It’s been almost a year since Honda formally introduced us to its new CB1000 Hornet, supposedly a 2024 model, although the reality is that the current season is coming to an end and the Japanese firm has not finally decided to offer its long-awaited bike in the brand’s official dealerships. But don’t worry, because this may be about to change and, as a bonus, it seems that the CB1000 Hornet will not arrive alone.
According to the latest information that our colleagues at Motorcycle have had access to, Honda is still preparing the debut of the CB1000 Hornet and this could arrive accompanied by an SP variant. Specifically, a CB1000SPa version on which the brand has not commented until today, but which makes perfect sense considering the offer proposed by its most direct competitors.
Honda CB1000 Hornet 2025: Ready for the season
The maxi-naked category currently has a wide range of options, where we usually find different versions within the same model range. This is the case, for example, of Yamaha, with its MT-10 and MT-10 SP. Perhaps this is why Honda has reconsidered and is thinking of also offering a premium variant to accompany the new CB1000 Hornet 2025. This is what is confirmed by the homologation documents presented by the brand at the German registration office.
They confirm that the CB1000 Hornet will finally offer a maximum power of 150 HP, but they also refer to the aforementioned CB1000SP which would also have even higher performance values; 155 HP. In this way, the new CB1000 and CB1000SP would be positioned as the brand’s most powerful mounts, just behind the sporty CBR1000RR.
Beyond the cold figures, we must stop and think about what else an SP version developed on the basis of the CB1000 Hornet 2025 could offer us. To do so, let’s first recall the most relevant aspects of the standard version, in terms of the chassis, of the model, and then put into play the possible differences between the two:
- Showa SFF-BP USD 41mm fork with adjustable compression and rebound damping
- Showa rear shock absorber acting on Pro-Link joint
- Four-piston radial-mount front brake calipers and 310 mm floating discs
On this basis, a CB1000SP should have a suspension system with greater cachet, as well as oversized brakes equipped with top-of-the-line components, as is the case, for example, with the aforementioned MT-10 and MT-10 SP. Is it likely that Honda will use some of the components used by its sportiest model?
It’s something we can’t confirm yet, but if so we could be talking about elements on the level of an Öhlins S-EC3.0 (SV) NPX inverted fork with 43 mm stanchions or a braking system equipped with four-piston Brembo Stylema R calipers, together with larger diameter discs. Doesn’t sound bad, right?
