Honda sets off fireworks at EICMA 2026

Anyone who rants about electric mobility as if the last four-cylinder were being put down tomorrow should take a look at the Honda stand at EICMA 2026 in Milan. Of course there are electric scooters and electric bikes on display. But alongside them, Honda is showing two completely new engine generations this year alone: a 500 four-cylinder and the V3R, a petrol engine with an electronically controlled compressor. There's no swan song for the combustion engine to be felt at this stand. The floor space is so packed with new models that I actually get lost at first. I can't think of a manufacturer showing more new stuff at this show. Cheat sheet in hand, I weave my way through the visitors and sit on everything the moment a saddle comes free.

The most exciting engine concept of the show has V3R lettered on the tank. Honda builds a liquid-cooled 75-degree V3 with 900 cc and boosts it with an electronically controlled compressor, according to Honda the world's first for motorcycles. The development goal is the output of a 1,200 cc engine. On the stand, the engine sits in a radical supersports bike bristling with aero elements. The seat is little more than a whisper, there's astonishingly little bike around the compact V3, and the rider has all the more room to tuck in. The weight should be correspondingly low, at least that's my impression as I walk around it. For now it's a prototype. My guess is it won't become a production model before the end of 2028. But the direction is already right, and it leaves you wanting more.

At the other end of the stand, the V3R appears a second time, this time as a naked bike and already very close to production. Honda wants to refine the prototype for series production, but the manufacturer isn't naming a date. What makes the concept so exciting becomes clear in comparison with a turbo. A turbo brings all the capricious quirks you know from turbo lag. With the electric compressor, they disappear: it forces exactly as much air into the combustion chamber as the engine needs at that moment, regardless of revs. Honda therefore promises torque right from the bottom. For engineers this opens up an enormous number of possibilities, because fuel quantity, air quantity and throttle valve position can all be controlled together. The same engine could thus run with very low emissions and still put serious fire down on the tarmac when you twist the throttle.

The Africa Twin is becoming a family too. From now on there are three models, and all three are new for 2027. The regular Africa Twin remains the standard model, the Adventure Sports is the touring variant with more features and a bigger tank, and the Enduro Sports is the radical off-road weapon. The name gives away the larger engine: CRF1150L. The parallel twin grows to 1,131 cc and now makes 119 hp and 119 Nm, up from 102 hp before. The crowd around the three Africa Twins is so big that I have to wait until someone hesitates for a moment. Then I'm on. The cockpit combines two displays in one, navigation comes from your phone, and the familiar large control on the left handles the rider aids and windscreen. The DCT remains a classic of the model line. The new flagship Adventure Sports with the SENSING RIDE radar system is only available with it.

I don't really want to say it, but I'll say it anyway: the Enduro Sports is the cooler Africa Twin. According to Honda, it's 9 kg lighter than the regular one, weighs 228 kg fueled up with a manual gearbox and rolls on a 21-inch front wheel that takes any off-road tyre you want. On top of that comes a fully adjustable Showa fork with 240 mm of travel. Just standing on it, the first adventures pop into my head. Colleague Gregor, our man for adventure bikes, spontaneously declares it his highlight of the show. On the old Africa Twin, the far-forward footpegs bothered him when standing, and uphill he ended up hanging off the handlebar. Off-road trainer Bernd Hiemer stands on it right there at the stand and says of the new footpegs: "They're much closer to the position where I'd say that's right for an adventure bike." None of us has ridden it yet.

With the Fireblade I face the same task as with the Africa Twin: three variants again. The regular CBR1000RR-R Fireblade comes with mechanical Showa suspension, the SP with electronic Öhlins. The sharpest of the three is the HRC Works Edition. You can recognise it by the HRC livery and by the fact that it goes back to mechanical Öhlins suspension. It's aimed at racers who don't have much time for electronic suspension. It also gets carbon winglets from the superbike world, which put weight on the front in corners and on the straight. According to Honda, all three make 218 hp. By the way, I can't find the regular Fireblade on the stand, even though I honestly look for it. In the crush of an EICMA you take what you can get, and the two sharper variants are the more exciting ones anyway.

What surprises me most is the CBR500R FOUR. Honda already has the 600, the 650 and the 1000 in its line-up and is now slotting a 500 four-cylinder in between. I hadn't expected that much courage for model diversity. The inline four has 502 cc, revs to 12,500 rpm and, according to Honda Germany, makes 72 hp with a wet weight of 189 kg. The clutch is operated by the E-Clutch as standard. An A2 version with 35 kW has been announced for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, which makes it interesting for beginners with a soft spot for four-cylinders too. There's no price for the DACH region yet. Anyone who's had to make do with a twin until now gets four-cylinder character and glorious revs in a proper CBR.

