WE CHECK OUT THE HONDA HORNET 900: A GREAT NAKED FOR A SNIP...
Underrated and undervalued, make a beeline for this bargain naked.
Back in 2002 the term ‘super naked’ was yet to be coined as the first of this generation of bikes, the Aprilia Tuono, was still a good year from hitting dealers’ floors. But that’s not to say there weren’t a few spirited nakeds for sale; Yamaha had released the R1-powered (ish) FZS1000 and there were always the Ducati Monster models or the Aprilia Falco. But these bikes, although sporty, weren’t full-on nakeds in the street fighter ethos; they were far more relaxed naked commuters. Would Honda finally hit the street fighter brief with the 900F Hornet? Sadly, signs weren’t good from the get-go…
Off on the wrong foot
Despite the FireBlade now running the superb 954cc engine, in 2002 Honda decided to arm the large capacity Hornet with an aging engine. And it wasn’t even that of the smaller capacity 929cc Blade, but the generation before with its 919cc motor. Okay, they added fuel injection, but that wasn’t really what sporty naked bike riders were looking for.
The Hornet 600 was a machine that surprised on track and was a hoot on the road thanks to its spirited engine and chassis; why not give its bigger brother a proper set of cajones rather than an antiquated motor that had even more of its life sucked out via the dreaded ‘re-tuned for more midrange’? And the disappointments didn’t stop there either…
Yes, Hornets are traditionally budget bikes, but there was
no real need to extend this labelling to the higher power model, yet Honda did. The Hornet came with a basic steel chassis and suspension that lacked adjustability, giving it more than an impression of being a budget commuter rather than a naked sporty option. And, sadly for Honda, this decision was what extinguished any spark of interest that buyers still had in the Hornet 900. But the most frustrating part about the whole Hornet story isn’t the fact it is a bad bike, far from it, the irritation is that under the dowdy exterior is a belting machine that is dying to get out and show you it’s a party animal. Kind of like a librarian who goes to work wearing sexy underwear beneath her grey office suit…
Uninspired
When you ride a standard Hornet 900 you come away thinking, ‘well that was pleasant’ but your pulse seldom begins to race. The 919cc engine is quite strong, and has a good spread of midrange with 94Nm of torque on offer by 7,000rpm, but it is so smooth and refined it is all a bit dull and uninspiring. With just 110bhp on tap it’s not the kind of engine you return home raving about, telling all your mates about how it rips forward or throws the front up in the air; it’s one that just gets on with the job in hand with little or no argument.
That’s not to say it can’t be made to play the fool, a flick of the clutch and all that smooth torque will hoist the front, but its natural default is plodding along rather than being a hooligan. And the same is true of its chassis. Again, if you are just wanting a relaxed ride the
Hornet 900 will happily oblige. The suspension is soft and the bars, although they look horrible, are set at a comfortable distance. It’s all very pleasant, but up the pace and the Hornet 900 protests and wobbles. Its brakes are excellent, it’s just the rest of the chassis that lets the side down. But while all this may sound like you should avoid the Hornet 900 at all costs, wait just a second…
Get your cash out
The Hornet’s lack of popularity, especially when the Z1000, Tuono, Speed Triple etc. all arrived, has seen used prices hit the floor. You can easily get a really nice Hornet 900 for less than £2500 and that’s when it all starts to get really very interesting indeed.
Armed with a few quid this disappointing duckling can easily be transformed into a proper spirited swan, and that makes it a very tempting prospect for super naked fans who have an eye on their wallets and some le evel of ability with a set of spanners. Junk the heavy and ugly OE cans for a nice set of carbon units, get the forks reworked and the shock replaced and throw on a set of sticky tyres and the Hornet 900 is transformed – especially if you beef up the bars with a set of chunky Renthals. For less than £1000 you can really go to town on the Hornet 900 and if you dart onto the many Hornet forums there are even more possibilities such as fitting inverted forks and even tuning up the motor.
Get your spanners out and over r a few weekends, and a bit of eBay bidding to keep costs dow wn, you can transform a cheap Horn net 900 into a cracking street fight ter that will leave you grin nning from ear to ear.