The phrase "history doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes," while an observation more accurate than not, apparently wasn't said by Mark Twain after all (this, according to an in-depth examination by Quote Investigator). Still, it's hard not to think about lately, especially while watching Seth and BJ at Brick House Builds bring a sweet little Honda Nighthawk 700 S back to life.
If you've been reading RideApart for a minute, you may already know that I'm fond of a plethora of Hawks (though admittedly one more than others). And given the current state of ongoing tariff battles being fought in US courts as we push further into 2026, it's hard not to think about the Nighthawk S in context of how it came to be in the first place: As a response to the 1983 tariffs that then-president Reagan signed into law to help Harley find its footing again after a series of missteps.
For those unfamiliar with the early-1980s tariffs, they imposed a steep 45% tax on imported motorcycles over 700cc of displacement, and rather crucially, only applied if they exceeded a certain sales volume. So small, boutique European brands were effectively exempt, and Japan's Big Four were very clearly targeted (though not in quite as many words).
What did Honda and its fellow Japanese manufacturers do? They used their brains and figured out how to drop displacement down under the 700cc threshold, while at the same time fiddling with things like cam timing and gearing to get as much performance out of these revised engines as possible. Maybe there's no replacement for displacement, but maybe you can also use the constraints you've been placed in to do something cool that riders really like anyway.
To quote an excellent Hagerty piece on the subject, "Other mid-1980s developments suggested a middle finger to tariffs....Honda's 1984 Nighthawk S sported an air-cooled 80-hp 697cc inline-four and flew through the quarter in 12 seconds flat at 111 mph. This shaft-drive standard/sport model was sold for three years in the U.S., and only as a 700."
Now, back to the BHB Nighthawk S in 2026. Since this is a 40-plus year-old bike (nevermind that it's carbureted), it's naturally going to need a little TLC. Luckily, it wound up in the hands that it did, because you will get to both see and hear it run by the end of this video.
Is it perfect? Nah, it still needs the carbs synced, and you can tell that some fine-tuning still needs to happen. But before you can get to the fine details, getting it running is imperative. Much like the snow and ice on the ground is shown in varying states of melt, all it really needs is time, effort, and folks who are willing to make the difference.
