Honda CB600F - History

History

The Honda CB600F Hornet was introduced for Europe in 1998, although a 250 cc version has existed as a home-market only version since 1994. The bike has a six-speed transmission. Its suspension consists of a front telescopic fork and a rear single shock. Its brakes are dual-disc, twin piston in the front and single-disc, single pot in the rear. It was given the 16 in (410 mm) diameter front wheel and 17 in (430 mm), 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 (410 mm) front wheel for a 17 in (430 mm) 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/3.7 imp gal; 4.5 US gal as opposed to the former 16 L/3.5 imp gal; 4.2 US gal), and 'sharper' styling. The CB600S faired version was discontinued.

In 2006, the instrument cluster was modernised, and more importantly, it was fitted with upside-down front forks, to improve road-holding and cornering stability.

Honda took the Hornet to the United States and Canadian market for the 2004 and 2006 model years. It was called the Honda 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 (76 kW).