2026 Honda CB1000F

The Retro Honda That Lies About Its Age

The Honda CB1000F looks like the bike your dad had a poster of. Round headlight. Big flat seat. Bars swept back toward you like they want a hug. From ten feet away it reads as the motorcycle you ride to get coffee.

Then you twist the throttle in first gear and the front wheel starts thinking about leaving.

Here's the thing. Under that silver tank is the 999cc inline-four from the CB1000 Hornet, which itself came out of the CBR1000RR. Honda retuned it for more low-down torque and shortened first and second gear. I read that on the spec sheet and assumed nobody could actually feel it. You can. You 100% can. This is a modern classic with a sense of humor, and it is far more fun than it has any right to look.

Performance Highlights

Inline-fours usually make you work for it. You rev them out, wait, and then the power shows up all at once like a late party guest. Not this one. The CB1000F makes 122 horsepower and 76 lb-ft of torque, and it puts that torque right where you live in town. The ramp is short. You're not hunting for revs, you just roll on and go.

And the throttle is the best part. Honda nailed the connection between your wrist and the rear tire. Every twist does exactly what you asked for, no more and no less. The clutch feels just as good. Those two things together are why a liter bike feels this easy to ride slowly.

The catch is that the fun lives in first and second. Third through sixth are taller, so once you're on the highway the whole bike exhales and calms right down. On the 40-80 I launched in first and second ran out just short of 80. Exciting, then sensible, like it has two personalities and only one of them goes to parties.

The Showa suspension is adjustable at both ends, which is good, because out of the box it was soft and set up for somebody who isn't me. In the fast turn on the camera car run the bike wiggled around a bit. The Nissin brakes are fine. They stop you, they just don't tell you much while they're doing it. The bike had 33 miles on it, so they'll bed in, but nobody is mistaking them for Brembos.

Around town it flicks wherever you point it. Hang off it in a fast corner though and something feels off. It doesn't make you want to ride it like a sport bike. If you want that, the XSR900 is happier being thrashed.

Rider Experience & Tech

The top half of this bike is all comfort. The seat is wide, thick and long enough that you can slide forward or back to find your spot, and the bars come right back to you. The bottom half is a surprise. The pegs sit high for a bike that looks this relaxed, and at 5'10 with a 32 inch inseam my knees were folded up toward the tank. If you're over six foot, sit on one before you buy it.

Now the tech, which is the plot twist. The CB1000F gets a 6-axis IMU, so the cornering ABS and lean-sensitive traction control actually work leaned over. The CB1000 Hornet it's built from doesn't get that. So the retro one is the smarter one. You get five modes, Rain, Standard, Sport and two user modes, keyless start and Honda RoadSync on a 5 inch TFT. The mode order is strange, going Rain, User 1, User 2, then Standard, and the dash and switchgear are shared with the CB750. No complaints, just nothing fancy.

What's missing is a stock quickshifter and cruise control. On a bike with short first and second gears, the quickshifter is the option I'd tick first. There's also no wind protection, so you get pushed around on the highway. Leave it in Rain mode though and it's friendlier than a liter bike should be. I put it in B tier on the Beginner Bike Tier List for exactly that reason.

The Chase Score & Final Thoughts

The 2026 Honda CB1000F lands a Chase Score of 72/100, which puts it in the Good tier. The ride score is 35 and the usability score is 37. That split says it all. This is a bike you'll enjoy every day more than one you'll brag about on a mountain road.

And at $10,599 it's a bargain. A liter inline-four with an IMU for about the price of a mid-size bike is Honda leaving money on the table, and you should take it.

Who's it for? The rider who wants the classic look with modern stuff underneath, does most of their riding in town plus a short commute, and likes a bike that can be silly at a stoplight. Skip it if you want to attack back roads. This one would rather hoon around town than carve canyons.