The Nighthawk 700S (CB700SC) saw it's debut in the 1984 model year, and continued in production until the termination of all Nighthawk production after the 1986 model year. In a review article, Cycle magazine said, "Honda wanted to make the "S" look as if it came out of a privateer's speed shop, and we can't quarrel with the results. Stylewise, the "S" is the epitome of the California custom, from its bikini fairing to its pseudo velocity stacks. Thankfully, there's some muscle to back up the image. the 700 uses a bored and de-stroked version of the 650 engine, the bore 7mm larger and the stroke 8.6mm shorter. The 700 is cammy, but there's a good rush of power at 8,000 rpm."

1984- The 700S was unveiled with two color schemes, a black & red model, and a black & blue model. The colors extended to the tank, side covers, rear fender, and an all new bikini fairing. both models had black front fenders, and all colored areas had matching pinstripes. The left side fork leg was black, with

a white "TRAC" logo. Available options included engine guards, passenger floorboards, color-matched detachable sport saddlebags, luggage rack, body cover, and soft saddlebags.

1985-Surprisingly, there were no major color changes! The pinstripes were changed to white. The left side fork leg was changed to solid black. The speedometer was changed to increments of 10, ending in 5's.

1986- This was the last of the 80's Nighthawks, and many say the best. The only changes were cosmetic. A Black & Alamoana Red model was unveiled, with orange stripes on the red panels. The other model was Candy Aleutian Blue & Shasta White, with the white panels bordered by a red stripe. The wheels, engine, and "velocity stack" covers were blacked out. Click here for more information on the 700S.

NIGHTHAWK 700S

NIGHTHAWK 700S SPECS

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Not sold in USA

The 84-86 750 Nighthawk S was sold in Canada, (and perhaps other locations), but was kept out of the U.S. due to a high tariff imposed by the U.S. government on all foreign manufactured motorcycles exceeding 700cc's. Honda made a wise marketing move (they're good at that) to drop the engine size to 700cc (essentially a 750 engine with a slightly shorter stroke), rather than attempt to sell a standard UJM bike with an artificially high price. It turned out to be a wise move, and the 750S sold well. It's essentially a 700S with a 7% increase in engine size.

The Bike pictured here (left) is owned by Craig from Australia who emailed me with this photo and said: "I bought a '85 750S Nighthawk that was originally brought to Australia to evaluate for release. The project was dropped and rather than destroying the bike honda donated it to a local tafe College. However on the occasion that they did this they stamped never to be registered on the headstock. So I have a bike that is complete except that all 4 indicator stalks were cracked. Only done 13,000 kms. Local registration branch wont register it with that stamp on it and also have no import papers because it was brought directly into country by Honda Australia." (March 2007)

NIGHTHAWK 750S

NIGHTHAWK 750S SPECS