The 599

Joined
Jun 14, 2012
Messages
1,429
Location
Richardson, TX
Bike
2010 Red NT700
I was at the Honda shop today and saw the neatest little naked bike. I don't know what year it was or anything else except on the rear fairing it said 599
Really cool looking bike
 
yeah its called a hornet in europe. Basically a smaller 919. Liquid cooled 4 cyl inline - nekid. Didn't sell to well here in the USA. Everybody at the time was nuts for a cruiser, so they bought vlx600's instead of the 599. too bad , its a little gem of a bike.
 
I don't think the Hornet is still being made (?) but it was extremely popular overseas in the late-90s to early-00s. The idea was to fit an older, less expensive version of the CBR600R engine into a naked bike. For a while it was being manufactured in both Spain and Brasil to meet the demand and it was the most popular Honda motorcycle in Europe for several years. Spain & Portugal had a "Hornet spec series" that got a lot of young guns started.

The 599 was a disappointment to me because it lacked all the pizazz of the Hornet.
 
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When I was in the market for my first street bike in 2006-2007, I ran across several Honda 599's. The dealers must have been anxious to move them out because a simple glance at the 599 brought the salesmen running and trying to make a deal. In the end, I ended up with a VFR 800 (Interceptor)-just too darn sexy to pass up!
 
I loved how agile the 599 was. It was the perfect mixture of handling from my Suzuki GS500 and power from my Nighthawk 750. I wanted a 599 very badly when they were in the showrooms in New Mexico, but my wife at the time was anti-motorcycle... So, my GS500E went the way of all good things, and I went bike-less until this year. God bless my second wife. :)
 
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