Owners opinions of the Hornet 600/900

[pompousporcup...]

I'm looking at other bikes.. its getting a bit ridiculous now The hornet jumps out to me as a potentially good buy as a daily commuter.

So, Opinions from owners/previous owners/people whose nan has one please.

Whats it like to live with. Should i be looking for one with certain things already done? What would you pay for one with avg mileage?

600 or 900.

Cheers

[winz]

I've got a 600 Hornet, 2001. Fun little bike. Enough go and I have covered approx 4k miles since February. Rode to Brighton, approx 140miles each way with a tank bag and dry bag strapped on the pillion seat as well as weekend blasts around the countryside, never missed a beat.

Just in for a new back tyre. Other than replacing the rad cap I can't fault it.

Fitted a Mivv XCone and it sounds pretty good without being overly loud.

I paid £1.5k for a clean example with 32k on the clock. Possibly a little overpriced, but I wanted a bike there and then.

[MCN.]

Crap. Buy a fireblade.

[Polarbear]

Crap range due to the small tank is the only real moan I have heard from owners.
____________________
Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[goto10]

[Baffler186]

[pompousporcup...]

[dave666]

900 is 10 times better

[winz]

The range. FUCK, the range is shit.

Last weekend I had to put the reserve on after 120miles of motorway with some luggage.

That is my only gripe with it. I tend to fill up when I do 100 miles or so.

[winz]

Also, how tall are you? I'm 6,2 and I find it slightly cramped when on the motorway.

I have the first facelift version with the 17inch front wheel. Previous ones had 16inch which restricts your choice of tyres.

I think the newer version of mine had a 17l fuel tank whereas mine has 16l.

Scrap my first comment, I do have a couple of issues with it.

[pompousporcup...]

[pompousporcup...]

[Slacker24seve...]

Budget suspension and average brakes. Decent build quality, reliable, easy to work on. Great to learn how to KD and wheelie on. Doesn't feel as budget to ride as it sounds and is pretty much unflappable when pressing on, you can get away with a lot of hamfistedness. It'll gently shake it's head over bumpy stuff at speed. The engine is standard CBR600 fare, pussycat low down, gets interesting above 7k. The flat spot between 6 and 7k is irritating though as it gets a bit vibey. Gets to 60 and 100 rapidly but -1/+2 sprockets means more acceleration and wheelies.

Drawbacks: terrible range, 100-120 to reserve depending on your right hand. Also uncomfortable for lanky people and the peg:seat height is short. Expect a numb arse after 200 miles if you're over 5'10.

They also crash extremely well; I put mine into a ditch, hedge and gravel trap with no bending. Clocks and tank are brutally expensive if you trash them; other parts are plentiful.

Basically, it's the best cheap 600 if you want something that isn't Fazer-hideous or SV-boring.

Not had a go on a 900 but I understand the engine was detained a bit too much.
____________________
Triumph Daytona 675 track bike + girlfriend's Honda Hornet 600
Selling a hack/winter bike for less than a grand? PM me.
Banger rallies are ace

[winz]

[pompousporcup...]

[Itchy]

[Slacker24seve...]

[stevo as b4]

I'm a bit of a fan of the 600. I've never owned one, but I think it was about the best naked fun bike of the late 90's, and the balance of fun/performance/handling was pretty good too!

Id say a lardy Bandit 1200 would be a worse and less fun bike to ride or own too!

As for the Hornet 900, I've seriously considered these in the past, and I think looks and style wise they are nice, and also basic with nothing fitted that you don't need. No silly half fairings, flyscreens or belly pans etc.

The 900 even more than the 600 would benefit from suspension and brake upgrades and a bit more breathing from the motor which is about 20bhp down on the 98 Fireblade, but still a lovely silky smooth thing that can take some abuse.

best thing about the 900 for me is that like other budget bikes it's fairly easy to upgrade with CBR stuff and aftermarket parts for the sports bikes too. Also I was told ages ago that the 1137cc Blackbird lump would fit into the Hornet frame with a bit of work.

a Blackbird motor with a few bhp lopped off due to losing the ram air, and a bit of downgearing, along with some wide MX renthals sounds like the sort of loud fuck you antisocial naked that I would really approve of!

[69.9mph]

The Hornet 600 or the FZS600 are my pick of thr budget 600s.

I've had both and would avoid the Bandit or SV unless you're really skint.

[dave666]

[pompousporcup...]

The long term plan would be to upgrade forks and rear shock, add some straight(ish) bars with some nice levers and some decent calipers but immediate thing would be a raspy exhaust and fancy pads.

Been looking at stats. Why only a few more hp between them from 400cc more?

Also is there a particular year or hornet where fuel injection came in?

[gorillaonabik...]

Hornet's really fun to commute on. Can really throw it around. Just brilliant unless you have to do any kind of distance.

So much fun but runs out of petrol if you even look at a motorway and it's a little buzzy through the handlebars. I'd echo 100 miles before filling up although I've been on reserve at 80 miles or so.

Great little bike for town commuting, for regular motorway mileage, just don't bother.
____________________
FZR400 (blown engine), ZXR750 (blown engine), ZX6R (accident), CBR600 which had engine issues after which I learned to change gear..., CBR900, CBR924 (stolen), CB600, CB1300 (everything blew up), BMW K1300GT (written off, hit from rear while stationary), Bandit 1250 for a couple of months, Triumph Sprint ST 1050 (nicked) and somewhere in there, I wrote off a Ducati 748 at Cadwell.

[MCN.]

[Wednesday Biker]

It was the small tank issue that probably swayed me away from one in the end.

[Slacker24seve...]