McGill’s High-Strung Hawk

• Larry Lawrence

I clearly remember this motorcycle from the 1991 WERA Grand National Final. It’s Ron McGill and his gnarly little Honda Hawk. WERA’s D Superbike class was dominated that year by Yamaha FZR400s and the occasional leftover Yamaha RZ350, but at Road Atlanta McGill showed up with this fire-breathing Hawk and upset the apple cart. McGill played it cool for the first half of the race, following leader Bryan Hanson’s FZR400. In the final laps McGill quit playing around and passed Hanson and pulled away to a convincing victory. Hanson was not pleased and filed a protest on McGill’s Honda. McGill was setting off for the AMA Pro Twins race at Miami the next weekend and didn’t want to tear down his bike, so he forfeited the championship to Hanson. I think enough time has passed. Maybe Ron can tell us if his mean-sounding Hawk was actually legal.

Ron McGill’s ear-splitting Honda Hawk was one of the coolest bikes at the 1991 WERA Grand National Final. McGill ruined the day for Yamaha FZR400 riders in the D Superbike class in the championship final, but when second-place finisher Bryan Hanson filed a protest on McGill’s Honda, McGill refused to tear down his machine and forfeited the championship to Hanson. (Larry Lawrence photo)

Ron McGill’s ear-splitting Honda Hawk was one of the coolest bikes at the 1991 WERA Grand National Final. McGill ruined the day for Yamaha FZR400 riders in the D Superbike class in the championship final, but when second-place finisher Bryan Hanson filed a protest on McGill’s Honda, McGill refused to tear down his machine and forfeited the championship to Hanson. (Larry Lawrence photo)

2 thoughts on “McGill’s High-Strung Hawk”

  1. Gee, Thanks for remembering.
    The funny thing was that Bryan’s bike was significantly faster than mine and he passed me on the back straight every lap other than the last two. I was surprised when the tear down was requested.

    The Hawk engines were notorious for blowing head gaskets and that motor was fresh and ready for the Miami Grand prix the following weekend. I started to tear it down and showed them the stock carbs and stock intake valves to prove how little was done to the bike, but they were sure it was a 750 with all the Two Brothers stuff in it. It was not! I was on a tight budget in those days and I can tell you it never made more than 67hp on the dyno. The bike did weigh only 315LBS had extremely high compression and a twin rear head configuration, but otherwise just 80mm pistons, 174×2 Cams, The pipe and 10,200rpm rev box. I did the porting and crank balance in my basement with a dremel tool!

    I am still glad to have left it together because it won the Pro-Twins race from dead last on the grid that next week. The Miami race was the turning point in my career from a marketing and sponsorship perspective. So while I would have enjoyed the D superbike crown, It was a worthy trade off.

    Ron McGill

    P.S.
    I recently re-aquired the bike and am restoring it, along with 2 other Hawks so perhaps there is AHRMA racing in my future…… Where is Craig Erions number?

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