have had all sorts of bikes in my life and I would probably not be the first to say that I used the gears more than the brakes when it came to slowing down. I use to flat track race way back before it was as safe or as fast as it is now, and back then we seldom used the brakes. Luckily I was riding a Harley XLCH and the transmission and gearing were such that I could shift both up and down without using the clutch a lot of times. I expect that there are a lot of riders even now that use the gears instead of their brakes. Much more efficient.

[you you]

I have had all sorts of bikes in my life and I would probably not be the first to say that I used the gears more than the brakes when it came to slowing down. I use to flat track race way back before it was as safe or as fast as it is now, and back then we seldom used the brakes. Luckily I was riding a Harley XLCH and the transmission and gearing were such that I could shift both up and down without using the clutch a lot of times. I expect that there are a lot of riders even now that use the gears instead of their brakes. Much more efficient.

Errr you can "change up" without the clutch on most modern bikes. Maybe the oil might need to warm up a bit. Never been able to it on the way down. That's when the clutch is useful. Let the bike float into a corner and use clutch to pull the bike into the turn.

[gn2]

To change down without the clutch you apply constant pressure on the gearlever as you slow down and it will change down when the rpm and the road speed match up.
Not an easy skill to master and it depends on the gearbox design whether it will do it or not.
Much easier and better all round just to use the clutch.
If we're talking about road use, the clutch should not be used entering a turn, the correct gear should have already been selected and you should have already braked to an appropriate speed before the corner.
Better yet, just ride a CVT, then its never in the wrong gear.

[skuuter]

To change down without the clutch you apply constant pressure on the gearlever as you slow down and it will change down when the rpm and the road speed match up.
Not an easy skill to master and it depends on the gearbox design whether it will do it or not.
Much easier and better all round just to use the clutch.
If we're talking about road use, the clutch should not be used entering a turn, the correct gear should have already been selected and you should have already braked to an appropriate speed before the corner.
Better yet, just ride a CVT, then its never in the wrong gear.

"YES"......and "NEVER" clutch a Motorcycle before entering a corner or while making a corner...this "unloads" the suspension and also has a tendency to stand the Bike up, slightly steering it to the opposite direction of the corner.....!!!!!!!!!!

[you you]

To change down without the clutch you apply constant pressure on the gearlever as you slow down and it will change down when the rpm and the road speed match up.
Not an easy skill to master and it depends on the gearbox design whether it will do it or not.
Much easier and better all round just to use the clutch.
If we're talking about road use, the clutch should not be used entering a turn, the correct gear should have already been selected and you should have already braked to an appropriate speed before the corner.
Better yet, just ride a CVT, then its never in the wrong gear.

Depends how fast you are going. I also use the rear brake in the corner sometimes to tighten the line and to keep the front down on the way out