Floats Like a Butterfly, Stings Like a Hornet

We usually begin a test report of new motorcycle with a summary of its exciting technical updates and innovations, but the outstanding revelation in respect of the all-new Honda CB1000 Hornet SP is not its stunning, sweetly re-tuned 2017 Fireblade engine or its sumptuous TTX36 Öhlins shock or even its Brembo Stylema stoppers. No, it is its price

- Adam Child 'Chad'

SOMEHOW HONDA HAVE BROUGHT a show-stopping, 157-hp naked to town for less than £10,000 (Rs 10.75 lakh) in the United Kingdom. And if that figure is not impressive enough for you, there is a non-SP CB1000 Hornet that comes bearing a price tag below £9,000 (Rs 9.67 lakh). We can almost hear Honda dealers celebrating across Europe.

Honda re-introduced the Hornet brand two years ago, in 2023, with the CB750 parallel twin, which was competitively priced and went on to become Europe's best-selling naked middleweight that year. With the introduction of the CB500 Hornet last year, the all-new 1000 now completes the Hornets' nest.

As noted, Honda offer two variants: the base bike and the eye-catching SP. Both share the same twin-spar frame, Showa 41-millimetre upsidedown (USD) fully adjustable forks, wheels and rubber (Bridgestone S22 or Dunlop Sportmaxx Roadsport 2), rider aids, dash, and electronics. The SP gains that Ohlins TTX shock and Brembos along with an up-and-down quick-shifter and is only available in black. Both bikes share the same Fireblade-derived motor, but the SP gains a neat little exhaust valve which pushes peak power to 157 hp compared to 152 hp of the standard bike.

Honda invited us to southern Spain for a day of test-riding the new SP version. Would we be able to spot how they have managed to produce so much bike for little cash?

I am old enough to remember the original Hornets: the CBR600-based 600 and the Fireblade-based 900. Both were fun and functional and hugely popular bikes, though neither was likely to overly stir the emotions.