Honda Hornet 6.

[Reevo8]

I am in the search for an '02 or '03 Hornet 6. After getting a quote on 1 for reasonable price. The colour I stated on the insurance was yellow, of course they didnt make yellow in 2003.

So '02 or '03 hornets, are they any good? What is the best gearing set up? Will it be quicker than my RVF400?

Hoping Jay will see this and get some feedback to me, but everyone else please let me know of your experiences both good and bad.

Cheers,

Sam.
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05 ZX10R, (**05 WKR)

[instigator]

I had a 98 hornet.

Am pretty sure it will be quicker than your RVF but quite whether you notice the difference, I don't know. Standing 1/4 times are not THAT far apart I don't think.

Loved my hornet, hated the pish tank range. People talk about crap suspension, crap brakes but you know thats all sorted by fitting springs and braided hoses EVEN IF you do find them crap (suspension was ok for me)

Craigs23 had an rvf. His dad has a hornet so might give you a good comparison.

[byke95]

I owned a 2003 Hornet for a while...

Looks: Better than the 2002 (and earlier ones), new light and tail. The high level can does look very nice on the 2003 (blue and black being the best colours). You'll be wanting to get an undertray, the stock is HUGE!

Handling: Good chassis, easy to throw around and should be a nice step-up from the 400. Might need to do some tweaking for serious track-daying (as you say, Jay is the man to ask for that one) but fine to do the odd on with everything stock.

As with any naked, you'll want to be investing into a screen for motorway use. Unfortunately for the Hornet all the screens that are available for it do look a bit, er, shit.

Everything you could ever want to know about the Hornet (including detailed spec throughout the years) can be found on www.hondahornet.co.uk

[simonthepiema...]

I have an 00 hornet which i love. like everyone else says fuel range is crap but it is a very smooth ride. acceleration wise no offense to the 400 fraternity but i cant imagine getting outdragged from the lights. Definately down gear it to at least 15/ 45 which is 3 up on the back seems to improve it.

Pretty sure a 400 would run rings around it in the corners as the suspension is quite soft

just to add the hornet will just crack the 11s on the 1/4 wheras i would have thought the 400 would be 13.0/ 5 ish

[Keen]

I've got an 04 and I love it.

Handling seems great to me, its more nimble than stable, if you see what I mean.
Tank range is about 110-120 miles for me, but its possible to increase that by quite a bit of you ride sensibly.
People knock the brakes but I find them pretty good, they just need more of a squeeze at the lever than most, apparently that was dialed in to stop newbies from locking up...
The performance is perfect for me, fast enough to be fun but not really enough to bite you, 85bhp, 0-60 supposedly 3.9 sec.
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"he who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man"- Dr. Johnson

[simonthepiema...]

I have an AP22 accelerometer which is really designed for cars, as its meant to be run on a flat surface, but for a laugh i duct tapped it onto my hornet tank and tried some fast starts with the aim of avoiding any front wheel lift as that makes the readings innacurate. My best run saw 60 come up in 3.7s and 100 in 8.5 but I had to run it to 110ish on the clock to get that reading. So fast enough. I reckon it would go quicker with a harder launch

[sanchezz_182]

iv got a cbr400 an my mates got a 98 hornet

speed wise, ther is not much between them at all.. his has the edge from a rolling start, pulls a few meters ahead until 100mph then my bike starts gaining slowly, im gesing because of the farings..

cant realy comment on handling as its strange for me gan from the cbr to that, he seems to be able to make it shift,
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no sig, thats gay!!

[Reevo8]

Cheers for theinput lads, all good so far. Lets hear some more.
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05 ZX10R, (**05 WKR)

[Jack_Cheese]

My advice would be let me have a go!

I saw a lovely lava red one with twin headlights and matching bellypan! it was teh sex!

Jack
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www.bikepics.com/members/jackcheese <--- NOW FOR SALE! 51 Plate Cagiva Planet 125
Quacker_boy: "Jack, you really are a dick!"

[MarkJ]

I've got a 99 Hornet 6 and it's bang on. It's pretty quick when you want it to be but absolutely docile when you want to slow things down. The tank range it crap, but I did over 45mpg the other week which isn't bad. The brakes are fine, handling is great, and most importantly, it's a Honda so shouldn't fall apart at the first sight of rain. It's cheap for insurance too.

Increase your street cred by adding a full belly pan and twin lights (like me)

[JonB]

Hornet would piss all over a 400, they pull 95BHP with them. They really shift.
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Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.

[Villers]

I had an 03 as a hire bike last year when I got knocked off. The power was pretty fun and delivered well, the standard equipment was ok although a few bits seemed flimsy - the petrol cap broke on the one I had! The handling was pretty good, see the avatar! It was very predictable going into bends and you could chuck it pretty much anywhere you wanted (even with the shitty michelins it had on). The downside of the whole deal (other than it had to go back eventually) was how quickly the pegs hit the deck, I actually had to put new hero blobs on it beofre it went back. At the time I was riding a CBR600 and for power they were pretty similar knocking about but once past the ton the CBR came into its own in comparison.

Great fun bike, first knee down experience!!
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RS125 > CBR6 > SV650S > ZX636R > GSX1300RZ Hayabusa > 06 RSVR Mille > SV1000S > Street Triple 765 RS

[Reevo8]

The quote I got today when trying to improve on £531 was £1400.

I need to find a hornet soonish I think! Before my RVF breaks again!
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05 ZX10R, (**05 WKR)