Think back, if you will, to March 2020. It was an uncertain time, as the first waves of a global pandemic kept a tight lid on large gatherings. That's why Honda, among other motorcycle OEMs, chose to harness the international power of the Internet and go virtual with its motorcycle reveals that year.
One that grabbed a lot of attention at the time was the CB-F. And truly, it wasn't only Honda's choice to share images in black and white that made it clear the brand was going full retro here. That slab-sided tank, particularly when taken with the carefully sculpted outline provided by the four-into-two exhaust wrapping around the belly and the blocky, angular tailpiece were clear callbacks to Honda's 1980s design language.
The headlight is round, not square; but both it and the wheels are the three roundest things on display here. Everything else? Blocky, slabby, and adorned in those lovely retro stripes that Honda's done well since the beginning. Fast forward just five years, and Honda's taken that concept seemingly several steps further with the introduction of a new iteration: the CB1000F Concept.
Honda kicked off its 2025 motorcycle show season at the Osaka Motorcycle Show on March 21, 2025, where it'll run through the 23rd. From there, it's on to Tokyo and Nagoya over the next couple of months. The CB1000F Concept is a design from Moto Honda da Amazonia Ltda (Brazil) designer Yuha Suzuki, who previously also designed two other recent hits for Honda: the CRF1100L Africa Twin, and the X-ADV 750.
According to Suzuki, the driving theme behind this concept was "CB for a new era." After all, Honda has been making CB-designated bikes for longer than many of us have been alive, so it's important to strike a balance between honoring the past while still facing the future.
Another variation of this concept will also be on display at all three Japanese motorcycle shows in 2025: the CB1000F Concept Moriwaki Engineering, which will be a more racing-focused vision of this model.
What do you think, are you hoping that the CB1000F becomes more than just a concept? Would you ride one if you could? If not, what would you change about it? Let me know in the comments!
