Honda Hornet CB750 review – New affordable midsize car delivers a punch

Review Honda Hornet CB750

Honda CB750 test drive by Wayne Vickers – Images RbMotoLens

The mid-size naked segment is living well and truly. And why not? Smaller, cheaper bikes to run, focused on pure fun rather than outright performance and stat bragging rights.

Gone are the days when you needed a big donkey for good power. Three quarters of a liter is now more than enough to produce a great power plant.

Honda’s latest powertrain provides plenty of proof of that. That’s not the only thing they’ve done well with the new Hornet – I think they’re winning. And no – it’s not perfect, there’s one thing that annoys me about it. But it is a seriously good thing overall. Much better than the $13.5k price tag for the ride.

Let’s ignore the naming problem. From a historical sense, being a twin-cylinder engine, the new CB750 Hornet is no longer a CB but a Hornet. But time passed. Honda no longer mentions engine codes when naming models.

So, which previously represented the inline, cross-frame four-cylinder engine, now means stupidly squatting. Having owned no less than 6 CBRs, I had to grumble when Honda ‘frustrated’ the CBR line by including twins in the lineup. But I went through a couple of years of therapy and almost got over it. Most of.

New Hornets. It’s a pretty small bike overall. Weighing in at about 190 kg with a very low saddle height, it means that the ride is easy and it’s a hindrance in traffic. Flat feet find deck easily.

It’s not a super long reach to the bars. In fact, my butt wants to rest on the rubber seat in my natural riding position. I’m about 181 cm tall or just under 6 feet in old currency. So basketball players can struggle. That’s not to say I feel cramped with it.

On the contrary – I have spent over 200 km days on it without any problems or aches. Even with my ‘just back to normal’ leg after breaking a few months ago.

Fit and finish seem typical Honda. It doesn’t look, or feel cheap. Which makes that price even more impressive.

I’m happy to announce that the new 755 cc parallel engine is a peach. Far beyond what you would expect from three quarters ‘just’. It grumbled surprisingly. We are talking about 90 hp and 75 Nm. Both of those peaks are pretty high in the rev range, with peak torque coming in at just over 7000 rpm.

That really surprised me. Firstly – the way it punches, it feels like over 90 hp, and second, it doesn’t really feel like it’s missing anything on the low end. Anyway, don’t cycle in isolation.

The way it gives the hump from the bottom is lovely. Lovely! The real urge from as low as two and a half thousand and it continues to surprise and reward as it spins. The mid-range is where the fun is and there’s more to the high end than you might expect. Like the little Aprilia Tuono (not far away in the same baseball field), this engine will happily spin.

For me, the whole Hornet experience revolved around that wonderful engine. And the quick shifter. One of the nicest Honda gear levers I can recall right now.

The revs are consistent when downshifting – and with a surprisingly good exhaust for the reserve – it’s fun to stir the pot both up and down. I used the past neutral clutch on the way up, but found it didn’t need any help on the way back from second to first.

It also doesn’t need much help to raise the front, with clutchless wheels in second place being child’s play. And also doable in third place… Did I mention it has some serious grumbling? It will also point to clouds through the fourth gear. All the way pass old tons. The balance point is really nice. Really reminds me a bit of my old CBR600F4i. And I have many happy memories on that bike.

Get out of town and get charged, it’s a deadly fun thing. Unique advice and feeling like you could put it on a postage stamp on line selection. Those Showa SFF-BP forks are doing well and even the preload adjustable shock absorbers are pretty close right out of the box. The front isn’t bad. Luckily it’s non-adjustable, but the rear is where you’ll want to play with some preloads if you’re serious about it. Or have a few cakes under your belt.

It’s arguably a bit off there but it’s not too far off the mark depending on your weight and riding style. And for the price – it’s not as bad as a full-blown compromise. However, for an extra few hundred dollars, I would argue that most punters would prefer the adjustable rear shock if given the option.

Turning was quick with no worries – that 160-section rear tire configuration played its part there, but what surprised me was the joy of being around. Really solid.

Even on Michelin Road tires on a relatively cool Victorian day of photography, on a couple of bank runs I felt very comfortable turning it around. It feels nimble thanks to its relatively short 1420 mm wheelbase, but that’s by no means flying. Honda did a great job here.

Braking is too good. Nissins on both ends work well and overall it seems to gel very well. Some bikes where you’ll have certain elements feel unfinished or unfinished, but the new Hornet feels pretty gory right out of the box.

Again, it reminded me of how my old F4i felt when once dialed in, I could do anything on it with complete confidence. The new Hornet has a lot going on. There’s a bit more thug in there if you want to…

The only annoyance I had was refueling under specific conditions. Specifically, I mean slowly filtering out traffic while commuting. The first and second devices are key.

The transition from off to open the throttle and back is quite jerky. More than necessary, especially when we’re talking about a sturdy bike with commuting and urban duty quite high up in the design brief.

I’m sure it will also be driven by various experienced riders. So I can’t help but be a bit disappointed here as that’s the only thing that keeps the bike from getting a special rating and it’s certainly really just a map update. Maybe it’s less noticeable on 95Ron fuel? Maybe I imagined it.

I see my preferred power setting at three (maximum), engine braking set to 1 (min) and traction control… sorry, Torque control is off. That setting seems reasonable but you still have to ‘turn it on’ with the throttle when filtering.

It seems fine in third gear and up. But the first and second can be uncomfortable if you tiptoe in traffic. That seems to really highlight any fuel issues, and unfortunately, the jostling in the middle of traffic has taken up a lot of my daily ride time.

Another annoyance? Like many other bikes, it also resets the Torque Control setting to one each time you turn the key off. Those days should be behind us. I wish it just respected your settings.

Overall, I like medium-sized bikes. And this is one of the better ones for sure. Probably the best midsize, 15k sub I’ve driven. More power, electronics and handling than the segment leader MT-07. Blue team has some homework to do now…

Looking forward to riding Transalp more now. Is Honda going to put that engine in a CBR chassis, lean into it a bit, and throw some premium suspension at it? God… what an interesting thing.

Why do I rate Honda Hornet CB750

• Really good balanced pack in general.
• With a cracked engine and gearbox. Butcher.
• At a price that seems incredible.

I would prefer Honda Hornet CB750 if…

• Can we fix low speed throttle refueling? How that is still a thing.
• And throw an adjustable rear shock at it.
• I’ll have to throw a more ventilated silencer in there, though the silencer is pretty good.

Specifications Honda Hornet CB750 2023

Honda Hornet CB750 showroom