600 supersports bikes were long considered dead: nobody needed them anymore, nobody bought them anymore. Since the CBR600RR returned to Europe in 2024, Honda says it has sold over 9,600 units. For 2027 there's a small upgrade: radially mounted brake calipers derived from the Fireblade, a front end with small integrated spoilers below the headlights and a revised 5-inch TFT. Output stays at 121 hp. I'm glad Honda is having success with the 600 relaunch. It's the best possible answer to all the pub-talk prophets who had already buried the segment. Anyone who wants to learn on the race track what a revvy four-cylinder feels like has a real choice again.

Almost in passing, I spot the CMX500 Rebel, now with E-Clutch. It's the most accessible bike on the stand: with a 690 mm seat height, practically anyone fits. For my size it's a little compact, but I still feel comfortable. The E-Clutch is not an automatic. A small actuator operates the clutch, you still shift yourself, only the clutch lever has been retired. In hectic city traffic that's worth its weight in gold. Above the stand, the ADV125 is rotating, the rugged, chunky apocalypse scooter, now as a 125. It has a bit more suspension travel, knobblier tyres for bad tarmac or a gravel excursion and still 29 litres of storage space that swallows a full-face helmet. For cyclists, Honda is even showing an e-mountain bike, the RN0, reportedly with a 100 Nm Shimano motor.

Even die-hard Honda fans would struggle to list every engine concept this brand currently has in its line-up without missing one. I can't manage it either. This diversity costs a pile of money, and that's exactly what fascinates me. Honda affords it anyway, invests heavily in new combustion engines, keeps electric and petrol alive side by side and, with the V3R, brings a concept that has never existed before. This passion and ambition can be felt on the stand, even in the thickest crowd. For me, 2027 will bring more travel than planned, and the Enduro Sports is to blame. And anyone who's been waiting for a small, revvy four-cylinder gets exactly that with the CBR500R FOUR. The future of the motorcycle is more diverse than many doom prophets believe.

If you don't just want to read about the new models but see them: my complete walkaround of EICMA 2026 is running as a four-hour video on the 1000PS YouTube channel. The Honda part starts at minute 41, click here to go straight to the Honda stand. You'll see the V3R as a radical supersports prototype and as a near-production naked bike, the three new Africa Twins, the Fireblade variants with their carbon winglets up close, the CBR500R FOUR, the CBR600RR, the ADV125 and the Rebel. Later in the video, colleague Gregor has his say on the Enduro Sports, and off-road trainer Bernd Hiemer stands on the new footpegs. Keep watching and you get more than 40 stands from Triumph to CFMOTO, with sit tests, stand chats and clear verdicts. Four hours of EICMA to catch up on, without the crowds and without the trip to Milan.

• V3R 900 E-Kompressor: 75-degree V3, 900 cc, electronically controlled compressor, output target equal to a 1,200 cc engine, production date open
• CRF1150L Africa Twin: 1,131 cc, 119 hp at 7,500 rpm, 119 Nm at 5,750 rpm, 237 kg fueled up (DCT 247 kg), seat height 850/870 mm
• Africa Twin Adventure Sports: 119 hp, 119 Nm, 245 kg fueled up (SENSING RIDE with DCT 256 kg), 24.2 l tank, seat height 830/850 mm
• Africa Twin Enduro Sports: 119 hp, 119 Nm, 228 kg fueled up (DCT 239 kg), 240/230 mm suspension travel, 21/18 inch, seat height 870/890 mm
• CBR1000RR-R Fireblade, SP and HRC Works Edition: 218 hp at 14,000 rpm, 114 Nm, 199 kg, SP 201 kg, HRC Works Edition 200 kg fueled up
• CBR500R FOUR: 502 cc, 72 hp at 11,000 rpm, 47.4 Nm, 189 kg wet weight, seat height 780 mm, A2 version with 35 kW announced, UK from £6,999
• CBR600RR: 121 hp at 14,250 rpm, 63 Nm, 194 kg wet weight, seat height 820 mm, DACH price open
• CMX500 Rebel: 46 hp at 8,500 rpm, 43.3 Nm, 191 kg wet weight, seat height 690 mm, E-Clutch
• ADV125: 13 hp, 11.7 Nm, 133 kg fueled up, seat height 780 mm, 29 l storage space