Honda has been teasing its revival of the Hornet for a while. First there were the concept images, which showed a rather sharp machine. Then, Honda teased its engine, a 755cc parallel twin with 90.5 HP on tap.
Yesterday, Honda pulled the covers off of its new motorcycle in Germany. The world finally gets to see the complete package, and its engine is the centerpiece. The Honda Hornet originally launched in 1998. At its heart, the Hornet was a standard motorcycle with the heart of a sportbike. As Motorcycle News writes, the first Hornets had a CBR600F sportbike engine, but detuned and housed in a standard chassis. This made it a compelling bike for riders new and old wanting something competent. Like a good all-rounder should be, the old Hornet was versatile. These motorcycles even spawned a spec series, the Honda Hornet Cup, where Hornet owners and enthusiasts could get their machines out onto the track. In 2006, Motorcycle.com reported that the Hornet was the best-selling streetbike in Europe, so it was a pretty big deal.
If you’ve never heard of the Hornet before, it’s probably because this motorcycle wasn’t sold as the Hornet in the United States. Instead, it was called the 599. Making matters worse, the motorcycle was less successful here, and sold only from 2004 to 2006. And the Hornet itself was discontinued in 2013. The Hornet is back! And it seems to offer a good punch for its price. [Ed note: I’m more into old-school Japanese standard bikes, but even I have to admit this thing looks cool. -DT]
The CB750 Hornet was designed in Rome with nods to past Hornets. It also takes inspiration from its namesake insect, too. Honda says that the tank is supposed to look like a hornet’s wing. The rest of the machine is intended to look aggressive, from the stubby tail to the angular nose. Adding to the Hornet’s sporting credentials is an all-new 755cc parallel-twin engine. It has a 270-degree crank and a single cam actuating eight valves. The neat part about this engine is that it has the output of a four. Honda says that it punches out 90.5 HP and 55.3 lb-ft torque.
For those of you counting, that’s just five ponies shy of the Honda CB650R’s inline-four. And that’s 40 more horses than the twin in the Honda CB500F. The Hornet’s competition, the Yamaha MT-07, makes 75 horsepower and 50 lb-ft torque from its 689cc parallel-twin. It’s not even close to the most powerful twin in the world, but it’s quite competitive. This engine is saddled in a steel diamond frame designed to be light and stiff. The motorcycle comes in at a close weight to the MT-07, too. The Yamaha comes in at 403 pounds while the Honda is 419 pounds.
Further adding to the Hornet’s appeal is some neat technology. You get a five-inch color display with a few different choices for speedometer and tachometer. Additional tech includes throttle-by-wire, ABS, riding modes, and an Emergency Stop Signal system that flashes the motorcycle’s rear lights after a hard braking event at speeds above 35 mph.
You also get a voice control system to handle phone calls, music, navigation and more from your helmet. And of course, this bike is intended to be sporty, so you also get a wheelie control and levels of traction control. That said, the motorcycle is also supposed to be friendly to a large swath of riders. It sports a 31-inch seat height and an upright riding position. A motorcycle like this is supposed to offer a lot of the fun of a sportbike, but without hunkering yourself into a sportbike position.
Another attractive bit is its price. It costs about $7,900, or right on the money for the Yamaha MT-07. Sadly, Honda has confirmed the Hornet only for Europe thus far. The manufacturer hasn’t indicated if it is coming to the United States or not. I hope it does. While the old 599 was not the hot seller here as it was in Europe, it seems that this one would be competitive here. I reached out to Honda asking if it has any information on potential U.S. availability. If you can’t put your bike back on it’s kickstand after you lay it down you shouldn’t ride that bike. I say this as a person that rides a lighter bike that makes more power. I assume that would be a no for both of those, because that’s too heavy. But a bike you have to pick up after you lay it down, and that you’ll have to push if you seriously damaged it while laying it down and have no assistance are you going to talk about how light it is while you do so? I doubt it, because 420lbs is only light when it’s on it’s wheels and it has 90HP to push it around. Is it lighter than a Harley? Yes, but that doesn’t make it light. Just like how the Ford Maverick Pickup is smaller than basically all the other pickups sold new in the US, but that doesn’t make it small. The lighter the bike the better the bike, especially when you have to put it back on its kickstand again. Keep it under 300lbs and you’d be amazed what you can do with a little power My bike weighs ~203lbs and ITS FROM THE 70s! It hauls serious butt with a 6 speed and a factory ported 125 air cooled 2 stroke. It goes so fast I’ve yet to have the throttle wide open in 6th gear (off road mind you). Also I think 90-100hp is pretty much sweetspot for this sort of daily commuter. It’s still fun but not over the top. Also should get pretty good fuel economy. As always horsepower is relative to weight. A 90hp freight train is horribly underpowered. A 90hp Motorcycle should be overpowered, but it being 420lbs definitely cuts the power to weight ratio. The less weight you have the less horsepower you need. Cut 200lbs off that bike and you’d agree with me that 90HP is waaaaay more than enough for street riding. But the Hornet is not a dirt bike, or even an adventure bike. It is a standard street bike. If you drop it, you’ll be picking it up on pavement or at worst – a gravel road. I’ve picked up my 475lb VStrom a few times on dirt/gravel roads and it isn’t that bad. Sure I wouldn’t want to do it 20 times in a row, but it is certainly doable (and I am not a big guy or especially fit). So sand, mud, hillsides, etc. wouldn’t be hard packed surfaces. 90HP in a car that weighs twice as much as this bike would feel peppy. Make a car that weighs as much as this bike with 90HP and it’ll feel like a lot. And there’s a ton good to be said about dirttracker ergonomics like these – you get so much more leverage with the bars compared to a sportbike body position + clip-ons. Totally improves the handling experience in the situations that most riders normally find themselves.
