Honda CB1000 Hornet Nears Production

[Hugh Janus]

We expect production to start on Honda’s CB1000 Hornet later this year. (Honda/)

Honda showed its new CB1000 Hornet back at EICMA in Milan last November but has remained tight-lipped about its detailed technical specification because production isn’t expected to start until the second half of 2024.

Now that date is getting closer and more details of the bike are emerging, not least in the form of this patent that illustrates how Honda has incorporated a form of cold-air intake without needing a prominent nose-mounted scoop. Using the bike’s forward motion to push cold air into the airbox helps give the engine a ready supply of denser air to boost performance, but Honda has positioned the intakes farther back, flanking the steering stem and framed by upper and lower frame rails.

Hidden at the front of the tank behind the front cowl are the new cold-air intakes that this patent addresses. (Honda/)

The patent explains that air is encouraged into this area by the side bodywork that thrusts forward on either side of the tank, along with the lower cowls that push air toward the radiator to improve the cooling. As well as improving performance, Honda’s patent says that putting the intakes into this zone also means that the engine’s intake noise is directed toward the rider without being unnecessarily loud. Yamaha has taken a similar path with the latest MT-09, which has ducts that are purpose-made to feed intake sounds up through the top of the fuel tank to the rider.

This patent drawing shows the location of the new intakes (51). (Honda/)

It’s actually the louvred covers over the intakes that are key to Honda’s new patent application. While having intakes either side of the front of the frame gives convenient access to the airbox—and air can be channeled toward them by the side bodywork—that part of the frame naturally sits on a slant, matching the bike’s rake. Without the louvred covers over the intakes, they’d face slightly upward, and if the bike was left out in the rain, then water would naturally fall into them. From there, the ducting could take rain into the air filter, which is what Honda wants to prevent. Checking back to the prototype CB1000 Hornet that Honda showed at EICMA, the intakes and louvres can be seen tucked in behind the front cowl.

A side view of the intakes location. (Honda/)

While Honda still hasn’t announced many details about the CB1000 Hornet, it says the bike, which uses a derivative of the 2017 CBR1000RR’s engine, makes “more than” 148 hp and “more than” 74 lb.-ft. of torque. Those numbers mean it should have a little more performance than the CB1000R, a model that it will essentially replace once production starts. However, as hinted by the Hornet name, the new CB1000 is intended to be a more affordable bike than the CB1000R, swapping the CB1000R’s single-sided swingarm for a conventional dual-sided design and ditching the “Neo Sports Café” styling cues for a look that’s more conventionally modern.

Other specs that have been confirmed include a 41mm Showa SFF-BP fork with adjustable compression and rebound damping, and a Pro-Link rear end connected to a Showa monoshock. Honda also says there will be three riding modes and that the dash is a 5-inch TFT with connectivity for Android and iOS. What hasn’t been confirmed yet, but our sources in Japan swear to be true, is that the naked CB1000 Hornet will be accompanied into production by a half-faired CB1000S Hornet model that will debut later this year.

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