a new thing.

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All the pictures in the main text area are links to the full-sized pictures. I'm not sure what to do with them -- I don't really like them just stuck in front of the paragraph like that, especially since they illustrate the text following it. Anyone have any better ideas?

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So I unbolted the forks and slid them out and back on. I was to get very good at this procedure, as we will see. Once the forks were on their correct sides, it was easier to get the fender in place. I put a pretty big scratch in the paint on one side while trying to squeeze it in between the forks (it's a tighter fit than you'd think), but I don't think it's that noticeable unless you're looking for it.

After the fender was back in place, I replaced the ignition assembly and instrument cluster. This was the start of a Big Mess (tm), because this was when I needed to start thinking about where the various cables went. There's a large chunk of cables, which I took to calling the aeorta, which goes from the battery and elsewhere on the bike up behind the forks and into the headlight assembly. Then there's the handlebar controls cables, and things like the choke, speedometer, tachometer, and brake/clutch cables. Because nothing is ever what it seems in the mystical land of Nighthawk, cables for things on the righthand side of the bike (say, the clutch lever) magically appeared from the nether regions of the lefthand side of the bike, and vice-versa. So we ended up with quite a few criss-crossing cables, all the while trying to make sure that the steering stem could still tilt all the way from side to side. I'm not very good at spatial thinking, so Peter helped out a lot with the "if this cable comes from here and needs to go over here, we should re-route it this way under here through there" stuff. At some point, I know we had to remove the forks again in order to fit cables where they were supposed to go. That's a tight fit, there, people. Figure out your cables before you bolt the framework together.

After the ignition and instrument cluster came the headlight. No problem, I picked the headlight up off the floor, walked over to the bike, and..... noticed the headlight mounting apparatus sitting on the floor next to the bike. Fuck. The headlight mount consists of not only, well, the mounting bracket for the headlight, but also the turn signals, and, most importantly, fits on over the forks. Y'all see where this is going. So I unbolted all the fork screws, removed the "HONDA" faceplate from the lower fork bridge, slid out the forks (which are now connected to the fender, making it even more fun), slid on the headlight mounting thing...and dropped the dust seals off the latter. Put everything down, balanced the fork/fender statue, picked up the dust seals, put them back on, lined everything up...and couldn't see the tops of the forks to align them correctly while pushing up from underneath. So Peter came out and helped, and we eventually got the forks back on, with the headlight mounting apparatus, and everything bolted and torqued back down.

Now there was the fun big mess of re-wiring everything. Peter was a godsend again here; somehow it's obvious to him that this green wire connects with that green and white wire, but that *that* green wire goes to ground. I was able to connect all the ridiculously easy ones (i.e. the big plastic red female end plugs into the big plastic red male end), and with his help, we got the electrical system working on our first try. It was so nice to put the key in the ignition, turn it, and see indicator lights on the instrument panel. Yay!

The rest of the job was actually really easy. The wheel slid right onto the axle. There was a moment of annoyance when I realized that the brake caliper pistons had clamped together, but Peter pried them open with a screwdriver (I'm replacing the brake pads as soon as the new ones I ordered come in, anyway). The headlight screwed in, and the handlebars just rested in their lower brackets and were secured by torquing down an upper bracket. I took off the handlebars again when I realized that I had to slide the throttle grip assembly over the end of the handlebar -- that was a million times easier when the handlebar wasn't attached to anything, so I greased up the end of the bar, slid the grip over it, and then put the handlebars back in place. The brake master cylinder assembly was easy to replace; I had taken it off by unscrewing it into two separate pieces, so re-assembly was as easy as holding it onto the handlebar and screwing the pieces back together. The clutch assembly was similar. The rearview mirrors screwed onto the clutch and brake assemblies, and.....and suddenly my bike was back together again. Just like that. Peter and I lowered it off its ceiling support and cinderblocks, and suddenly I was sitting on it again, thinking, "damn, this has some weird posture!"

I pushed the Nighthawk outside to clean it off a little, and sat it next to the SVS for the first time (the Nighthawk was already in pieces by the time I bought the SVS). I was surprised how similar in size they are -- for some reason, I'd thought the SVS was a lot longer and narrower. I took some pictures of my baby girls, y'know, just for posterity, and then put the bike away for the night. The next morning, before going out riding with Chai (next entry! I promise!), I took the Nighthawk back out, and gave her one good cleaning -- hosed her down completely, scrubbed the wheels and rims, polished everything with, well, glass cleaner (all I could find in the garage), and re-hosed. By the time Chai came by, the Nighthawk was glistening and gleaming and blue and pretty and *rideable*. I'd forgotten how gorgeous the bike is, y'know? It's not flashy or sexy like the SVS, but it's cute and little and blue and a little funky and butch. Just like me. :)

I'm glad I have my baby back.