Honda Super Cub
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The Honda Super Cub or Honda Cub is a
Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...
underbone An underbone is a type of motorcycle that uses structural tube framing with an overlay of plastic or non-structural body panels and contrasts with monocoque or unibody designs where pressed steel serves both as the vehicle's structure and body ...
motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: Long-distance ...
with a
four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either direct ...
single-cylinder engine A single-cylinder engine, sometimes called a thumper, is a piston engine with one cylinder. This engine is often used for motorcycles, motor scooters, go-karts, all-terrain vehicles, radio-controlled vehicles, portable tools and garden machinery ...
ranging in displacement from . In continuous manufacture since 1958 with production surpassing 60 million in 2008, 87 million in 2014, and 100 million in 2017, the Super Cub is the most produced
motor vehicle A motor vehicle, also known as motorized vehicle or automotive vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on rails (such as trains or trams) and is used for the transportation of people or cargo. The ...
in history. Variants include the C100, C50, C70, C90, C100EX and C70 Passport, as well as the Honda Trail series. The Super Cub's US advertising campaign, ''You meet the nicest people on a Honda'', had a lasting impact on Honda's image and on American attitudes to motorcycling, and is often used as a
marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...
case study.


Development

The idea for a new motorcycle was conceived in 1956 when Honda Motor's
Soichiro Honda was a Japanese engineer and industrialist. In 1948, he established Honda Motor Co., Ltd. and oversaw its expansion from a wooden shack manufacturing bicycle motors to a multinational automobile and motorcycle manufacturer. Early years Honda ...
and Takeo Fujisawa toured Germany and witnessed the popularity of
moped A moped ( ) is a type of small motorcycle, generally having a less stringent licensing requirement than full motorcycles or automobiles. The term used to mean a similar vehicle except with both bicycle pedals and a motorcycle engine. Mopeds ty ...
s and lightweight motorcycles. Soichiro Honda was primarily the engineering and production leader of the company, always with an eye towards winning on the racetrack, while his close partner Fujisawa was the man of finance and business, heading up sales and formulating strategies intended to dominate markets and utterly destroy Honda Motor's competitors. Fujisawa had been thinking about a long term expansion strategy, and unlike other Japanese companies, they did not want to simply boost production to cash in on the recent economic boom in Japan. A small, high-performance motorcycle was central to his plans. Upwardly mobile consumers in postwar Europe typically went from a bicycle to a clip-on engine, then bought a scooter, then a
bubble car Microcar is a term often used for the smallest size of cars, with three or four wheels and often an engine smaller than . Specific types of microcars include bubble cars, cycle cars, invacar, quadricycles and voiturettes. Microcars are oft ...
, and then a small car and onwards. Fujisawa saw that a motorcycle did not fit in this pattern for the average person, and he saw an opportunity to change that. Soichiro Honda was at the time tired of listening to Fujisawa talk about his new motorcycle idea; Honda came to Europe to win the
Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May/June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907. The event is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world ...
race and he wanted to think about little else. Fujisawa and Honda visited
Kreidler Kreidler was a German manufacturer of bicycles, mopeds and motorcycles. Kreidler was originally based in Kornwestheim, between Ludwigsburg and Stuttgart. It was founded in 1903 as "Kreidlers Metall- und Drahtwerke" (Kreidlers metal and wire f ...
and Lambretta showrooms, as well as others, researching the kind of motorcycle Fujisawa had in mind. Fujisawa said these designs had "no future" and would not sell well. His concept was a two-wheeler for everyman, one that would appeal to both developed and developing countries, urban and rural. The new motorcycle needed to be technologically simple to survive in places without up-to-date know-how and access to advanced tools or reliable spare parts supplies. The common consumer complaints of noise, poor reliability, especially in the electrics, and general difficulty of use would have to be addressed. Because Honda was a large company growing larger, it needed a mass-appeal product that could be produced on an enormous scale. The design had to be sorted out before production began because it would be too costly to fix problems in the vast numbers that were to be manufactured. The scooter type nearly fitted the bill but was too complex for developing countries to maintain, and the small wheels did poorly on badly maintained or nonexistent roads. Another of Fujisawa's requirements was that it could be ridden with one hand while carrying a tray of ''
soba Soba ( or , "buckwheat") is a thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat. The noodles are served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or hot in a noodle soup. The variety ''Nagano soba'' includes wheat flour. In Japan, soba noodles can be found ...
