Honda’s new Hawk 11 sportsbike presented to a Japanese audience this week will not be exported to international markets, INFO MOTO has learned.
Based on Honda’s popular Africa Twin adventure bike platform, the new Hawk 11 is the third spin-off model following the CMX1100 cruiser and NC1100 sports tourer, but the first to not be offered outside of its domestic market.
A spokesperson from Honda Australia Motorcycle told INFO MOTO that the new Honda Hawk 11 is specifically for the Japanese domestic market with no plans for it to go anywhere else.
The Honda Hawk 11 uses familiar mechanical components like the Africa Twin-derived 1084cc parallel-twin engine and steel frame, however, it is distinguished by all-new styling and tucked-in sportsbike ergonomics.
Most noticeable is the Hawk 11’s sculpted front-fairing to house a round LED headlight, low-mounted mirrors and clip on bars, and its snub tail section that sheds the grab handles and luggage mounts of its NT1100 sports tourer stablemate.
The Hawk 11’s 17-inch wheels, upside-down forks and rear swingarm appear to carry over from the NT1100, indicating that we can expect similar performance characteristics albeit in a lighter and more sports focussed package.
While the Hawk 11 may never arrive in local showrooms, the related NT1100 is expected to land in Australia in the first half of this year in two colour schemes, with the choice of a conventional six-speed manual gearbox, or a dual-clutch automatic transmission (DCT).
The Honda NT1100 should go on sale shortly after the new Suzuki GSX-S1000GT sports tourer, that will be offered from $19,090, with both positioned to rival the likes of the Kawasaki Ninja 1000SX, and more premium models like the BMW R 1250 RS and KTM 1290 Super Duke GT.
Spencer has a keen eye for hard news, and does some of his best living on deadline day. He loves more than anything to travel on his motorcycle, and is adamant that Melbourne Bitter is a world-class lager. He also knows how to operate the big computery thing in the office. By night, Spencer plays guitar with Melbourne punk outfit LOUTS.
