There was a time, not so long ago, when 1000cc four-cylinder machines were the norm. Superbikes like the GSX-R1000 and ZX-10R Ninja, their unfaired offspring (think Hornet and Fazer) and the somewhere in between sports tourers (Z1000SX, GSX-S1000F et al) were commonplace. It was all a trickle down from the flagship superbikes, and the idea that Japanese manufacturers would make anything different was hard to believe.
But in recent years the tide has turned and motorcyclists are more likely to be riding smaller capacity machines with less cylinders. Last year’s sales figures showed just a solitary four-cylinder motorcycle among Britain’s top 20 best sellers, with 816 examples of Kawasaki’s 1043cc Ninja 1000 SX making it the country’s 13th most popular new motorcycle.
It sits directly behind a pair of triples, in the form of Triumph’s 765cc Street Triple and Yamaha’s MT-09. Along with BMW’s ever popular R 1250 GS series, the Ninja is the only bike in the top 20 with an engine capacity of 1000cc or more. The times they really have changed.
But this Hornet could be the bike to reverse that trend. It grabbed plenty of headlines when it was launched at the end of last year, and for one main reason – a £9k price tag that undercuts not just the 1000cc supernaked competition, but also very good middleweight rivals like the Street Triple R and Yamaha MT-09.
The Hornet pretty much brings supernaked levels of performance for less than the cost of a middleweight. Sure it’s not the most sophisticated thing on sale today, but it’s all relative. Ten years ago you’d look with some awe at the Hornet’s spec sheet, but today it all looks rather basic, even alongside the three-cylinder Street Triple R and MT-09.
Where the latest designs tend to have a more premium feel to them, there’s a lot of exposed hoses and cabling on the Hornet, and the eye’s drawn to the big oil filter on display on the right hand side of the engine. It’s no biggy, but it’s obvious the Fireblade-derived unit was designed to live under a fairing and not too much engineering effort was spent on disguising the fact.
And the detailing is certainly not a match for other 1000cc fours, like the BMW S 1000 R or Yamaha MT-10, but then that’s reflected very much in the price tag. Chad has already reviewed the Hornet SP for us and you can read what he had to say here. He’s one of the world’s most experienced motojournalists and I am not going to contradict his opinions, what I am going to do though is offer a second opinion through the lens of someone who has barely ridden a four in the past decade and who’s had little interest in doing so during that period.
Climb on board the Hornet SP and it’s not intimidating at all. I’m short and stumpy, and I feel as at home on the Honda as I did on the Suzuki GSX-8S or Honda’s own Hornet 750. I can get both feet down (albeit not flat footed) and I particularly like the side stand design, which has a big extension to make it easy to flick down.
A quick look at my diary suggests it’s over four years since I rode a Kawasaki Ninja 1000 SX for the site, and nearly a decade since I rode an early MT-10 and Suzuki GSX-S1000S. I’ve ridden plenty of MT-09s, Speed Triples, Ducati and KTM twins in that time… and I can’t say I’ve yearned too much for some multi-cylinder madness.
That said, the Hornet piqued my (and many others’) interest when it was announced at the end of last year thanks to that one standout figure – the price. Honda have provided us with the more expensive SP version of the Hornet 1000 for the test, but even so it undercuts some fruity middleweights like the Triumph Street Triple RS and Yamaha MT-09 SP. For an extra £1000 (£10,099 versus £9,099) you get better brakes and suspension, a bit more power and a quickshifter. It’s really shaken up the marketplace and has even won MCN’s prestigious Bike of the Year award for 2025. It’s also proving the most popular version with the buying public.
But is 1000cc too much in 2025?
Pull away and it’s surprisingly underwhelming. It’s easy to be scared by big numbers, but it’s also easy to forget that the big numbers only come at big rpm. Something I find satisfying about riding smaller bikes is being able to give the red line a good kicking, without getting into (too much) trouble and here, in my opinion, is the problem with this kind of bike. If you’re bothering the redline on a 1000cc sports bike, you’re almost certainly doing illegal speeds, and it’s the same with the Hornet. At legal speeds, it’s not actually all that engaging – and certainly not at all scary.
It's very docile at 30/40/50/60/70mph and the engine’s barely ticking over. Cruise along at 60mph and the motor is tickling 4,000rpm. Roll ons and coming out of slow corners are an area where twins and triples certainly feel more entertaining, to me at least, as I don’t want to be dancing on the gearbox to get it into the meaty part of the motor.
That said, I love the Hornet SP’s quickshifter. I’m sure some journalists will tell you that the shifter on Brand X’s Model Y is better because it intervenes half a millisecond quicker, but I just like the fact that I can make clutchless changes up and down the ‘box whenever.
On one hand you could argue that any decent A2 category motorcycle provides ‘enough’. Honda’s own A2 compliant Hornet 500 has a theoretical top speed of 100mph, which is more than enough. If you want more, then the Hornet 750 will oblige.
Looking at it with a sensible head on, the 1000 is excessive but, in the real world, it’s only as excessive as you want it to be. You control the throttle and sensible riders shouldn’t be intimidated by the headline numbers. It’s a real Jekyll and Hyde motor, and it’s only really after 6,000rpm when the mysterious Mr Hyde starts to make an appearance. The problem is, Mr Hyde would be more than happy to take your licence away.
