82 XJ650 Seca VS 84 Nighthawk 700

Ok so I have a 650 Seca that runs well and is currently my daily rider/commuter bike. It has a lot of cosmetic issues and I'm sure could use a once over mechanically to fix some minor issues. I have been thinking of getting something with a little more power and just ran across this.

http://tulsa.craigslist.org/mcy/1041244983.html

So what are your thoughts? Stick with the bike I have and over the years bring it up to snuff or switch to the immaculate Nighthawk. And what are your thoughts on these bikes in general.

 

I looked at several when I got my XJ. Nice bikes Not sure of your local market but it appears priced a bit high but he probably will take a bit less.

I don't think it has any more power than your 650 -keep both and restore your seca.

 

Maybe a little on the high side, but if it is pristine maybe it is worth close to that. KBB shows ~$1500 for retail. Just guessing but if it is perfect maybe in the $2K range? Just a guess...

I had a '83 Nighthawk 650 and loved it. The bike that guy has is the Nighthawk S, and it was a bad boy when it came out. I never had any issues with mine, but I think they may be sensitive to the cam chain stretching over time. Check around to see if that is what you find.

Bikez shows it to have 80hp and 45 ft. lbs. torque. Maxim X has around 86 hp and 50 ft. lbs. of torque. So, just a hare under the X.

 

I thought I remembered seeing one that was pretty tight on ebay not too long ago. Here's the link to see what a $2800 version looked like.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Motorcyc ... 500wt_1341

 

Neat...I like ours better though.

 

Thanks for the thoughts. I think I'll wind up keeping mine and trying to fix it up. Check out my Acewell Speedometer post in the mods section. I also started working on recovering a stock seat last night and started to realize how much nicer the bike will look with out huge tears in the seat. You can see the sad state of my baby in my gallery now.

 

IIRC the Nighthawk had non-adjustable, non-replaceable cast handlebars. My third ex-wife had one, I forget what year. It was a Jekyll-Hyde motor like the XJ, but not as gutsy, and it had the riveted-up composite wheels still. I was never impressed with it. I would keep the Seca.