“Together with the 250cc Hawk, the Super Hawk was the first truly modern motorcycle most Americans encountered: pushbutton starting, reliable electrics, fantastic brakes, 100-plus-mph performance, incredible SOHC sophistication and impressive smoothness.”
—Phil Schilling, Cycle World
After World War II, America was invaded by light, good handling British motorcycles. The English factories made money, the stockholders were pleased and the good times appeared to stretch to the horizon — except for one little problem. Management forgot to upgrade the machine tooling that made the motorcycles. It was not possible to develop the product and, eventually, quality control suffered.
At the same time, Japan, thoroughly ruined in World War II, was struggling to get back on its feet. The Japanese saw salvation through technological upgrades and quality control. With public transportation in disarray, there was a large internal market for small, reliable motorcycles. Soichiro Honda designed such a bike, but, not content to just sell to fellow countryfolk, Honda wanted to export. To do so, he had to overcome the then-bad reputation of Japanese products. In the Forties and Fifties, many people in Europe and America believed “Made in Japan” meant cheaply made, tinny and unreliable. Honda, determined to change that perception, started by arranging bank loans and purchasing Swiss
