2004 Honda Hornet 919?

[champion221elite]

My buddy has been lusting after a Honda Hornet and came across one yesterday. His current ride is a 2003 Kawasaki ZX-7 which is an air/oil cooled inline 4 cylinder 750 cc bike with carbs.

The Hornet is a 901 cc, liquid cooled inline 4 that is fuel injected. He has one year of riding experience.

How much of a jump in performance can he expect, and is he getting in over his head by making the switch?

 

[Dave.TX]

It's all relative and relies on a lot of different factors. Not everyone's riding skills are the same after 1 year. I find riding natural, others not so much and some are just born to ride while some can't no matter how hard they try. After 4 months of riding street several people were amazed I didn't have more experience.

Quick overview:

Kawasaki ZX-7R

Honda CB900F Hornet

Like anything else you'll find some love it, some are indifferent and some hate it. As much as I love the FZ6, six months into ownership I want something else. It's a great bike, no doubt, but like any other bike just isn't for everyone. I have 2.5 more years of payments so will keep it until then.

Sounds like the Hornet isn't much different from the ZX as they both have the same HP at the wheel, granted the larger engine in the Honda has more torque and that will be felt on acceleration and at lower RPM's. The Honda is a little lighter too which will be felt on acceleration and cornering. The ZX gets better gas mileage and has a higher top speed.

Overall the Honda will not blow the ZX-7R away by any means. They're completely different bikes with fairly similar performance. He needs to test ride to see if it's for him but no, it doesn't seem to be that much more than the Kawasaki already is (not like jumping on a Hayabusa).

 

[champion221elite]

I appreciate the insight Dave, and will pass it along to my buddy.

One note of caution, I mistakenly said my buddy has a ZX-7. I mixed up the Kawi nomenclature since his bike is actually a ZR-7S.

Kawasaki ZR-7 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It appears the difference between his current ride is more significant than we first thought.