'' noodles, saying to Honda, "If you can design a small motorcycle, say 50 cc with a cover to hide the engine and hoses and wires inside, I can sell it. I don't know how many ''
soba Soba ( or , "buckwheat") is a thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat. The noodles are served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or hot in a noodle soup. The variety ''Nagano soba'' includes wheat flour. In Japan, soba noodles can be found ...
'' noodle shops there are in Japan, but I bet you that every shop will want one for deliveries." Once interested, Soichiro Honda began developing the Super Cub on his return to Japan. The following year Honda displayed a mockup to Fujisawa that finally matched what he had in mind, Fujisawa declaring the annual sales would be 30,000 per month, half again as many as the entire monthly two-wheeler market in Japan. His goal was to export motorcycles on a scale yet unseen in the economic disorder of postwar Japan when most companies halting trade efforts were handled through foreign trading companies. Honda would have to establish its own overseas subsidiary to provide the necessary service and spare parts distribution in a large country like the US. To this end American Honda Motor Company was founded in 1959. In 1961 a sales network was established in Germany, then in Belgium and the UK in 1962, and then France in 1964. The
Honda Juno The Honda Juno is a scooter. Two versions were produced, the K-series of 1954 (K, KA, KB), and the M-series of 1962 (M80, M85). Juno K The Juno K was a deliberately elaborate bike in 1954. It was Honda's first scooter and would be competing w ...
had been the first scooter to use polyester resin, or fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP), bodywork, and even though production of the Juno had stopped in 1954 as a result of Honda Motor's financial and labor problems at the time, Fujisawa continued to encourage research in polyester resin casting techniques, and these efforts bore fruit for the Super Cub. The new motorcycle's fairing would be
polyethylene Polyethylene or polythene (abbreviated PE; IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most commonly produced plastic. It is a polymer, primarily used for packaging ( plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes and containers including b ...
, the most widely used
plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adapta ...
, which reduced weight over FRP, but Honda's supplier had never made such a large die cast before, so the die had to be provided by Honda. The Super Cub was the first motorcycle ever to use a plastic fairing. Motorcycling historian Clement Salvadori wrote that the plastic front fender and leg shields were, "perhaps the Cub's greatest contribution; plastic did the job just as well as metal at a considerably lower cost." The technology developed in the Isle of Man TT racing program was equally vital to the new lightweight motorcycle, making possible from a ''50 cc'' four-stroke Honda
engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...
, where the first engine the company built a decade earlier, a "fairly exact copy" of the ''50 cc''
two stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of t ...
war-surplus
Tohatsu is a Japanese company manufacturing and selling outboard motors, pleasure boats, portable fire pumps, small fire trucks, pumps for construction and drainage, and refrigeration units for transportation. It also does real estate property managem ...
engine Honda had been selling as motorized bicycle auxiliary engine, had only a output. Honda's first four-stroke, the 1951 E-type, had just a little more power than the Super Cub, , with nearly triple the displacement, . To make the new motorcycle, Honda built a new ¥ factory in
Suzuka, Mie is a city in Mie Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 197,977 in 87,680 households and a population density of 1000 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Suzuka is in northeastern Mie Prefecture, in ...
to manufacture 30,000, and with two shifts, 50,000, Super Cubs per month. The factory was modeled on the
Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German (meaning "beetle"), in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, ...
production line in
Wolfsburg Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth largest city in the German state of Lower Saxony, located on the river Aller. It lies about east of Hanover and west of Berlin. Wolfsburg is famous as the location of Volkswagen AG's he ...
