Big-Bore Hornet Set To String
BIG-BORE HORNET SET TO STRING
ROUNDUP
HOT ON THE HEELS OF last month's fuel-injected CBR600FI comes word that Honda will unleash an Open-class version of its homemarket Hornet 600. The latest entry in the budding unfairedsport category, the machine will take on Buell's new X-l Lightning, Kawasaki's ZRX 1100 and Suzuki's Bandit 1200S.
With its Buck Rogers-esque headlight, faired-in radiator shroud, stepped seat and sexy, underseat exhaust, the bike re sembles Honda's FN-1 (Roundup, February, 1998), the Tokyo Show concept bike that designers labeled "a modern form injected with a pure, wild, naked sportiness."
According to Japan's Young Maclime magazine, the proposed Hornet 1100 is powered by a modified CBR1 100XX en gine. The 16-valve, liquidcooled inline-Four produces a claimed 110 horsepower at the crank, compared to the XX's 162-bhp output. And whereas the CBR uses an aluminum twin-spar frame, the Hornet makes do with a single-shock "Mono-Backbone" job. This consists of a solitary steel beam curving from steering head to swingarm pivot. A separate welded-on portion ties the main spar to the tailsection, under which reside the slash-cut muf flers. The low-profile tires and wide, tn-spoke wheels are late model sportbike spec.
Honda has tried its hand at unfaired sportbikes before, most recently with the 1993 CBI000. Touted as a red-blooded muscle bike with minimal trimmings and a glut of visceral appeal, the bike tanked stateside, and disap peared from Honda's U.S. lineup after three years. - -
"The CBI000 was a wonderful motorcycle," said American Honda's Ray Blank, "but the marketplace didn't react (to it) the same way that many of us, as enthusiasts, reacted. The Ameri can market hasn't accepted any thing less than full-horsepower versions of those engines.
"These (types of) motorcycles have to be competitively priced," Blank added. "A version of the Hornet big would have to (sell for) $7999. I don't think it can be built for that price. I think we could go more in the FN-1 direction. That would be really new and different."
Does that mean we may soon see something closer to the "Effin' One," with its longitudinally mounted, 1500cc V-Four and innova tive, jet fighter-derived front suspension?
"I think we might have more potential with that," replied Blank. "It's a clear, future direction."
Matthew Miles
