Up until the 60s, motorcycles were widely regarded as niche products throughout most of the developed world. Honda can be credited for changing this line of thinking. While the Vespa certainly did its part, it was the Super Cub that really brought motorcycles into the mainstream. While it provided the developing world with basic transportation, it effectively introduced the developed world to an alternative means of transportation.
With motorcycles suddenly no longer reserved for “rebels without a cause”, Honda was quick to take advantage of this newfound success and develop a highly competitive full-sized motorcycle. The CB750 took the world by storm, offering riders an affordable, reliable, high-performance motorcycle. The spiritual successor to this motorcycle looks decidedly mainstream, right up until you twist the throttle, that is.
To give you the most up-to-date and accurate information possible, the data used to compile this article was sourced from Honda. Whereas, the opinions are our own.
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The Honda CB1000 Hornet SP Feels Decidedly Mainstream Until You Twist The Throttle
MSRP: $10,999
The CB1000 Hornet SP is a much-needed return to form for Honda. While good, the last CB1000 failed to capture the imagination of the buying public, largely thanks to its hefty price tag. Honda was forced back to the drawing board and needed to find a way to build a cheaper naked bike. At this price, it is fair to say that the Hornet SP is one of the most competitively priced motorcycles on the market.
The Suzuki GSX-S1000 is Honda’s closest rival. It isn’t that much more expensive and has a more sporty twin-spar aluminum chassis. Its old gixxer engine is also immensely powerful, and in terms of features, the bikes are also evenly matched. Both have traction control, ABS, and quickshifters. For some, the extra outlay for the chassis will be worth it, but others will prefer the added peace of mind you get with any Honda.
The only other two bikes we can compare it to are from the middleweight category, and they are both more expensive, too. The Yamaha MT-09 SP offers an excellent all-round package, but doesn’t have nearly as much power as the liter bikes. The Kawasaki Z900 SE ABS comes a little closer with its “almost a liter” inline-four. But the Yamaha MT-10 and Kawasaki Z1100 SE are the bikes we should be comparing, but they are both significantly more expensive.
The CB1000 Hornet SP Has A Reworked Superbike Engine
Power: 155 horsepower*
The engine is from the CBR1000RR, which has 189 horsepower. Naturally, it has been extensively reworked for optimized midrange performance, and power for the US model is down to 129 horsepower. The European version has 155 horsepower, though. So it stands to reason that it won’t take much to get it into that tune.
A Powertrain Built For The Street
Even so, peak performance is not what this powertrain is about. Like any good modern naked bike, it is all about midrange performance, and that is what makes this bike so much fun. That liter sports bike needs you to rev it to the moon, but in this state of tune, all that power is made more accessible. It isn’t even expressly necessary to get it into the Euro spec because the torque comes in long before you get anywhere near the redline. While everything else might be run-of-the-mill, there is nothing mediocre about this engine, and it really is the main reason why you would buy this motorcycle.
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The CB1000 Hornet SP Needs That Öhlins Rear Shock
Honda needed to save money somewhere on this bike, and that somewhere is the chassis. Its twin-spar steel chassis is fairly rudimentary, and while the Öhlins TTX36 rear shock is there to paper over the deficiencies of that chassis. This is not a bad thing at all though, because this is not meant to be a track bike. This is more or less the same approach the Japanese manufacturers took with the original UJMs, offering a big, powerful engine and a simple chassis that just about gets the job done.
Riders who bought those old bikes would often modify the frames to improve the handling, but riders certainly won’t need to go to those lengths today. This is designed to be a fun street bike for more experienced riders, and there will be very few riders out there who will be able to find its limit on a canyon road.
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A Simple Formula With A Dash Of Sophistication
Honda might have taken a simple “engine and two wheels” approach to the overall design of the bike, but it still gets several important modern features. Traction control, ABS, a TFT dash, and a quickshifter are all standard equipment here. It is actually pretty impressive that the quickshifter made the cut, as there are more expensive bikes on the market that leave it as an option. All these features make it a thoroughly modern motorcycle, a motorcycle that will appeal to a broad spectrum of riders.
Even if you are not a fan of the brand, this is an objectively great bike, offering modern riders what is essentially a reinvention of the old UJM. By keeping things relatively simple and only adding the features that most buyers will actually appreciate, Honda is able to offer the CB1000 Hornet SP at an unbeatable price. In a market dominated by complex motorcycles, this is a genuine breath of fresh air. While versatility is often prioritized these days, this is just a fun hot rod of a motorcycle that might seem like another vanilla offering from Honda until you take it for a ride.
Chassis, Suspension And Weight Specifications
|
Chassis |
Steel twin-spar |
|
Front Suspension |
41mm inverted Showa SFF-BP telescopic fork with adjustable preload, compression and rebound damping (5.1-inch travel) |
|
Rear Suspension |
Öhlins TTX36 remote-reservoir shock with adjustable preload, compression and rebound damping (5.5-inch travel) |
|
Weight |
465 lbs |