Honda and Onitsuka Tiger Debut a Middleweight Sportbike Concept at Milan Fashion Week
Honda’s latest concept bike premiered at the Onitsuka Tiger show during Milan Fashion Week 2027 Women’s Collection Spring/Summer rather than at EICMA, which is held in the same city every November. Honda held the world premiere of the “Onitsuka Tiger Honda Mid Sports Concept” motorcycle concept model at the show last week on September 23rd, 2026. The bike shared the stage with Onitsuka Tiger’s Spring/Summer 2027 collection, and it is the first initiative of a collaboration between Honda and the Japanese fashion brand.
The Brand Behind The Stripes
There aren’t many direct threads pulling Onitsuka Tiger and Honda together, other than both hailing from Japan. In addition, the official concept bike announcement noted that Onitsuka Tiger was founded in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, in 1949, one year after Honda’s founding in 1948.
Onitsuka Tiger started out as an athletic footwear company, before expanding into other fashion avenues. During the Milan show, it revealed footwear and apparel bearing Honda’s iconic Wing Mark, in a collection said to be inspired by “motorcycle culture.”
While the move may seem unusual to motorcycle audiences, Honda has partnered with several apparel brands over the past decade, including TrueTimber and Supreme, to create various cobranded clothing runs. Arguably, the most notable collaboration for two-wheeled enthusiasts is American Honda’s vintage-themed Forever 21 collection, which included classic streetwear heavily inspired by classic 1980s and 1990s motocross gear.
A CB750 Hornet In Full Dress?
Honda has released no technical information about the bike used as the donor bike for this concept. The company says only that the concept is based on a “mid-displacement sports model,” which under close examination appears to be the middleweight naked Honda CB750 Hornet, sporting several choice upgrades aside from the full fairings featuring Onitsuka Tiger color scheme.
Aside from Honda’s vague statement indicating class, we can see that the subframe and frame appear to be the same or at least derived from the CB750 Hornet platform. Following that, the engine cases indicate that we may be working with the Japanese firm’s latest 755cc parallel-twin engine found in the CB750 Hornet and XL750 Transalp platforms.
With respect to the upgrades, there are several notable points to discuss. The Hornet’s largely non-adjustable Showa suspension doesn’t appear to carry over, evidenced by what could be a larger diameter fork and most notably, the fork lowers are different from those found on the CB750 Hornet and CB650R/CBR650R models. We also notice Brembo Stylema clamping onto larger-diameter rotors. Likewise, the swingarm does not appear to be exactly the same as the naked Hornet, nor does it appear to be sourced from Honda’s current middleweight sportbike, the inline four-cylinder-powered CBR650R. The swingarm seen here has a distinctive raised line running down the center of each arm, which isn’t featured on either of the donor models in question. In addition, the cast aluminum wheels appear to be unique to this model. Of course, the Akrapovič full exhaust system is a standout feature of the concept and one that most certainly would not make it to full production. With various upgrades like that, we could be looking at a prototype Honda CBR750R sportbike.
The biggest question we have when looking at this concept is this: is Honda tipping its hand at a new venture into the middleweight sportbike market? The move would be in lockstep with most manufacturers, pitting the CB750 Hornet-based machine against the likes of the Aprilia RS 660, CFMoto 675SS, Suzuki GSX-8R, Triumph Daytona 660, and Yamaha YZF-R7. Austrian firm KTM has also indicated that it will join the category with a KTM 790 RC model, based on the 790 Duke platform, though no production model is confirmed as yet.
However, there are more than a few flies in the ointment with this perspective. Honda already has the naked Honda CB650R and fully faired CBR650R competing in the two middleweight categories being discussed here. While both 650s belong to long-established lines from Honda, recent updates to both motorcycles make it seem unlikely that they’d be put out to pasture. Another sticking point is that sometimes a concept is just a concept. Honda has a long and fruitful track record of creating some of the most compelling concepts in the Powersports community, with this motorcycle scribe’s favorite being the Honda CB1100R Concept shown during the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show. That said, Honda has not indicated that this concept is intended for production in any capacity.
With the motorcycle industry’s premier trade show, EICMA 2026, held in Milan just around the corner (both figuratively and literally) from where the Onitsuka Tiger Honda Mid Sports Concept was displayed during Milan Fashion Week, we may be in for a treat from Big Red. And to that, we’ll say, cross your fingers, sportbike fans.
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