Introducing myself to the Forum

[compuw22c]

Hey guys, per Streck's suggestion in the "Chicagoland BB sightings" thread, I am starting an introduction thread.

A little about me and the bird:

Just got my blackbird about 2 or 3 weeks ago, with only 6700 miles on it. Its a 2000, fuel injected, analog gauges. The previous owner seems to have REALLY taken care of it. I was told by the dealer (which always has a 90% chance of being a lie) it was brought in on a trade in by a guy who had bought a cruiser because his wife refused to ride on the back of the blackbird. His loss, my gain

I was looking for a new bike because I was in the process of rebuilding an old 1984 Nighthawk S I had (CB700SC) that I had been riding for 2-3 years, had gotten it almost free (1 bike + 1 almost identical parts bike), fixed it up, cleaned the carburetors, new tires and battery and I had an uber-cheap and fairly quick little bike.

I ended up not being able to finish the rebuild due to a few parts being unavailable, and in my search for a new bike, it became apparent to me that any sport and/or sport touring bike over 600cc's are few and far between in the used bike market.

So I found and ended up grabbin' this beauty and I absolutely love it already. I've gotten great help here at the forums and have already installed a set of speakers as well as a set of oxford heated grips. I'm currently awaiting delivery of an MRA touring windshield with the "vario" attachment, as well as some GIVI hard luggage (2 E41's as side bags, + wingrack w/ turn signals and top rack for possible future top trunk).

Also, thanks to your guys' thread regarding the wiring block problem causing the FI light problem, I was able to twist their arm at the dealership into giving me a free wiring harness! $300 I don't have to spend.

I live in mount prospect and use my bike almost as a complete replacement for my car as a daily driver as long as weather permits me to. I usually either work a few blocks away, or downtown in chicago, which works out VERY well since I know 1 or 2 spots in the city I can still squeeze a bike in for free

As far as the future of me and the forum, it seems like there's TONS of info already on the forum for me to dig through for new ideas. I'd love to see more pictures, guides, and info on various modifications and/or maintenance projects that I can use and/or learn from, as well as possibly getting together if you guys ever happen to organize a ride of the Blackbirds.

The pictures are of the bike a few days after I got it, before the speakers and heated grips.

Not sure what else if anything you guys are looking for in an "introduction thread" but I hope I've covered it. Any other questions, feel free to let me know.

[CBRXX.com]

[ArmyStrong]

GREAT intro, Compuw! to the site, and congrats on "the acquisition"! Tell us more about those speakers. I've been kicking that idea around in my head for a while now. Or making a system in a tank bag or something, but I see they have one on the market now.

btw, your love for the Bird will only grow!

[Bigkeela]

Nice lookin 9 year old bike! Looks like someone loved her.

[DeathWish01]

speakers.... really? are you even able to hear them while riding? i can barely hear my earphones while riding <shrugs>
oh and army.... here in about 2 months your gonna have a fridge and a kitchen sink installed on your bird LOL <don't steal the ones from the barracks they suck>

[XXNUTZ]

from the NW 'burbs. I bought my 'bird in Arlington Hts. Been kicking around the idea of trying to get the Chicagoland 'birdies together for a group ride in the near future. At least sometime this season. I post up charity rides from time to time and there is one coming up this saturday. Well, enjoy your new ride, take care of her and you'll get miles of smiles. I know I do. Cheers.

[Uglystick]

Welcome..

Congrats on the bird... you will only become happier with that purchase...

Do you still have the nighthawk? if your still looking for parts for it try TeamRC17 Australia I currently have an RC17 in the garage that I am about to restore..

[Maurizio]

Welcome biker from ITALY

[Strek]

Welcome from the windy city. Great intro. Great looking bike. It looks brand new. Where did you install the speakers? I used to have a goldwing with a faring and stereo. I could only hear it at slow speeds. XXNUTZ has posted up some rides. Hopefully one of these days the timing will be right and I'll be able to make one. I think that I mentioned that I used to live in Mt. Prospect. It was years ago. Nice burb.

[lois]

Very good intro, and welcome to the fold. After reading your post, I suspect you will fit in here very well.

To bad about the colour though......



Lois

[DragonXX]

G'day from downunder
Great intro

[Shewie]

Truly fine intro. Tell us more about the speakers, and how about some pics?

[edwin2]

Welcome from the Flat lands, Its nice to see another Gun Metal Blackbirder. I also have a nighthawk CB650Sc and when I needed hard to find parts for my nighthawk I went to San Antonio Local Community Information - SALocal.com /sohcCB's. They have a lot of info and parts for nighthawks. Enjoy the Site.

[compuw22c]

Thanks for the replies guys.

The speaker setup is the generic shark kit (250w claimed + FM tuner integrated) you can easily find on ebay as it and maybe 2-3 other kits basically dominate the search results.

I basically followed a similar mounting as the guy here
Music! - Ohio Riders

and mounted them to the fairing, although as I do not have the "mushrooms" (crash protectors) I simply went to home depot and grabbed a bunch of washers, grommets, and sleeves and made an extended fairing bolt basically. Then just double-sided taped the wired "remote" for it up at the tripple clamp. I am able to hear it up to around 65ish, especially if I play with my seating position (laying right on the fuel tank helps). One thing I think would really help is if I bent/modified the stock brackets that came with them, as they currently face about 20-30 degrees AWAY from me rather than toward me (pumping music towards the cars next to me, which I'm sure the housewives in the minivans love hearing at a volume meant for 60+mph). I'll try and get some pictures as soon as I get a chance.

Just got the givi luggage today so I can't wait to get that on there also. I'll try and post a few more pictures when I get a chance with the new changes on it. Oh, and as far as the color, yea, I'd love a black one, but as I understand it for that year, they only made one color available in the US (maybe they thought we'd like communism here in the US...?).