Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1538859
P110 COMPARISON I 2025 HONDA CB1000 HORNE T SP vs. 2025 SUZUKI G S X-S1000 COMPARISON I 2025 HONDA CB1000 HORNE T SP vs. 2025 SUZUKI G S X-S1000 various riding modes to feel the different power delivery on each bike, we opted for the full power modes and left them there for the rest of the test, and here's where things got interesting. Honda claims 155 horsepower out of their CB. Granted, that's crankshaft horsepower, but in practice, the Honda suffers big time, and we really mean big time, from the dreaded emissions restrictions placed on its motor. From a closed-throttle opening that's quite abrupt, the CB delivers torque in a clunky, uneven fashion. There's a massive flat spot that begins just after 4000 rpm. Torque then jumps dramatically at 5000 rpm, falls again at 6000 rpm, and finally begins to build solid accel - eration for the next few thousand revs. However, by the time the motor gets to 9000 rpm, drive falls off a cliff. Why is that? It's due to the various emis - sions laws—both pollution and seat, so you get a little more blood flow to your lower leg ex- tremities on the Honda than on the Suzuki. You sit much more in the Suzuki than on it. The Honda, on the other hand, has shades of a dirt bike supermoto stance to it. After messing around with the Let's Go For a Ride, Shall We? First, a couple of vitals. The Suzuki and Honda both share an identical seat height of 31.9 inches, although the Honda has a slightly smaller fuel tank at 4.5 gallons to the Suzuki's five- gallon tank. Steering rake and trail figures are identical at 25° and 3.9 inches, and there's only two-tenths of a inch difference in wheelbase between them, with 57.3 inches for the Honda and 57.5 inches for the Suzuki. It is, therefore, rather eye- opening how different they feel when you first sit on them. The Suzuki runs a softer, deep- dish padded seat with the tank edges rising higher around your legs, while the Honda is a flatter, almost bench-style seat with far less padding. A saving grace is that there's a little more distance between the footpegs and the Have a good look at this dyno readout from Rottweiler Performance in Costa Mesa. The power line (solid) has Suzuki holding a clear advantage, especially from 9000 rpm onward, but it's the torque line (dotted) that is Honda's problem. Constant jumping up and down as the emissions police screw with the bike gives an uneven torque delivery. The Suzuki isn't perfect, either, with its own dips in the torque curve, but it has managed the emissions problem better than Honda.