, Germany. Until then, Honda's top models had sold only 2,000 to 3,000 per month, and observers thought the cost of the new plant too risky an expenditure. Edward Turner of BSA went to Japan to see the motorcycle industry in September 1960, and said that investments the size of the Suzuka plant were "extremely dangerous" because the US motorcycle market was already saturated. When completed in 1960, the Suzuka Factory was the largest motorcycle factory in the world and was a model for Honda's mass production facilities of the future. The
economies of scale In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, and are typically measured by the amount of output produced per unit of time. A decrease in cost per unit of output enables ...
achieved at Suzuka cut 18% from the cost of producing each Super Cub when Suzuka could be run at full capacity, but in the short term Honda faced excess inventory problems when the new factory went into operation before the full sales and distribution network was in place.


Design

The Super Cub has been compared to the
Ford Model T The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relati ...
, Volkswagen Beetle and the
Jeep Jeep is an American automobile marque, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner American Motors ...
as an icon of 20th century industry and transport. The C100 used a pressed steel
monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...
chassis, with the horizontal engine placed below the central spine, a configuration now called the "step through" or "underbone" motorcycle. By some criteria, the type of motorcycle the Super Cub falls into is difficult to classify, landing somewhere between a scooter and a motorcycle, and sometimes it was called a moped, "", or scooterette. The plastic fairing ran from below the handlebars and under the footpegs, protecting the rider's legs from wind and
road debris Road debris, a form of road hazard, is debris on or off a road. Road debris includes substances, materials, and objects that are foreign to the normal roadway environment. Debris may be produced by vehicular or non-vehicular sources, but in all ...
, as well as hiding the engine from view. This design was like the full enclosure of a scooter, but unlike a scooter, the engine and
gearbox Propulsion transmission is the mode of transmitting and controlling propulsion power of a machine. The term ''transmission'' properly refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft (for rear-wheel drive vehicles), diff ...
unit was not fixed to the rear axle. This had several benefits. It moved the engine down and away from the seat, detaching the rear swingarm motion from the
drivetrain A drivetrain (also frequently spelled as drive train or sometimes drive-train) is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the drivetrain is the components o ...
for lower unsprung weight. It also made engine cooling air flow more direct, and made it possible to fit larger wheels. Placing the engine in the center of the frame, rather than close to the rear wheel, greatly improved front-rear balance. The fuel tank was located under the hinged seat, which opened to reveal the fuel filler inlet. The 17 inch wheels, in comparison to the typical 10 inch wheels of a scooter, were more stable, particularly on rough roads, and psychologically made the motorcycle more familiar, having an appearance closer to a bicycle than a small-wheel scooter. The pushrod
overhead valve An overhead valve (OHV) engine, sometimes called a ''pushrod engine'', is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier flathead engines, where the valves were located be ...
(OHV)
air-cooled Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over heat dissipation fins or hot areas of the engine to cool them in order to keep the engine within operating temperatures. In all combustion engines, a great percentage of the heat ge ...
four-stroke single cylinder engine had a bore ×
stroke A stroke is a disease, medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemorr ...
, displacing , and could produce at 9,500 rpm, for maximum speed of , under favorable conditions. The low
compression ratio The compression ratio is the ratio between the volume of the cylinder and combustion chamber in an internal combustion engine at their maximum and minimum values. A fundamental specification for such engines, it is measured two ways: the stati ...
meant the engine could consume inexpensive and commonly available low
octane Octane is a hydrocarbon and an alkane with the chemical formula , and the condensed structural formula . Octane has many structural isomers that differ by the amount and location of branching in the carbon chain. One of these isomers, 2,2,4-t ...
fuel, as well as minimizing the effort to
kick start Kick start is a method of starting an internal combustion engine (usually that of a motorcycle) by pushing a ratcheting lever with one's foot. Kick start mechanisms were almost universally a part of motorcycle engines before the mid-1970s, and ...
the engine, making the extra weight and expense of an electric starter an unnecessary creature comfort. Though some of the many Super Cub variations came with both kick and electric start, the majority sold well without it. Even the latest 2011
model year The model year (sometimes abbreviated "MY") is a method of describing the version of a product which has been produced over multiple years. The model year may or may not be the same as the calendar year in which the product was manufactured. ...
