Honda Hornet 800 – true or false?
Are revived rumours anything more than speculation?
THE internet has been abuzz over the last few days with stories of a Honda Hornet 800 that’s claimed to be due to appear at the Cologne Intermot show later this year.
It’s not a new story, though. The same was being said as long ago as January, but even then there was little more to it than writers spotting an apparent gap in Honda’s range and deciding that the firm wouldn’t be happy to leave it unfilled. The argument goes that, with Suzuki offering the GSR750, Kawasaki having the Z800 and Yamaha making the MT-09 – all bikes in the ‘800’ range – that Honda has little choice but to join in with its own 800cc-ish machine.
We’re not so sure.
After all, the firm already makes the newly-revamped CB650F, which is doing quite nicely, and doesn’t have an obvious contender, engine-wise, for an 800cc inline-four. It’s unlikely that the CB650F’s motor would be happy to be bored or stroked to that size, and it makes little sense to sleeve-down the CB1000R’s Fireblade-derived motor just to fill a perceived gap in the range.
Not that the gap is real, anyway. In capacity terms, there are already all the NC750-based models at or around that size, while the VFR800 and the Crossrunner that shares its engine and frame meet both the capacity and performance of the bikes that any Hornet 800 would supposedly rival, albeit at a higher price. The aforementioned CB650F also makes a case for itself as a cheaper alternative.
Of course, our speculation isn’t any more informed than those claiming the Hornet 800 really is coming, but sense seems to suggest, as a niche, it’s one that Honda can cover well enough without having to create a totally new model.
If we were planning Honda’s line-up and really wanted an 800cc bike to rival the GSR750, Z800 and MT-09, we’d be looking at the economies of scale involved in using the VFR800 engine in a cheaper, more basic model. And while there’s been no evidence quoted in any of the Hornet 800 rumours, there is hard evidence that Honda has been looking at making a cheaper V4. We reported it last year and reckon it makes much more sense than any new Hornet 800.
