Honda has used Osaka show in its Japanese homeland to unveil a sporty new retro bike based around its popular 1183cc parallel twin motor.
Called the Hawk 11, it is the fourth Honda to utilise the parallel twin powerplant shared with the best selling Africa Twin adventure bike, do-it-all NT1100 and the CMX1100 Rebel cruiser, and taps into the current trend to sporty retro bikes.
While the torquey 100bhp parallel twin motor isn’t renowned for superbike levels of performance, the Hawk 11 has some snazzy modern day styling in the vibe of the Triumph Speed Triple RR.
Honda hasn’t released any hard and fast information to go with the images, however a quick glance suggests that it more or less shares its key chassis components with the NT1100, which itself was a new model for 2022.
If the Hawk moniker sounds familiar, that’s because it’s not the first time it’s appeared on a Honda. It’s a name that appeared on 250s in the 1970s, while the 1990s saw a range of cool 400 and 650cc V-twins. Those never officially made it to the UK (we got the similar but slightly dull shaft drive Revere 650 instead) although several were imported through the unofficial ‘grey’ market of the time.
It's not yet clear if the new Hawk 11 will be officially imported into the UK.
