Honda's CB1000F Concept is Real

Last weekend, Honda presented a new CB1000F Concept at the 2025 Osaka Motorcycle Show, offering a look at what a “next-generation CB” model could look like. What’s odd is that Honda only just released its “current-gen” model in the CB1000 Hornet.

The Hornet replaced the CB1000R in Honda’s lineup, offering a shift away from the previous retro-inspired Neo Sports Café styling for a sharper, more modern look. The new CB1000F concept that debuted at the 2025 Osaka show went to the other end of the spectrum, leaning even further to a classic look than the CB1000R, drawing similarities to the CB-F Concept Honda revealed in March 2020 (a bunch of other stuff was happening at the time, so you’d be forgiven if you forgot about it).

And therein lies the difference between the CB1000F Concept and the CB1000 Hornet. The Hornet is all angles and sharp edges with an aggressive forward lean and a pointy, well, hornet-like tail. The Concept is all flat surfaces with a more horizontal silhouette and more upright ergos.

The engine looks similar to the production CB1000 Hornet’s CBR-derived 1,000cc Inline-Four, and we don’t expect any significant differences here.

For the image overlay above, we used the engine as a common reference point, and the CB1000F Concept is also leaned over on a kickstand, so the perspective is different than it is with the Hornet. All that said, it’s still apparent that the concept’s handlebars are higher and positioned closer to the rider, and footpegs are slightly ahead of where they are on the Hornet. The saddle looks lower in the comparison above, due to a flatter subframe, but the suspension appears taller than the Hornet’s, so the actual seat height isn’t as dramatically different as the comparison suggests. The pillion seat, however, is closer to the level of the rider’s seat, with the passenger pegs positioned lower and further back accordingly compared to the Hornet.

The exhaust is lower than the Hornet’s unit to accommodate the rear pegs. The chrome silencer is also significantly smaller, though it’s important to remember that concept models don’t have to comply with environmental or noise level regulations. If the CB1000F enters production, it may have a different exhaust system than the concept.

Moriwaki Engineering produced a racing-inspired version with blue bodywork.

We mentioned the taller suspension earlier, but the wheels, swingarm and brakes all appear similar to the pieces used on the Hornet. The Concept is equipped with Bridgestone Battlax S22 tires, with a 120/70 ZR17 up front and a 180/55 ZR17 at the rear, just like the Hornet.

Along with the CB1000F Concept, Honda displayed two variant concepts showing different takes on the design. Moriwaki Engineering produced a racing-inspired version with blue bodywork.

The CB1000F Concept will continue on the Japanese motorcycle show circuit, hitting the Tokyo Motorcycle Show this coming weekend and the Nagoya Motorcycle Show the following weekend. After that, we expect Honda will be working on putting the CB1000F into production.

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