Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

The instrumentation is also differ ent: The H awk sports a 145 mph speedo me ter a nd 8500 rpm redline tachometer, wh ile th e CB-I mak es d ue with a 115 mph spee do an d a stratosp heric 13,500 rpm red line tach (regard less, bo th post top speeds which just abou t peg the CB-I 's need le). Both b ikes a lso have tempera ture gauges in corporated into a corner of their tachs, as well as a fu ll arra y of co lo re d warnin g l ig h ts wh ich ar e barel y visible in bright su n ligh t. ' The bodywork, a lt hough sim ila rlooking , actua lly differs su bstantia lly: The bri ght red Ha wk h as a o ne-p iece ta il p iece with a flu sh inset tai llig ht, w hi le th e pearl blue CB-I has a sma lle r tailpiece wit h brushed a lumi n u m sidecovers and a ta illigh t m ounted in more tr aditi on al fashi on. The CB-l al so has a unique ins pecti on window locat ed on th e right rear side of th e ta il p iece for inspecting th e rea r brake's master cylinder flui d level. Other cos me tic sim ila ri ties extend to th e mi rr ors a nd u p per tri pl e cla m ps , w h ic h are bri ghtly-pol ished o n th e Hawk a n d b lack on th e CB- J. T he bottom line o n th e bikes' appearances comes down to th is: the Hawk was designed to be exac tly wh at ' it is - a n o-frills motorcycle; th e CB-I, o n the o ther h and , has i ts roots in th e Japan -on ly C BR40 0R R - a full- tilt sport bi ke wi th a fu ll fairi ng - th us its somewhat unfinished appearance. between th e two. This doesn 't m ean th a t th ey're worlds apart in terms o f spee d an d handling - o n the co ntrary, a good rider can tra verse a twi sty p iece oftarmac in startlin~ ly simi lar times on ei ther bike - It 'S j ust th at the manner in wh ich he makes th a t ti me co u ld not be more different. It 's like comparin g a bi gbo re th u m per with a two- stroke tiddler . The H awk' s larger V-twin m o tor ma kes gobs o f torque th rougho u t its rev ra nge, a nd ca n be left in the same gear wh ile the ride r co ncerns himself with th e task a t h and - nego tia tin g the turns and slidi ng that fat back tire at th e exi ts. T h e V-twin is slig h tly slu gg ish o ff th e bottom, th ough, preferring to run abo ve th e 5000 rpm ma rk. T he CB- I, o n th e o ther hand, co ncent ra tes its power a t th e top o f the rev range - it 's virtua lly useless below 8000 rpm - a nd needs to be sh ifted co nsta nt ly. What this mea ns is th e H aw k is easier to ride; the C B-I requires more work, and gives th e illusion that yo u're going faster. Roll in g o ff th e th rottle fo r a co rner on th e Haw k enta ils just th at ro ll ing off - w hi le doing so on th e CB-l requires a mi ni m u m o f two downshifts. However , th at ti me is Birds of a feather Okay, so th e bikes look similar, but are actuall y q uite d ifferen t. Wh a t's th a t got to do with ridi ng them? ' In all honesty, everythi ng. First impressions are often las ting, an d th e overwhelming impression of these bikes is that they are tiny. Thus, th ey are best suited to smalle r ri ders which is not to say th a t ta ller ri ders won' t fit, jus t th a t they ' lt feel aw kwa rd perched atop ei the r of these di mi n u tive m ach in es. The CB- I is worse in th is regard, la rgel y d ue to its low er cl ip-on h andleba rs a n d raised foot pegs. Surprisingly, even th ough the Hawk has a m ar gin a lly ta ller sea t (30.6 in . vs, 30.5 in. ), s horte r rider s found it easier to ride because its s lim me r e ng ine a n d midsection a llowed th em to pl ant th eir feet firm ly on the grou n d; th e CB- I' s wider powerplant requires th e rider to sp lay h is/her .legs more. The H awk a lso seems to ha ve a lower center of gravity, 'im p ro vin g lowspeed maneuverab il ity. Another thing th e two ha ve in co mm on is th e relationsh ip bet ween their sloping seats and fue l tanks, wh ich favors women a nd eu n uc hs, if yo u catch our drift . .. Shorter ri ders weren ' t th e on ly o'nes who preferred the H awk. In experienced operators a lso took to the , bird because of its p ower characteristics - th e single largest' difference IDstrameDtatioD OD both bikes iDclDdes speedo, tach, temperatare gaDge, aDd a fall array of warniDg lights. q ui ckly regained since th e CB- l 's close ra tio gea rbox u pshifts well withou t th e aid o f the cl u tch. For touring or freeway-going , it 's th e H awk th at sh ines. It 's co ntent to ch ug a lo ng in fifth gea r, wh ile th e CB- I will be .revving its guts o ut to keep up . Flowing with traff ic in th e lef t (fa st) lan e o f L.A. freew a ys (ad m ittedly abo ve th e pos ted speed lim it), th e CB-I turns near ly 8000 rpm - a nd buzzes noticeab ly. Where bo th b ik es su ffer is in cruisi ng ra nge: th ey h it reserve a t abou t 100 m iles, a nd are slurping vapors in th e 120 to 130-mi le range. 'An d even th ough th e H a wk 's tank is ma rg in all y larger ,(3.2 gal. vs. 3.0 ga l.), it has less reser ve ca pac ity (0.5 ga llons vs. 0.8) th an th e CB- J. ' T he H awk 's freeway co m pata bilit y exten ds to it s p lus he r-feeli ng sus pension, in spi te o f th e fact tha t bo th b ikes use th e same Showa 41m m fork s a nd single shocks wi th seven preload set tings. T he Ha wk is a lso more stab le, largely due to its longer whee lbase (56.3 in. vs. 53.9 in. ) a nd less-sporting ra ke/ trai l figures (270 / 4.4 in. vs. 25.5 0 /3 .9 in.); our C B- I was a bi t re luctant to hold a straig ht lin e at speed. H o we ve r , t h e CB -I 's s hort er whee lbase, tauter suspension, a nd lighter weight (d ry weigh t is clai med to be 363.8 Ibs. vs, th e Ha w k's 399. 1 lb s.) make it the better-handl in g package 'w hen th e going really ge ts goi ng. It del ivers very impress ive cornering speed and is extrem ely fli ckable, especially d uring quick , tr a n sist io ns. It s fro nt end a lso p rov id es excelle nt feedb ack , encou raging suc h heroics as br aking deep into the corners. T ha t th ese bi kes p ro duce less th an earth -s ha tteri ng horse po wer a n d weigh.very little is best ill ust ra ted by the fact th a t th e tire showing th e most wear o n our test b ikes a t th e co mp letio n of o ur test was th e CB - I's front. Bra kes o n bo th bikes are excelle nt, althou g h if we h a d to list o ne co mplai nt it wo uld be th e lightswitch -like behavior of both bikes' single-action , si ng le- p is to n rea r br ak e. We detected n o differen ce in 21

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