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2018 Shannons Melbourne Late Spring Classic Auction
Lot
5

1965 Honda Super Hawk 305 Motorcycle

$6,500

Sold

Specifications

Engine 305cc twin-cylinder
Gearbox Four-speed
Colour Red & Silver
Trim Black
Wheels Wire spoked
Brakes Drum/Drum

Description

This lot is no longer available

The Honda Super Hawk, or CB77, is a 305 cc straight-twin motorcycle produced from 1961 until 1967. It is regarded as Honda's first sport bike, noted for its speed and power as well as its reliability, and is regarded by many as the first modern Japanese motorcycle. By the standards of the time, the Super Hawk had a relatively large engine for a Japanese motorcycle, though its performance rivalled that of much larger capacity European and American rivals. It was equipped with luxuries (for the period) such as an electric starter. Built around a steel-tube frame instead of the pressed frames of earlier Hondas and a telescopic front fork, the parallel twin engine revved to 9000 rpm and propelled the bike to over 160 km/h. The engine was designed as an integral element of the bike's structure, providing stiffness in a frame that had no downtube. Musician Elvis Presley rode a CB77 Super Hawk in the 1964 film Roustabout as did Author Robert M. Pirsig on the trip he made with his son and their friends in 1968, which became the basis for the 1974 novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values.