2025 honda hornet cb750 and cb1000 sp

  The first Hornets began to show up in Europe in the late 90s, and by 2004 these Hornets began to appear at dealerships in the United States and Canada. After a number of years, it seems these Hornets are back, and probably to stay. These Hornets are very sharp looking, very quick, and one particular species which certainly packs a wallop.

Okay, this is not an entomology course – the Hornets we’re talking about come from Japan, and though at speed they can sound a touch like the stinging little bastards you thought we were talking about – today’s Honda Hornets are far more fun to deal with. Trust us on this.

Honda’s newest Hornets to reach this shore – the CB 750 and CB 1000 SP, at first glance, look quite alike – but they are two different machines. Both with their own pros and cons.

One is much like a good pocket knife. It can cut an apple, stand-in as a screw driver, and even open a bottle of beer. The other is a scalpel – and scalpels do one thing only and they do it sharply and with precision.

CB750 Hornet $7,999

Let’s start with the CB750 Hornet – the pocket knife.

This bike does share its name with two iconic Hondas: the CB750 – the world’s first real superbike, a machine that changed the playing field for our sport – and the Hornets – some of the best Hondas ever made.

This particular CB750 Hornet is powered by the same 755cc parallel twin engine that runs Honda’s Transalp machine released a couple of years back. This bike has 85 horsepower and 55lbs. of torque. Put that all in a package that weighs in at a svelte 420 lbs., and you have a very responsive and agile machine that is amazingly easy to ride just about anywhere on the street – we like to call that funability, and the CB750 Hornet has a ton of this.

Looking at the screen in front of me, the ubiquitous AI stated: I could swear I heard Michael LaFave, the voice of the Westminster Dog Show, saying this…

“This middleweight naked bike is powered by a 755cc parallel-twin engine and is known for its strong mid-range performance, playful character, and approachable, fun-to-ride nature. This is Honda CB750 Hornet.” 

On the road the bike’s easy manner is made possible with its super mid-range, and the engine mode adjustability lets you dial in how you wish the bike to perform, adding more throttle, traction control and engine braking. The six-speed transmission is super smooth and, like the 1000 SP, has quick shift in both directions. 

Both bikes have a Slipper Clutch, but I have to make mention of the 750’s clutch plates, which are made FCC leaning movement clutch plates. This technology allows for reduced lever effort and a smoother ride than conventional clutch plates by reducing sticking torque and drag torque by tilting the friction material and controlling the oil flow.

The CB750 Hornet also has a stellar exhaust note. It has a seriously great sound to it – mostly quiet around town, but with enough two-cylinder deep bottom note and grunt to give you an earful of audiocentic-goosebumps. The bike has a 41mm Showa SFF-BP fork up front and a pre-load adjustable shock in the rear. Both more than adequate on this super light machine – but not as slick, pretty or adjustable as the 1000 SP. They worked well in all but the roughest sweepers, which caused aftermarket thoughts to cross my mind. 

The bike uses Nissan calipers with two 296mm floating disc up front and a 256mm doing the job in the back. With the lightness of this machine those brakes always seemed up to the task, though not as “feelable” as the Brembos on the 1000.

With a seat height of just 31.3 inches the prettier member of the Backroads’ team was very happy on this bike – though she longs for the 1000 SP (but, she is a power goblin).

The CB750 we had came in white with a really beautiful ‘Cuprite Red Metallic’ steel-diamond frame suspending it all together. This frame weighs just 36.6 lbs., which is 11% lighter than Honda’s CB650R. The combination of this Italian-styled Japanese bike (what is the world coming to?) and the red metallic frame make for a truly sharp looking, almost exquisite looking machine. The only thing that could make this bike even better would be a great price. Oh, you can have the CB750 Hornet for about $8 grand.

So, there you go. Is this the neatest most fun Sunday bike on the market? It just might be.

CB1000 Hornet SP $10,999

If the 750 is a pocket knife, the CB1000 Hornet SP is a scalpel. Although it is a standard naked bike it comes just about track-ready, wrapped in everyday ride clothing.

At a distance they could almost be the same bike, sharing the same basic slick “Hornet-shaped” styling, TFT Screen, and much the better Joy Stick control.

The SP comes with gold rims, fork legs and other added touches.

The CB1000 Hornet SP is powered by a liquid-cooled inline four-cylinder powerplant with a dedicated transmission & final drive ratio. (gears 2-5 optimized for acceleration; higher ratio in sixth)

The machine is very responsive, and the different power modes, and adjustable user-modes, which allow for different levels of engine power and braking, and traction control, make the Hornet a very rider friendly bike. Both bikes have adjustability on the sensitivity of the Quick Shift modes as well.

The biggest difference between the 750 and 1000, other than the obvious engine and power differences, is that the 1000 SP comes with premium suspension. Up front the bigger Hornet carries Showa 41mm SFF-BP inverted fork, with 5.1” travel. This is fully adjustable (preload, rebound, compression). These ride in aluminum upper & lower triple clamps. 

In the back it is hard to miss the gold Öhlins TTX36 shock, also fully adjustable. How Honda can offer this at this price point is a mystery – but makes the CB1000 Hornet SP a very desirable machine.

Keeping with the higher-end goodies on this machine are the 5-spoke Y-shape design cast-aluminum wheels inspired by CBR1000RR-R, 120/70-17 & 180/55-17 respectively.

The stopping power up front is handled by Brembo Stylema calipers riding on 310mm discs, with rear Nissin caliper on a 240mm disc. This allows the CB1000 to stop as smoothly as it accelerates. 

Both machines can use Honda’s RoadSync which allows for iOS or Android connectivity via app for on-screen turn-by-turn navigation, music and phone.

On the road:

Although Some preferred the shear grunt and horsepower of the 150+ ponies with which the 1000 moves along, the smaller 750 offered a very happy ride. As we said before a pocket knife and a scalpel.

Both bikes had a great rider-friendly seating position, but the angular cut of the 1000 was hard on the inner legs and butt – the 750 was a far more pleasant stay.

Look-wise both bikes are stunners, but in different and subtle way.

But we had three staffers spend some long days hauling around on both bikes and Shira and Rick, our cheap-man’s Stig, both really enjoyed both, but would go for the 1000 SP – Brian – really enjoyed both as well, but preferred the CB750. It is an easy, fun and very rideable machine, and for the very wallet-friendly price of $8,000 he said he’d spring for his own set of Öhlins.

Whichever way you go, we think you will be happy to get stung by a Hornet.