[citation needed] The CB77 was built on the experience Honda had gained in Grand Prix racing, and differed greatly from previous models.

[1] The parallel twin engine, the biggest then available in a Honda, was an integral element of the bike's structure, providing stiffness in a frame that had no downtube, and was capable of 9,000 rpm.

It could propel the bike at over 100 mph; as fast as British parallel twins with higher displacements, and with great reliability.

[5]: 42 Robert M. Pirsig rode a 1966 CB77 Super Hawk on the trip he made with his son and their friends in 1968 on a two-month round trip from their home in St. Paul, Minnesota to Petaluma, California, which became the basis for the 1974 novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values.

[3][7][8] The novel never mentions the make or model of Pirsig's motorcycle,[9] but does discuss their companions', John and Sylvia Sutherland's, new BMW R60/2.