new guy here looking for wisdom!

[jnorma1276]

hey everyone. I am about to be buying a buddy of mines 83 nighthawk. for 175 bucks! its been wrecked. he bought it. it didn't run near as smooth as he wanted(its had better days) but I'm gonna buy it off him and attempt to rebuild it. ive got my own bike. but my brother is in the process of getting his motorcycle license and I figured if I got this thing fixed up and road worthy(it runs still. ive driven it. its just real rough) then I could save him some time and money and he can end up with a pretty sweet bike. id end up with some more knowhow with this thing. so any help would be appreciated. I'm sure ill be posting on this forum a lot as I go. and I guarantee just about everyone else here has more knowledge than me. so impart some wisdom on the young guy here thanks again

 

[jnorma1276]

 

[jnorma1276]

so this is the bike. a little rough but for 170 bucks who cares? I bought my first motorcycle back in high school for 100$(didn't have to fix that one up too awful much. the dude I bought it from just didn't know what fuel lines were apparently) but this one actually has a title. which is another plus. I'm not sure where to even start, honestly. I know it runs. or at least it did a couple months ago when I drove it.it just felt like it was really lagging. and I know it has an electrical issue(wont charge the battery. the guy I'm buying it from was my room mate. he kept the battery on a charger. but has only ridden the bike a total of maybe 5 times) so any guidance would be greatly appreciated