Honda announces two CB1000F Concept models
We’ve known for some time about the Honda CB1000F Concept, although this higher-spec SE version is a total surprise.
Honda didn’t just reveal its long-awaited CB1000F Concept at the Suzuka 8 Hour race, it also brought along a higher-spec SE version of the soon-to-be-announced retro naked.
The CB1000F seems to borrow much of its technical specification from the recently launched CB1000 Hornet, with the frame, swingarm and suspension all coming from the Hornet. It also seems, and we are only going by the images released by Honda, that the CB1000F doesn’t gain the exhaust valve of the SP. It also doesn’t gain the higher-performing Brembo stoppers of the SP, relying on the slightly lower-spec Nissin items that are also found on the standard Hornet.
Where things get really different, though, is the styling, with Honda gracing the new model with some evocative and blocky bodywork that harks back to bikes like the CB900F of the 1980s.
That 80s and 90s flavour has now been taken up a notch, with Honda revealing an SE variant of the bike alongside the standard F. The base specification, suspension, engine and electronics are all thought to be the same as the F, although a few small details mark the two machines apart. The first and most notable difference is the headlight cowl and flyscreen. It’s very similar to the one found on the CB1000 Super Four T2 of the mid-1990s, and is joined by a robust looking stainless steel radiator guard.
The technical base of the SE is also higher than the standard bike, thanks to the addition of a quickshifter being fitted to the model as standard. Should it be the same system as is fitted to the Hornet SP as standard, it would provide clutchless up and down shifting and, speaking from experience of that system, it works well at a variety of road speeds. The SE also gains a few more additional features, with heated grips and a more plushly upholstered seat rounding out the changes between the two models.
As it stands, Honda is still listing the CB1000F and its SE sibling as concepts, although given how much exposure the Japanese giant is giving them, both online and in-person thanks to Suzuka 8 Hour on-track demos, you’d have to imagine they will be landing in the range very soon. Whether or not they make it to Europe and the UK remains to be seen - but we live in hope!
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Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
