THE Japanese motorcycle press are on high alert already this week, as a replacement for the CB1100 is being touted for an imminent release. The bike in question is the much-talked-about Hawk concept, a retro naked café racer with an Africa Twin engine.
The move away from the air-cooled inline four-cylinder configuration of the outgoing CB1100 is being forced by ever more stringent emissions regulations, making the use of big-capacity air-cooled engines more and more problematic. To get around this, Honda is rumoured to be utilising its CRF1100L powerplant, with its clean-running and potent parallel-twin again stepping up, as it did with the CMX1100 Rebel and NT1100.
The name that Honda is said to have settled on for this bike is Hawk, or Hawk 1100. For one thing, it moves the bike away from the previous CB model but also evokes another bike from Honda’s past. The CB400T began production in 1977, it was also a parallel twin and in some markets was known as the Hawk.
A rendering of the proposed bike as shown in Young Machine magazine in Japan
When will the Honda Hawk be revealed?
It’s not clear as to when the reinvented Hawk will be getting its big reveal, although the Japanese press seems to have a vague idea. Two big shows are about to take place in Japan, one in Osaka at the beginning of March, and then the Tokyo Motorcycle Show at the end. Many Japanese titles are tipping the bike to be teased at Osaka and then given a full reveal at the Tokyo show. And it might not be just the Hawk that gets its moment in the limelight. With the Transalp and Hornet also waiting patiently in the wings, it could be a busy springtime for Honda.
