2025 Honda CB750 Hornet Review

After enjoying massive sales success in Europe since 2023, Honda’s CB750 Hornet is finally brought to the U.S. in 2025, giving new and veteran riders in America the opportunity to experience a machine that blends a Euro-streetfighter edge with Japanese reliability and affordability.

By Mark Miller | Photography by Align Media

Styled by Honda’s R&D team in Rome, Italy, the 2025 CB750 Hornet sports aggressive looks from headlight to taillight. With its four-gallon fuel tank, wide, low seat (31.3 inches), and its steel, curved diamond frame, the package seems to be well put together, like a machine made for dancing.

And for me, the matte black option has that Italian sex appeal, which, when I sat on the bike for the first time it felt engineered to be a little bit naughty and a little bit mean—but without screaming for attention. That was, until I turned it on.

And this bike is supposed to be one of the budget options in its class? This is anything but.

Honda clearly aimed to make this bike accessible to both beginners and more experienced riders looking for something sleek, less complicated, yet still enjoyable. With its nimble 422-pound curb weight, wide handlebars, and comfortable ergonomics, the 755cc parallel-twin Hornet inspires confidence when maneuvering at low speeds while staying stable at higher speeds.

The way it carries its weight low feels predictable and quickly builds trust. Soon after the group started on the twisty roads, almost everyone began carving up the terrain, with little floaty wheelies everywhere followed by big honking wheelies, and huge smiles behind open visors every time we stopped to wait for the back of the pack to catch up.

The bike is super fun to ride, hands down.

What’s it got? | 2025 Honda CB750 Hornet Review

The Hornet’s 755cc liquid-cooled parallel-twin engine, with its 270-degree counterbalanced crankshaft, delivers killer torque but with minimal vibration. Developed with a Unicam head, over-square bore and stroke, and Ni-SiC plated cylinders—these schemes work together to reduce weight, lower friction, and promote a wider power band.

Throttle response is tight and immediate, aided by an optimized air management system that uses Honda’s patented Vortex Flow Ducts for fast, uniform airflow, which elevates torque combined with the same high-pressure fuel injectors found on their flagship sportbike, the CBR1000RR-R.

On the road, this intake technology translates to a linear power curve and quick-revving acceleration with zero stumbles in the transition from off-throttle to on-throttle. The power delivery was always clean but crazy-potent regardless of rpm, throttle position, or what gear I was in.

The CB750 Hornet comes standard with a slipper/assist clutch and an up/down quickshifter. Each direction can be tuned independently for sensitivity (Soft, Medium, Hard) or turned off entirely. By the end of the day, I preferred the Soft setting, which made the gearbox shift smoothly.

Speaking of the gearbox, it never hit a false neutral or missed a shift in 200 punishing miles.

The Hornet’s simple 2-into-1 exhaust system has been tuned for maximum flow, featuring a plethora of technical enhancements within the exhaust canister. This results in a sound that is deep and menacing at lower rpm, and very racey at higher rpm.

Rider Aids | 2025 Honda CB750 Hornet Review

The Hornet’s bright five-inch TFT display offers three layout styles: Bar (with a tachometer across the top of the screen), Circle (a sweeping circular tach in the center) and Clean (no tachometer).

The TFT can also be set to have a black background, white background, or use its photosensor on the dash to initiate automatic brightness control. Before the end of the day, I landed on a full-time black background with a circle tach being the best.

Honda utilizes an intuitive menu system with a backlit, tactile four-way controller on the left handlebar, making navigation easy with your left thumb, even when wearing motorcycle gloves.

There’s smartphone connectivity to the TFT as well via Honda’s free RoadSync app for Android and iOS. Bluetooth pairing allows you to display turn-by-turn navigation on the TFT, or you can make or take calls using voice activation (or listen to music) while wearing your own audio headsets.

Five ride modes are available on this motorcycle: Default, Standard, Sport, Rain and a pair of custom User modes.

The custom modes allow for tailored control over power (P), traction/wheelie control (T), and engine braking (EB). Ride Modes can be changed while riding, but any changes to your custom settings must be changed when at a stop. All modes have three steps of intrusion, but only the traction control/wheelie setting can be completely shut off.

The front and rear ABS is fixed and therefore the 750 does not include a six-axis IMU, so the ABS functions cannot be disabled and there’s no cornering ABS.

In practice, I found the CB750’s somewhat rudimentary ABS system to be unobtrusive and confidence inspiring. Besides, a buyer of this bike is going to save thousands of dollars keeping things simple.

The Hardware | 2025 Honda CB750 Hornet Review

There are a couple of bonus features worth mentioning; the bike comes with an Emergency Stop Signal, which initiates rapidly flashing turn signals of the rider were to brake massively hard. There’s also a USB-C charging port under the passenger seat to keep your smartphone charged while you ride.

The diamond steel frame weighs 36.6 pounds (for comparison, the CB650R’s is 40.8 pounds) uses tuned wall thicknesses to trim weight without compromising rigidity. Geometry (55.9-inch wheelbase, 25° rake, 3.9-inch trail) promotes agile yet stable handling.

Showa 41mm SFF-BP forks (nonadjustable) are tuned for real-world comfort, absorbing city potholes and bumpy backroads with ease. They’re softer than track-focused setups, but that works in the Hornet’s favor for everyday use.

Out back, a shock with seven-stage preload adjustability helps you dial it in for rider weight or the occasional passenger.

The brakes are Nissin units, featuring 296mm rotors up front and a 240mm disc out back. The feel is good, and the stopping power is solid. However, if I were to buy this bike, I’d upgrade the rubber brake lines to steel-braided ones for improved consistency under hard use.

Truth be told, I had an absolute blast wringing this bike’s neck for a full day. The default engine settings worked well, but with the TC/WC turned off, I just couldn’t stop myself from doing playful wheelies. The handling is just great, the Honda’s fueling is spot-on, and the gearbox never missed a beat.

The CB750 Hornet is not a race bike, and it doesn’t pretend to be. But it’s a seriously competent street machine with legitimate performance and modern styling. The fact that it comes in at just $7999 is borderline shocking.

I especially liked the matte black version—understated, sharp, and just begging for custom touches. If I bought one, personally, a set of lightweight wheels and a full titanium exhaust would follow, turning this into a proper urban weapon—and an affordable one at that.

Honda nailed it with the 750. It’s no wonder they’re selling like hot pastries in Europe. This is a 750cc hooligan machine at an entry-level price. Built in Japan, with the reliability and refinement you’d expect.

I’ve already started scheming to convince my wife that this would be “her” next bike. We’ll see.CN

VIDEO | Honda CB750 Hornet Quick Spin

2025 Honda CB750 Hornet Specifications

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