Performance

Even though it has a decidedly smallish engine, the Super Hawk bangs down the road in a fashion that would astonish the "big-inch" fanciers. Using a maximum of 9200 rpm - the valves clatter outrageously at anything above that - we were able to record a standing start 1/4-mile of 16.8 seconds. That might not sound like much to you drag-bike fans, but for a stock, fully road-equipped, 305 cc-engined motorcycle with rather "tall" road-racing style gearing it is phenomenal. Moreover, it does the trick with no fuss at all: lots of throttle and bang, bang, bang through the gears for a less than 17-second 1/4-mile. Not fast enough, to humble the big twins, but enough to be exciting and a lot of fun.

Even better than the acceleration was the top speed, which averaged-out at nearly 105 mph. The makers claim a top of 105, and we couldn't get that, but we had the feeling that a razor-sharp CB77 with stronger valve springs than our rest bike was blessed with, and a less bulky rider than our six-foot plus test rider, might make good the claim. In any case, the speed we got was good enough to give the Honda a fine chance against all comers in a flying-mile contest.