Honda introduced this middleweight standard for the 1988 model year as a distinctive sporty twin aimed at riders who wanted something lighter and more immediate than the typical inline-four street bikes of the era. In Honda’s own global motorcycle archives, the closely related Japanese-market version appears under the Bros name, while the North American version was marketed as the Hawk GT. The bike stood out for its unconventional packaging, including an aluminum frame and a single-sided rear suspension layout that gave it a technically adventurous character compared with more conventional rivals.
The name itself carried historical weight for Honda in the United States, where “Hawk” had been used on earlier twins and helped frame the bike as part of a longer sporting lineage rather than as a one-off experiment. Enthusiasts quickly embraced the model for its balanced chassis, compact size, and the sense that Honda had built a motorcycle around handling feel first, not just peak output. That reputation has helped it remain a cult favorite long after production ended.
For the North American market, the model was sold from 1988 through 1991. Contemporary cycle press described it as discontinued after that run, and Honda’s broader Bros family continued in Japan for a bit longer under a different name, but the Hawk GT itself did not return as a revived separate nameplate. Its short production life and unusual engineering have made it one of Honda’s more memorable modern classics.