Honda Hawk 11 Revealed, But Many Questions Remain

Only for Japan... for now

This weekend, at the 2022 Osaka Motorcycle Show, Honda revealed the new Hawk 11, a new café racer based on the Africa Twin and NT1100 sport-tourer platform. And while Honda released several details about the Hawk 11, there is still a lot of vital information that has not been provided.

Officially, Honda says the Hawk 11 has only been confirmed for the Japanese market as a “planned commercial vehicle.” Honda made no mention about whether the Hawk 11 would be released in the U.S. or Europe, but given the site of the launch, that wasn’t unexpected. The Hawk 11 isn’t even mentioned on Honda’s official consumer-facing website for Japan yet, so we also don’t know how much the Hawk 11 will cost.

Here’s what we do know.

Visually, the Hawk draws from the design language of Honda’s naked roadsters such as the CB1000R and CB300R. The fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) fairing is a first for these Neo Sports Café models, but follows a recent industry trend with models like the MV Agusta Superveloce, and Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RR. The Hawk 11’s modern-retro aesthetic is matched by the circular LED headlight and underslung mirrors.

The Honda Hawk 11 is powered by a liquid-cooled, four-stroke, SOHC parallel-Twin. The engine appears to be similar to the one powering the NT1100 sport-tourer, the Africa Twin CRF1100L adventure-tourer, and the Rebel 1100 cruiser. Honda lists its displacement at 1,082cc, or two cubes smaller than we expected. This seems to be a regular practice for Honda in Japan, where the other models are also listed as having a 1,082cc displacement. The difference comes down to a 81.4 mm stroke listed on these models in Japan instead of the 81.5 mm stroke we see on European and North American spec sheets.

Unlike these other models, however, the Hawk 11 will only be offered with a six-speed manual transmission in Japan. No reason was provided for this decision, leaving us to speculate whether this was to keep costs down, or if DCT models aren’t as popular as manual transmission models in Japan. If (when?) Honda offers the Hawk 11 in other markets, we may see it offered with a DCT option.

The exhaust system ends with an upswept silencer similar to the Africa Twin instead of the straighter pipes found on the Rebel and NT1100. Honda says this allows for a greater lean angle, and with a lack of any mounting points on the flat tail, there’s no need to create clearance for panniers.

The LCD tachometer appears identical to the one used on the Rebel 1100, and we can see the same Standard, Sport, Rain, and User riding modes, each offering different levels of power delivery, traction control, and engine braking control. A full-color TFT display would be nice, but the more traditional circular instrument cluster may be a better fit with the Hawk 11’s styling.

The frame and rear subframe look similar to the chassis on the NT1100 and Africa Twin. The front wheel is suspended by a Showa SFF-BP inverted fork while a single shock connects to the swingarm via a linkage system. Nissin provides the dual four-piston front brake calipers. ABS is standard, but we suspect it’s the same two-channel system used on the NT1100 and not a six-axis IMU cornering ABS.

Honda hasn’t revealed the Hawk 11’s seat height, but it did publish a webpage illustrating the ergonomics with riders both male and female with various heights. The image below shows a male rider who is about 5’7″.

Honda also released photos of the Hawk 11 with a silver and black color scheme equipped with accessories such as a Moriwaki exhaust, engine protectors, tank knee pads and different pegs.

We still don’t know how much the Hawk 11 will cost, how much it weighs, and whether it will be offered in other markets. Hopefully, we’ll learn those details soon.

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