See http://members.tripod.com/stsamuel/nighthawk.html for a decent picture.

Some of those prices strike me as a bit… steep? I’d recommend looking into the Kawasaki Ninja 250 and 500. The seating position is practically like a standard; it’s the same bike, really, as the 400 series. A Ninja 250 is going to run you a lot less than that ’79 (!) 400 LTD. My Ninja 500, which doesn’t have the fairings on it, looks like a standard other than the non-round headlight.

All in all, Ninja 250s are just great beginner bikes, darned fun to ride, easy to maintain, reliable, and have superb handling for being an entry level bike. I got a 500 because the previous owner smashed it up (hence the missing fairings) and thus was charging less than I could find any 250s for at the itme.

(I paid $400 US for my 1996 Ninja 500 with about 12k miles, which came in working condition, but with dents, dings, and no fairings.)

Poke around eBay if you haven’t already done so. The prices and selection on eBay (looking at just listings in a 60 mile radius) on completed auctions vs. Cycle Trader are two totally different worlds. I have no idea why this is so. I recently bought a sportbike off of eBay and have nothing negative to report about the experience. If anything, completed auctions on eBay are an easy way to appraise prices where you live.

Full-face helmet is good, if only to keep the cold out; then you don’t have to look silly wearing a scarf in 10 C weather. Eye protection is not optional, as you’ll learn once you’re behind, say, a truck full of gravel and forget to flip your visor down. I have a “textile” (i.e. not leather) jacket that ran my $250 US. It’s got all kinds of padding that would, I guess, be useful in a crash.

If I were you, I’d hunt for a Honda Nighthawk 400 — I might have the model wrong; I’ll hunt for the URL tomorrow. It’s a beautiful bike and was unavailable in the US in the early 80s due to some stupid tariff, but they were marketed in Canada. I’d kill to get my hands on one right now! It’s pretty much the epitomy of a standard and should run you under $2,000 Canadian. (It also seems every rider has had a Nighthawk at some point in his or her past, along with wistful tales to tell of it.)

o/` oh I don’t want a pickle, i just want to ride on my motorcycle o/`

My first bike was a ’81 GS450E. They’re alright as long as you get one in good maintenance condition; mine was a POS but it ran (sort of). If you’re getting an older bike, contemplate what you’re going to do if it dies and you need to get rid of it.

If you haven’t already, consider lurking on NEDoD (or another of its geographic-regional chapters), an online motorcycle club full of geeks. They’ll have useful skills commentary, albeit with lots of social noise on-list.