New Honda Hornet revealed

[Ecosseven]

Honda have announced their new Hornet. Looks pretty good in my opinion although I’m not sure about the red anodised forks! Some links below.

The new Hornet has a slipper clutch, 4 pot radial mounted brakes, traction control and wheelie control that can be switched off. Seat height is 795mm and wet weight is 190kg.

The biggest surprise for me is the price. For a brand new bike with a new 755cc parallel twin engine putting out 90bhp and 55lb.ft of torque I was expecting it to be priced around £8,000 - £8500. It’s 7 grand. This is less than all its rivals and the same price as the SV650 which is a great bike but very dated now. A Z650 with 67bhp is £7,500 and Honda’s own CB650R is around £7,700.

I’m genuinely amazed at the price.

Apologies, edited to add the links.

https://www.visordown.com/news/new-bikes/latest-ge...

https://www.honda.co.uk/motorcycles.html

Edited by Ecosseven on Tuesday 4th October 14:54

[Ecosseven]

stang65 said:

Getting slated on the Hornet pages on Facebook, quite understandably IMO.

I think if you styled a 750 twin to look as close to a Chinese 125 as possible you'd get this. I don't know why Honda wanted that? That's not to put down Chinese 125s but they're not ground breaking generally. The styling is being compared to all sorts of mundane 2 cylinder bike (Z650?).

The Hornet name has been cynically given to it to try and spice up a bland product out of desperation. There's absolutely nothing "Hornet" about this...4 cylinders..nope, big back tyre for the class...nope, instantly recognisable styling...nope... Didn't the original '98 600 have 98hp so this is even down on power?

I have a Hornet (a 2003 900) and if an owner of one of these compares this to mine I hope they're not offended when I laugh.....

I bought an original Hornet 600 in 1999 and I agree that the new bike doesn't have the same visual appeal but I don't think it's that bad when compared with the MT-07 and the Z650 for example. Styling is very subjective.

However I think when looking at this bike objectively and looking at the price and the spec and comparing it with its competitors I can really see the appeal. If Honda hadn't used the Hornet name would you view the bike differently?

One thing I was surprised about was the 160 section rear tyre. For a 90bhp machine I assumed it would be a 180 section.

[Ecosseven]

TheInternet said:

Looks like a CB500F, but only £900 over one of those for the bigger engine, snazzier dash etc. seems good value.

Good point. You are getting an awful lot more for not a lot of money. This has almost twice the power!

[Ecosseven]

Looking at the images again I don't think its a bad looking bike. In my opinion it looks better than the MT-07 and Z650 and they are big sellers in Europe. The fact that it looks similar to the CB500f doesn't really bother me and other manufacturers adopt the same approach. I prefer the more traditionally looks of the CB650R, Z650RS and the Trident with their round headlights but its good to have the choice! I'm a returning biker hoping to buy a new or nearly new bike before April next year. The new Hornet will be on my shortlist.

[Ecosseven]

It will be interesting to see what Suzuki announce as the replacement for the excellent but old SV650. Rumours are that the replacement will also be a parallel twin with a capacity of at least 700cc.

[Ecosseven]

The looks seem to be the biggest issue for most people. I keep looking at photos of the bike and I think the best word to describe it is bland, rather than ugly. The Mk2 Hornet wasn't a pretty bike in the way the original was (all in my opinion of course and I owned an original mk1 hornet in blue). Will wait to read the road tests and see it in the metal but assuming it rides well people may well put up with bland looks for the value for money offered. It's only £900 more than a CB500F and cheaper than all it's main competitors.

the MT-07 has been one of the best selling bikes in Europe over the last few years and in my opinion the front end looks bloody awful! Some photos below.

[url]

|https://thumbsnap.com/rkRWuJ6e[/url]

Edited by Ecosseven on Thursday 6th October 14:39

Edited by Ecosseven on Thursday 6th October 14:44

[Ecosseven]

TheInternet said:

Bore/stroke part of it? Suzuki presumably makes more power than the Honda at lower revs.

Honda - 87mm x 63.5mm
Suzuki - 84mm x 70.0mm

Yeah , looks like it. The Suzuki makes 8bhp less but 3NM more and both at slightly lower revs than the Honda, although the Honda weighs around 12kgs less. There won't be much in it on the road.

Will be interesting to see how the price of the Suzuki compares with the Honda. Regardless of what you think of the styling the Hornet does look good value for money.

[Ecosseven]

motobob and 1000PS have added reviews on YouTube from the European launch in Spain. A lot of bike for £7k and will be interesting to see how it compares with the new GSX-8S from Suzuki

[Ecosseven]

The reviews seem reasonably positive. A few niggles / issues but probably nothing that will greatly impact sales. I still think for the spec the price is very reasonable. Will be interesting to read the suzuki reviews when they come out.

[Ecosseven]

I've watched the following reviews and they are mostly positive. I would say the MCN probably picked up on most of the negative points such as snatchy throttle, twitchy steering, etc although Michael Neeves does admit that for most people, most of the time these shouldn't be an issue - it's just a case of getting used to the bike. I don't think that Honda would produce a bike that had dangerous handling and the snatchy throttle seems to afflict most RBW Euro 5 bikes from what I have read in the motorcycling press.

I'm waiting to see the reviews for the GSX-8S and the price. The Hornet at £6,999 is excellent value in my opinion and most of the reviews seem to agree.

Bike Social - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTyC5q09rIk

MCN - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMaBR6o9vCY

Visordown - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McZZCm-xuRI

Motobob - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDQ1Bo9pI0s

1000PS (English version) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECrTghWU4pI

[Ecosseven]

trickywoo said:

Ecosseven said:

I'm waiting to see the reviews for the GSX-8S and the price. The Hornet at £6,999 is excellent value in my opinion and most of the reviews seem to agree.

The GSX will destroy the Honda in subjective analysis. Honda is now very cynical in the products they churn out.

How so? I ask that as a big Suzuki fan and my last bike was an SV650.

[Ecosseven]

Hugo Stiglitz said:

I wanted a Hornet but like the SV650 it's just too small for me. No I'm not a giant, I'm only 6ft2 but alot of Japanese bikes (naked) seem to be made for circa 5ft6?

I'm really surprised more manufacturers don't offer different seat options for their bikes. I'm only 5' 8" and even I find some bikes a little cramped. I had a test ride on an SV650 and had both feet flat on the ground with a decent bend in my leg.