Honda CB600F

The Honda CB600F (known as the Hornet in Europe and Brazil and 599 in the U.S.) is a street motorcycle manufactured by Honda. It is powered by a 599 cc liquid-cooled inline-four engine, originally a detuned version of that in the Honda CBR600 sport bike, which currently produces around 102 bhp. The 'Hornet' name was not taken to North America as AMC, and its successor, Chrysler, had trademarked the name with the AMC Hornet.

History




The Honda CB600F Hornet was introduced for Europe in 1998. It was based on the CB250F that was restricted to 250 cc at its home-market (Japan) because of local laws (this bike was released only in Japan from 1996 or 1997 until 2015, when it was succeeded by the CB300F). The bike has a six-speed transmission. Its suspension consists of a single shock in the rear and a conventional telescopic fork in the front until it was succeeded by an upside-down fork in 2005. Its brakes are dual-disc, Nissin twin piston in the front and single-disc, Nissin single piston in the rear. It was given the 16 in diameter front wheel and 17 in, 180 section rear wheel setup from the Fireblade.

As a sport-oriented motorcycle that provides an upright riding position, it is considered a standard or "naked bike".

In 2000, Honda updated the Hornet, changing the 16 in front wheel for a 17 in to help corner stability and increasing the strength of the brake pass-over system on the front, making the brakes stronger. However, Honda did not increase the size of the fuel tank. A faired version, the CB600FS, was also introduced in 2000.

In 2003, Honda gave the CB600F version a make-over, with a larger fuel tank (17 L as opposed to the former 16 L), and 'sharper' styling. The CB600S faired version was discontinued.

In 2005, the instrument cluster was modernised, and more importantly, it was fitted with inverted front forks, to improve road-holding and cornering stability.

Honda took the Hornet to the United States and Canadian market beginning for the 2004 and 2006 model years respectively. It was called the 599.

The highly revised CB600F model came out in April 2007. The engine of the new motorcycle is a detuned version of the engine available in the 2007 CBR600RR giving a maximum output power of approximately 102 bhp.

In 2011, the model got a facelift. The headlight assembly was changed and the instrument cluster uses LCD display. This bike shared many of the same components – swingarm, fork, frame, engine – as the Honda CBR600F that was reintroduced in 2011.

In November 2013, at the EICMA show, Honda debuted the all-new CB650F naked bike and CBR650F sport bike, to replace the outgoing CB600F Hornet in 2014.

In 2022, Honda announced the new Honda Hornet (CB 750 S) as the successor to the CB600F Hornet in Europe.