1984 Honda Nighthawk CB650 SC

It’s easy to fall into the trap of underestimating a motorcycle just because you don’t like its style – just ask Bertie Simmonds.

- Bertie Simmonds

I’m clearly not going to enjoy riding the Honda Nighthawk, right? It comes from an era that style couldn’t recall and is a class of bike that I don’t really care for.

Now, the 1980s saw some very fine motorcycles produced; we could rattle off the likes of the Suzuki GSX-R range, a stable full of Kawasaki GPzs (and GPXs), ZXRs, Yamaha RDs, FZs and a host of Hondas, but bikes of – well, bikes of this style just weren’t really my thing back in the day. It just seemed that they were neither fish nor fowl: I’m talking about motorcycles like Kawasaki’s Eliminator family, where fantastic engines would be saddled with a style and a chassis that just didn’t compute with me back then or now. In fact, take the ZL900 Eliminator: the motor was the sublime GPz900R’s but the styling… well, it just doesn’t work, does it? I’m not some race-replica above everything fan, as I love a good quirky cruiser – preferably one with a characterful motor, like a Yamaha VMAX, but the Eliminator? No thanks.

I can’t help but be reminded of the Kawasaki as I approach the Nighthawk. The first thing I’m noticing about the CB650SC is the natural patina it proudly displays. Nowt wrong with that: the patina includes some rust spots on the odd bolt and fastener, paint flaking off some of the engine finning and lacquer peeling off the forks. But let’s remember this is a 33-year-old motorcycle and other parts still look good: most noticeably the paint work, decals and exhausts. It’s a Honda, then.