Japanese domestic market Japanese domestic market (JDM) refers to Japan's home market for vehicles and vehicle parts. There is a common misconception that any Japanese branded car is JDM; however, this is not true. Only a vehicle made in Japan specifically to be sold i ...
(JDM) Super Cub 50 and Super Cub 110 versions, with modern technology and conveniences like
fuel injection Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of an injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines. All com ...
and a
fuel gauge In automotive and aerospace engineering, a fuel gauge is an instrument used to indicate the amount of fuel in a fuel tank. In electrical engineering, the term is used for ICs determining the current State of Charge of accumulators. Motor vehi ...
, were not offered with an electric start option. The sequential-shifting three- or four-speed
gearbox Propulsion transmission is the mode of transmitting and controlling propulsion power of a machine. The term ''transmission'' properly refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft (for rear-wheel drive vehicles), diff ...
was manually shifted, but clutchless, without the need for a clutch lever control, using instead a
centrifugal clutch A centrifugal clutch is an automatic clutch that uses centrifugal force to operate. The output shaft is disengaged at low rotational speed and engages more as speed increases. It is often used in mopeds, underbones, lawn mowers, go-karts, chains ...
along with a plate clutch slaved to the foot-shift lever to engage and disengage the gearbox from the engine. While not intuitive to learn, once the rider got used to it, the semi-automatic transmission, "took the terror out of motorcycling" for novice riders. Unlike many scooters CVTs, the centrifugal clutch made it possible to push start the Super Cub, a useful advantage if the need arose. The early Super Cubs used a 6 volt
ignition magneto An ignition magneto, or high-tension magneto, is a magneto that provides current for the ignition system of a spark-ignition engine, such as a petrol engine. It produces pulses of high voltage for the spark plugs. The older term ''tensio ...
mounted on the
flywheel A flywheel is a mechanical device which uses the conservation of angular momentum to store rotational energy; a form of kinetic energy proportional to the product of its moment of inertia and the square of its rotational speed. In particular, as ...
, with a
battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...
to help maintain power to the lights, while later ones were upgraded to
capacitor discharge ignition Capacitor discharge ignition (CDI) or thyristor ignition is a type of automotive electronic ignition system which is widely used in outboard motors, motorcycles, lawn mowers, chainsaws, small engines, turbine-powered aircraft, and some cars. It ...
(CDI) systems. The lubrication system did not use an oil pump or oil filter, but was a primitive splash-fed system for both the
crankcase In a piston engine, the crankcase is the housing that surrounds the crankshaft. In most modern engines, the crankcase is integrated into the engine block. Two-stroke engines typically use a crankcase-compression design, resulting in the fuel ...
and gearbox, with a non-consumable screen strainer to collect debris in the engine oil. Both the front and rear brakes were
drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...
. On both the front and rear wheels were 2.25" × 17" wire spoke wheels, with full-width hubs. Honda recommended daily checks of the lights, horn, tire pressure, brakes, fuel and oil level, and a weekly check of the
battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...
electrolyte An electrolyte is a medium containing ions that is electrically conducting through the movement of those ions, but not conducting electrons. This includes most soluble salts, acids, and bases dissolved in a polar solvent, such as water. Upon ...
level. The new engine break-in maintenance was done at , requiring adjustment of the
valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fitting ...
tappet A tappet is most commonly a component in an internal combustion engine which converts the rotating motion of the camshaft into linear motion of the valves, either directly or indirectly. An earlier use of the term was for part of the valve gea ...
s and
contact breaker A contact breaker (or "points") is a type of electrical switch, found in the ignition systems of spark-ignition internal combustion engines. The switch is automatically operated by a cam driven by the engine. The timing of operation of the switch ...
points, and an oil change, and the rider was advised to stay under for the first . Every the
spark plug A spark plug (sometimes, in British English, a sparking plug, and, colloquially, a plug) is a device for delivering electric current from an ignition system to the combustion chamber of a spark-ignition engine to ignite the compressed fuel/ai ...
needed cleaning, and the chain adjustment checked, and every an oil change, breaker point check, and valve adjustment was due. At , major maintenance was due, requiring the removal and cleaning of the
carburetor A carburetor (also spelled carburettor) is a device used by an internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the venturi tube in the main meteri ...