And that’s kinda where I feel the 1000 is too much. To have a truly engaging ride, you’re into scary fast, licence losing, territory. It’s where those MT-09s and Street Triples have an advantage in the real world, the motors are more tractable, the speeds less extreme and the sensations less terrifying. And we’re realising that smaller machines deliver more than enough comfort and fun.
The inline four is smooth but, unless you’re up in that intimidating area where peak power is, the delivery is a bit boring. Twins and triples do have that bit more character and connection, and I can see why they’ve become more commonplace.
For me, a big reason ‘big’ bikes have fallen out of favour has not so much been the amount of power they produce, but the massive costs attached to them. They’ve gone upmarket and while that extra equipment is cool and all, is it really necessary?
Even in SP trim, the Hornet is basic by modern supernaked standards. The Fireblade derived engine pumps out a claimed 155bhp (a modified exhaust system giving it a 5bhp boost over the base version) and that puts it in the ballpark of earlier generations of the MT-10 and S 1000 R (the latest ones putting out around 165-170bhp). That’s more than enough in my book though. The SP’s Brembo Stylema brake calipers are more or less the class standard these days, while the Ohlins rear shock adds a bit of a premium touch – even if it feels a bit too stiff on real world roads.
But those bells and whistles we’ve gotten used to in recent years are missing. If we’re comparing the Hornet to smaller stuff like the Street Triple and MT-09 then the electronics are basic. The traction control and anti-wheelie aids would be applauded a decade ago but they’re nowhere near as sophisticated as the stuff found on more expensive machines.
There’s no cornering ABS, even though its standard fare on many cheaper bikes these days, and although our Honda-supplied test bike comes fitted with homologated Bridgestone S22 tyres, a quick visit to my local dealership suggests buyers will get Dunlop Roadsmart 2s on their Hornet.
They’re decent all-round rubber but almost certainly chosen by Honda’s accountants and not the development riders. Other places where the cost cutting is apparent is in the decision to go with a steel frame, and little details like the lack of finishers to hide hoses and cables.
Basic rubber hoses link the fancy Brembos to the master cylinder, and are surely another win for the bean counters, while the belly pan (or ‘Under Cowl’ as Honda describe it) needed to cover up the ugly oil filter (and as seen in most of Honda’s marketing pictures) is a £269 accessory extra. There’s probably a decent margin in that!
None of this matters a jot on the road though. For an Average Joe like me the Hornet has (more than) enough. While I don’t actively dislike the latest techno-filled flagships, I’ve come to realise over the years that less is definitely more for me, and what’s here on the Hornet is more than adequate. There’s a reason why people are getting turned on by bikes like Triumph’s Speed 400 and Honda’s own GB350S, two of the most popular motorcycles of recent years, and that’s precisely because of what they don’t have.
Was the smile on my face smaller because the traction control’s a not got a gazillion settings and because it intervenes a bit abruptly, or because I’m a fraction down on power compared to the latest and greatest litre bikes? No, of course not!
To be honest, I am barely scratching the surface of this bike’s ability and would be lying if I tried to convince you Bike X is better because of its electronics package, brakes or suspension set up. On the road, with me riding, they’re all more than up for the job. To be honest, I was happy not to have to spend five minutes scrolling through the dash to make adjustments to all the electronic aids.
If anything, the 2025 Honda Hornet confirmed to me that there’s no such thing as a bad motorcycle these days. They’re all well built and with more than enough performance for everyday road riders. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a few things I wasn’t keen on. I thought it was a bit buzzy through the footpegs, and I thought the seat was a bit too firm.
The rear shock felt a bit stiff down poorly surfaced back roads, and I’d have liked more standard equipment bodywork to tidy up the styling. I think I’d adapt to all these things though, and the difference between owning a bike and borrowing one for a week as we did is that you can make some modifications to help it suit your style. Honda themselves sell a bunch of accessories and packs, including a Comfort Park, Sport Pack and Style Pack, which address most of my minor gripes but all take the price closer to the more premium competition.
While manufacturers are gilding the lily with all the fancy gizmos, I think I’m not in the minority in just wanting a good, well-built, motorcycle that’s affordable and which comes with the reassurance of a top notch name on the tank and a solid dealer network.
This for me, is why the 2025 Honda Hornet is a winner – and why it’s so important in today’s motorcycling landscape.
Even if it doesn’t directly float your boat, we do have a lot to thank it for. It’s keeping the competition honest and helping keep motorcycling more affordable. Don’t believe me? Triumph’s knocked £1100 off its Speed Triple R this summer, bringing it in at under £9k too, while there’s a £2000 ‘contribution’ from Yamaha to bring the MT-10 down from £14,329 to £12,320.
And it’s a cracking bike, although enjoying the best of what the Hornet has to offer is totally at odds with complying to the laws of the highways and, by now, I am certain that 1000cc is too much… but then it was probably too much when we were buying GSX-Rs and R1s by the boatload 20 years ago too.
The Hornet may not be ‘Bike of the Year’ based on its outright performance or specification, but in these hard times it is the right bike for this moment. It reminds us that motorbikes are not about all the fancy electronics, soppy marketing or big numbers, but about simplicity, excitement and good old fashioned value for money. By taking a step back in the technology race, the Hornet SP actually moves the market a few steps forward.
And for those who want big performance without breaking the bank, the 2025 Honda Hornet 1000 SP takes an awful lot of beating. Pound-for-pound, it’s one of the best motorcycles on sale today.
