The delayed Honda Hornet 1000 is nearly here… and there’s a performance version coming as well.

When Honda announced the new four-cylinder Hornet CB1000 at last year’s EICMA show the official line was that it was a 2024 machine and more information would be coming soon – but since then then there’s been a notable lack of updates and with 2025 model bikes starting to be unveiled it’s clear that the Hornet is set to join them.

Now, at last, there’s some definite movement and the first verifiable details in terms of power have emerged from German type-approval filings that show not one but two variants will be made available.

The latest documents show two models, the CB1000 and the CB1000SP, the latter boasting exactly the sort of extra performance that you’d associate with an ‘SP’ machine. Originally, Honda would only confirm that the Hornet CB1000 made ‘over 110kW’ from its 999cc four-cylinder engine, as well as ‘more than 100Nm’ of torque. The new German document shows they’ve hit that target, with 112kW (150hp) from the base version of the bike and 116kW (156hp) from the CB1000SP.

Both models are, of course, approved under the latest Euro5+ emissions rules, and despite the different peak power levels they have identical emissions measurements. That might be a hint that the SP’s extra performance comes from a purely electronic derestriction or perhaps a louder, freer-flowing exhaust. 

While we know what the CB1000 Hornet will look like – after all, Honda showed the bike in near-production form a year ago, and even listed the available colour options of red, grey or white – the SP is more of an enigma. It’s possible that it’s simply a higher-spec model, with the same appearance but perhaps higher spec suspension and brakes than the Showa 41mm SFF-BP forks and Nissin four-pots of the stock version. However, even before last year’s unveiling of the standard CB1000, there were plausible rumours from reliable sources in Japan than a part-faired, sportier model was planned to be launched for the 2025 model year a few months after the original version hit the market. 

With the original delayed until the 2025 model year, it’s logical that the part-faired variant will now be ready at the same time, and could easily be the explanation of the higher-powered CB1000SP model seen in the German approval filings.