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Honda’s Gorgeous New Retro-Styled Motorcycle Can’t Roll Out Soon Enough

The red brand has been teasing this particular “concept” way too much to not actually bring it into production.

Close-up of a silver Honda motorcycle front section featuring a round LED headlight with a black trim, a tinted windshield with visible screws, and blue graphic accents on the fuel tank. The handlebars and brake lever are also visible.Honda

By Steve Mazzucchi

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Updated

Talk about playing the long game. I first wrote about rumors of Honda actually producing something like its CB-F Concept motorcycle to life back in March. 

Perhaps that doesn’t seem like so long ago, but remember that bike was originally unveiled in March of 2020.

Silver and blue Honda CB1000 motorcycle with a black seat, round headlight with a black windscreen, and dual front disc brakes, parked on a gray asphalt surface.
The CB1000F SE “concept” shown off at Suzuka featured a license plate holder and turn signals, two big signs this thing is inching ever closer to production.
Honda

(Was anything else newsworthy going on around that time? I can’t remember.)

Fast forward to the FIM Endurance World Championship Suzuka 8 Hours in Japan earlier this month, and Honda was all over the proceedings.

In addition to showing off its bonkers Pokemon bike — and winning the title event for the fourth year in a row — the red brand showed off the latest iteration of this concept, a be-cowled version dubbed the CB1000F SE.

Silver Honda motorcycle with blue accents, featuring a black seat, black wheels, and a compact front fairing. The bike is parked on a paved surface in front of a black corrugated metal wall.
While the look strongly resembles 2020’s CB-F Concept, this bike is much different under the proverbial hood.
Honda

Considering Honda has been showing off multiple versions of this motorcycle — I’ve seen at least three different paint schemes on various naked and be-cowled bikes dubbed CB1000F and CB1000F SE — I’m finding it increasingly hard to believe we won’t see a 2026 launch.

And crossing my fingers such a release includes the USA.

CB deets

So what is this thing, besides a really good-looking retro-styled bike?

While the CB1000F Concept revealed in March resembled the CBF, its guts are actually quite different. 

Two Honda motorcycles parked side by side on a paved surface in front of a black metal fence. The motorcycle on the left is black with red accents, and the one on the right is white with blue accents. Both have round headlights with small windshields and visible exhaust pipes.
This CB1000F paint scheme on the left kind of rips, even if it’s not in fact an SE like the bike on the right.
Honda

It derives its engine and chassis not from the CB1000R but from the CB1000 Hornet, which means a Fireblade-based, liquid-cooled 999cc inline-four making 150 horsepower — plus a similar steel frame, shocks, brakes and wheels.

The retro body style is obviously a big departure — the Hornet is much more of a streetfighter — and a welcome one given the enduring popularity of this sort of silhouette, which Triumph has been dining out on for years with its various Bonnevilles.

Digital motorcycle dashboard displaying a tachometer with a 0 km/h speed reading, gear indicator showing 1, fuel gauge near full, total distance of 5 km, and the time 9:48. The display includes various icons and warning lights, including ABS and a general warning symbol.
Despite the SE’s overall retro styling, the large color display plants the bike squarely in modern times.
Honda

Beyond that the biggest changes are a tweaked seat subframe, shifted rider and passenger footpegs and, glory hallelujah, a big, fat, silver throwback-looking exhaust pipe.

As for the SE version, it boasts a number of bonus features, mostly around the handlebars — that little cowl mounted to them, a modern-looking screen right in front of them and heated grips. There’s also reportedly a slightly modified seat.

So, what’s the hold-up?

A notable difference with the bikes showcased — and even demo’ed around the track — at Suzuka is the presence of a plate hanger and turn signals, two things earlier versions lacked. Still no mirrors, though.  

Along with the multiple colorways and new street-legal elements, Honda deriving so much of the CB1000F and SE from the CB1000 Hornet signals a pretty clear intention to actually produce these bikes.

Close-up of a black leather motorcycle seat with a stitched strap across the middle. The seat has a small tag labeled "CB1000R." The motorcycle body beneath the seat features a silver base with blue and dark blue stripes. Part of the rear tire and frame are visible.
Considering Honda has even gone to the trouble of branding the seat, this thing feels well beyond concept stage.
Honda

After all, doing so cuts through a lot of red tape, as the brand doesn’t have to stretch to meet international emissions or construction standards.

While all these factors add up to a bike that’s sure to see the road as soon as next year, whether it reaches the US is a different question.

Two silver Honda motorcycles are parked side by side on a paved surface in front of a black metal fence with vertical bars and pointed tips. Both motorcycles feature round headlights, black seats, and visible exhaust pipes. The motorcycle on the left has a gray and black design on the fuel tank, while the one on the right has a blue and black design. Trees with green leaves are visible behind the fence.
On the left we see yet another CB10O0F colorway, in the naked style, and a pretty stylishly understated one at that. The bike on the right, meanwhile, is essentially a naked, non-SE version of the bike at the top of the page.
Honda

The publicity push for the bike has so far been largely Japan-focused, which does not bode well for a wider release.

My wild hope is that Japan will be something of a testing ground, much like India has been for Triumph lately, and that if the bike is a hit there, it’ll make its way here sooner rather than later. You know, fingers crossed.

About the Author:

Now managing editor, Steve has served in a variety of roles with GP since 2019. Having previously written and edited for such publications as Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, Esquire and ESPN, he enjoys covering a range of topics — but mostly those pertaining to cycling, snow sports, pocket knives and motos — and dreams of a utopian world in which everyone’s bike seat is at the proper height.

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