CB750 Hornet as a mid-range sports bike: Honda unveils concept at fashion fair

Onitsuka Tiger, a Japanese fashion brand that describes itself as a ‘premium lifestyle label’, recently took to the catwalk at Milan Fashion Week. Whilst this is nothing out of the ordinary for a clothing brand, what is unusual is the partner company with which the Japanese firm collaborated: Under the name ‘Mid Sports Concept’, Honda, in collaboration with the clothing label, unveiled a mid-range sports bike, offering a glimpse of how the Hamamatsu-based brand might envisage a CB750R. Contrary to what the suffix ‘Concept’ might suggest, whilst the design study is painted in bright yellow, it lacks the usual trappings of show models. Instead, the design of the fully faired mid-range sports bike appears close to production spec.

To date, Honda’s mid-range family has consisted of the CB750 Hornet and the XL750 Transalp. The mid-range roadster serves as the basis for the sports concept study; Honda’s presentation photos point to its 755 cc in-line twin engine. At first glance, the steel frame also resembles that of the best-selling mid-range model down to the last detail. The rear subframe, too – albeit partially covered – appears to be taken from the roadster. However, the Mid Sports Concept’s unique features include a dedicated swingarm, a bespoke front fork and radially mounted Brembo brake calipers. In the Hornet, the in-line twin-cylinder engine produces 92 PS at 9,500 rpm and delivers 75 Nm of torque to the chain. All this with a kerb weight of 192 kg when fully fuelled. A future CB750R would presumably fall within this range as well.

At present, Honda’s range in the increasingly important mid-range sportsbike market consists exclusively of four-cylinder models, namely the CBR650R and the ageing CBR600RR, which are priced in Germany at €11,339 and €13,239 respectively. A CB750R could be priced significantly lower thanks to the lower production costs of the inline-twin family and synergies with the CB750 Hornet and XL750 Transalp; the CB750 Hornet costs €9,289 in the version without an e-clutch. With a CB750R priced at less than €11,000, Honda would have a very serious rival to the Yamaha R7 (€10,999) in its range.

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