Hornet 900 vs Street Triple

[Farab]

Hi Guys,

I commute on daily basis between the North Shore and Penrose, all weather. Also do fun rides on the weekend. Apart from the price tag difference, what are your thoughts between these 2 bikes?? Would also on occasion take the missus for short trips.

[gijoe1313]

Well as the proud owner of a new Big Ol'Hornet (still have the little ol'hornet I bought first), they are cheap as chips and you get a lot of bike for your money!

Very linear power delivery and has the usual high standard Honda finish. They are easy to mod and there is a ton of bling available for them (Hornet riders are pretty passionate about doing all sorts of things to them! )

Handles well, doesn't mind the long tours nor short commutes and being naked, not too hard to get at its innards when you need to. People notice Hornets and they always bring a smile to faces ... its a friendly bike, and you always meet the nicest people on them!

I'm biased of course, being a Hornet rider .. I'm sure others can stake a case to justify the awesome Street Triple as well!

[Big Dave]

You just have to ask yourself
Do I want to be cool?
Or
Do I want a Honda? (not that there's anything wrong with that.)

[Farab]

thanks mate!

[xwhatsit]

You just have to ask yourself
Do I want to be cool?
Or
Do I want a Honda? (not that there's anything wrong with that.)

Or, you could buy a CX500 and have neither.

[martybabe]

If it was my choice. Honda 900.

[jrandom]

You just have to ask yourself
Do I want to be cool?
Or
Do I want a Honda? (not that there's anything wrong with that.)

Actually, Big Dave pretty much hits the nail on the head.

I can't say I'm a huge fan of the Hornet 900, but that's just because they're, well...

... a bit uncool, really. Not much else wrong with them. I've managed to verify in scientific double-blind tests (heh) that a Hornet 900 won't keep up with a GSX1400 on the open road, but that's hardly a condemnation. They're comfy, smart-lookin', economical, quite light and easy to wheel around in a driveway, offer pretty reasonable pillion accommodation... can't go wrong, really.

The baby naked Triumph is cooler, sexier, and probably faster point to point when the chips are down, but the fact remains that if I had to do major mileage, I'd pick the Honda every time.

The money you'll save with the Hornet's lower purchase price will buy you suspension upgrades front and rear (call Shaun Harris at Moto-Dynamix for a quote on Penske gear and Robert Taylor at Crown Kiwi for a quote on Ohlins, or just PM them via the forum here) as well as a very nice set of hard luggage, too.

I vote Honda.

[Fatjim]

TBH I never rated the Hornet 900 till I rode one. It just loves twisties. and for a 10k bike its pretty hard to beat, just doesn;t have much of a blokes image.


I didn't much like the triple.

[NOMIS]

if prices where closer I would take the street triple on looks, More aggressive.

And I am a biased hornet rider but there is no bike that i completely like from factory, except the "08" r6/r1 and "07" zx10 ( just not green ) thoes and the new auguster.............

[Dooly]

Go for a Speed Triple, rather than a Street triple.
Not that theres anything wrong with the Street/T.

[HornetBoy]

Owned a 05 hornet 900 for about 6 months last year and used it exactly for what you are thinking of ,commuted about 130kms a day and used it for semi aggresive twisties on the weekends,with a bit of two up occasinally.Scrubs up well when it wants to aswell

Found it had a good enough tank range to be able to go out to far away places without worrying about running out or having to stop and start all the time,also if you get the +04 ones you get adjustable fronts which id have advise you to look for if u do go with the hornet.And they are a beast when you put on some aftermarkets mufflers really flickable with a pillion and doesnt weight a ton so it feels quite easy to make sharp movements as slow speeds,but it is a slightly annoying that the headers get so covered in road tar etc , so you might want to install a fenda extenda or a belly pan if you want to keep the engine/headers from roting .

On the other hand the street triple is pretty darm good looking and is not as commonly seen as the hornet is ,but im not sure how that would handle as a commuter as its a bit more sporty and more higher revving ,also the serviceing would be a bit more expensive if your racking up the kms than the hornet which is something you cant overlook.

EDIT: Yea speed triple would be a more suitable bike for what your looking at than the street triple as Dooly said.

Meh or you could buy a katana like i did ,better than both for touring and commuting IMO ,although not as full of "tehno wizardry" but thats why i got it as you can do all the work on it yourself etc and they are very low maintenance.

[nodrog:Me]

Go for a Speed Triple, rather than a Street triple.
Not that theres anything wrong with the Street/T.

what he said, and you should be able to pick up an '07 run out special as the '08's are due soonish

[ceebie13]

Have you considered the big brother of the 900 Hornet? The CB1300.
Buy the naked version, trick it up a bit and you have the creamiest, torquiest, infinitely flickable, mile-munching fun bike - even with the Mrs on the back.
All with Honda build quality and reliability.

Ignoring all those on the "It's a Honda therefore it's dull" bandwagon, rest assured that it's quite possibly the most underrated secret in Honda's line up.
Yep! I'm biased :-)

Detailed pics of mine showing various bling here:
http://homepage.mac.com/dicklaing/PhotoAlbum9.html

In the end, whatever you choose, it has to be your decision alone. You'll be happy with whatever you choose.

[Devil]

Street triple all the way.
It's a perfect commuter. Very light, very nimple. Power right off the bottom of the tacho. If I had to dodge traffic each day it'd be no contest. The Triple goes, stops and turns one hundred times quicker than the hornet.

Out on the open road it's an absolute hoot. All the plusses I mentioned above make it a scream in the twisties.

I wanted a hornet for my first big bike... until I rode one. And damn near fell asleep.

If you want a bike to go from A to B with no fuss and dont care about it. Buy the hornet.
If you want to enjoy the ride, get the Triumph.

As for reliability, i'm up to 69,000km on my Speed Four and it's just purring.

[Devil]

Oh and before I forget, 10,000km service intervals on the Triumph. They're not hugely more expensive to service than the jap bike. Plus, if you buy from holeshot, you'll get kick arse service to boot. Plus nice loaners