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To be fair, most Japanese bikes of the same engine size made in the last 20 years will eat a Hawk for breakfast. Suspension wise alone they are far better off. Same for power.
That said, even simply keeping up with them on a trail says a lot. Where you will see the Hawk fall behind is when you try and get more aggressive, or start trying to do jumps. It's just not what these bikes were meant for.
I do agree that many Japanese enduros/dirt bikes have gotten a little silly in their prices. You can pick up a good used one once in a while for a decent price though. I have been keeping my eye open for a CRF450 lately to build a Sumo, and have seen a couple for 2k-ish, here and there. usually they are 4-5k.
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