Honda comprehensively renews the CB1000F with a high-performance character and retro styling

The letters CB have a long history across Honda’s extensive motorcycle catalogue, first appearing in 1959 when the CB92 Benly was launched, coinciding with the Japanese brand’s debut at the TT. At the time, the CB92 Benly was considered Honda’s “Super Sports Bike,” thanks mainly to its design, sporty ergonomics and a powerful sound from its engine, traits that all of Honda’s CB models have maintained over these 65 years.

With 2026 now in sight, Honda has presented the renewed CB1000F, a motorcycle that takes the current CB1000 Hornet as its reference and draws inspiration from the CB750F of the 1980s, the latter being a model ridden by the great Freddie Spencer in the AMA championships held in the United States. With the new CB1000F, Honda has set out to create a balanced roadster, one that can be ridden like a middleweight motorcycle yet delivers the sensations of a big bike to the rider.

To achieve this, Honda began by thoroughly revising its engine, which originally powered the CBR1000RR Fireblade in 2017 and has been reworked to change its character in areas such as the camshafts to adjust the intake and exhaust valve timing, and an redesigned intake with slightly longer but smaller-diameter runners and a smoothed airbox on its upper section, to maximise airflow and reduce intake restriction. In addition, its voice comes from a 4-2-1 exhaust with a three-chamber megaphone-type silencer that delivers a powerful sound at high revs.

With these features, the heart of the Honda CB1000F, a DOHC inline four-cylinder 1,000 cc engine, produces a strong output of 124 CV at 9,000 rpm and a torque figure of 103 Nm at 8,000 rpm, paired with a six-speed gearbox that has also been revised to offer two short first gears for greater acceleration at low speed and longer third-to-sixth gears for more relaxed cruising at higher speed, combined with a assist and slipper clutch. With this setup and its 16-litre tank, the new CB1000F registers a consumption of just 5.6 l/100 km and a range of more than 280 kilometres.

To keep this powerful engine under control we have Throttle By Wire and a six-axis IMU, which allow us to enjoy three riding modes preset (Standard, Sport and Rain) plus two configurable modes with three levels for adjusting engine power and engine braking, along with three further levels of HSTC (Selectable Torque Control) intervention, optimised to work with real-time lean angle and speed data supplied by the IMU.

The chassis of the new Honda CB1000F inherits part of what is used on the CB1000 Hornet, namely a double-cradle steel diamond frame to which the CB1000F adds a specific rear subframe that helps create more space when riding with a passenger. The front end is fitted with a Showa SFF-BP inverted fork of 41 mm, adjustable for spring preload and rebound and compression damping, complemented by a new rear shock absorber, also by Showa, with Pro-Link system and separate pressurised reservoir in a single tube, also adjustable for preload and rebound.

We cannot finish the chassis section without mentioning the braking system, comprising radial Nissin four-piston front calipers together with two floating discs of 310 mm diameter, while the rear axle features a single 240 mm disc with a Nissin single-piston caliper. These are accompanied by 17-inch wheels with five Y-design spokes in cast light alloy, shod with 120/70 ZR17 tyres at the front and 180/55 ZR17 at the rear.

This entire technological package is wrapped in a retro aesthetic inspired by the CB750F and CB900F that emerged in the late 1970s, with defined, flowing lines on the CB1000F, accented by other elements such as the chrome-plated exhaust manifolds. The front features a round headlight with a classic light signature using LED illumination, and it is also worth noting that the indicators incorporate the Emergency Stop Signal (ESS) function, which activates during sudden braking. Behind the front headlight sits the new customisable 5-inch colour TFT display with smartphone connectivity.