The Honda Hawk, or, as it's properly known, the Hawk NT 650, was a
motorcycle manufactured by
Honda from 1988-91. Its
short lifetime was due to the
fact that the Hawk
doesn't fit neatly into a particular
type of
bike, because it exhibits
traits of both
standard and
sport motorcycles.
It has a 60 degree offset-crankpin V-twin engine that displaces 647 ccs in a fairly mild state of tune, but since the engine is so over-engineered, it is a relatively easy task to modify the thing to get better than 70 horsepower and beyond, depending on one's ambition and desire for mechanical longevity/streetability. 70 horsepower may not sound like much, but the Hawk, as Datagirl points out, is a fairly light bike - just over 400 pounds, wet, and it's not too difficult to shave off quite a few of those pounds. Hawks make excellent club racers.
The twin-spar aluminum chassis is one of the sportier things about the bike, as is the trick single-sided rear swingarm. The suspension is quite soft, though, and not up the rigors of racing, so suspension mods are often high on many hobbyists' lists.
All in all, the Honda Hawk is a good all-around motorcycle, with the potential for serious streetfighter performance and unique good looks, with a few bits of fancy tech thrown in just for fun.