,
drive chain Chain drive is a way of transmitting mechanical power from one place to another. It is often used to convey power to the wheels of a vehicle, particularly bicycles and motorcycles. It is also used in a wide variety of machines besides vehicles. ...
,
exhaust silencer A muffler ( North American and Australian English) or silencer (British English) is a device for reducing the noise emitted by the exhaust of an internal combustion engine—especially a noise-deadening device forming part of the exhaust s ...
, and wheel bearings. The rider closed a manual choke to aid in starting at cold temperatures. By the standards of the day, this was a simple motorcycle, with minimal maintenance demands, and it earned a reputation for high reliability.


''You meet the nicest people on a Honda''

In June 1963 in US media, Honda began the 12-year-long advertising campaign ''You meet the nicest people on a Honda'', created by Robert Emmenegger, creative director, Grey Advertising. Grey had bought the idea from an
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...
undergraduate student named
Mike Curb Michael Curb (born December 24, 1944) is an American musician, record company executive, motorsports car owner, philanthropist, and former politician. He is also the founder of Curb Records where he presently serves as the chairman. Curb also ...
, who had created the concept for a class assignment. The event marked the beginning of the decline of domestic and British motorcycle brands in the US market, and the rise of Honda and the other Japanese companies. In December 1965, Edward Turner said the sale of small Japanese motorcycles was good for BSA, by attracting new riders who would graduate to larger machines, not anticipating that the Japanese would advance over the next 5 years to directly threaten British bikes with technically sophisticated models such as the
Honda CB750 The Honda CB750 is an air-cooled, transverse, in-line four-cylinder engine motorcycle made by Honda over several generations for year models 1969–2003 as well as 2007 with an upright or standard riding posture. It is often called the origina ...
, and the
Kawasaki Z1 The Kawasaki Z1 is a four-cylinder, air-cooled, double-overhead camshaft, carbureted, chain-drive motorcycle introduced in 1972 by Kawasaki. Following the introduction of Honda's CB750 in 1968, the Z1 helped popularize the in-line, across-the ...
. As a case study in business and marketing, the campaign is still remembered half a century later, with one strategic management textbook saying, "Honda and the Supercub is probably the best known and most debated case in business strategy." It was credited with having "invented the concept of lifestyle marketing." Specific elements of the Super Cub's design were integral to the campaign, such as the enclosed chain that kept chain lubricant from being flung on the rider's clothing, and the leg shield that similarly blocked road debris and hid the engine, and the convenience of the semi-automatic transmission. Presenting the Super Cub as a consumer appliance not requiring mechanical aptitude and an identity change into "a motorcyclist", or worse, "a biker", differentiated Honda's offering, because, "the dedication required to maintain bikes of that era limited ownership to a relatively small demographic, often regarded as young men known for their black leather jackets and snarling demeanors." Rather than remaining limited to trying to convince traditional downmarket male buyers to switch to Honda from other brands with the macho approach of most motorcycle advertising at the time, Honda broke new ground. The ad campaign sought to improve the image of motorcycling in general and expand the overall size of the motorcycle market by attracting new riders. In a stroke of good fortune for Honda,
Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop music, pop composition, ex ...
and Mike Love composed the 1964 song "
Little Honda "Little Honda" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1964 album '' All Summer Long''. Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, it pays tribute to the small Honda motorcycle and its ease of operation, specifically the Honda 50 ...
", extolling the joys of riding the Honda 50, and even inviting the listener to visit their local Honda dealership, in language that sounded as if it could have been written, or at least paid for, by Honda's advertising copywriters, yet it was not a commercial
jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...
. The song was released by
The Hondells The Hondells were an American surf rock band. Their cover of the Beach Boys' "Little Honda" went to No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. History The Hondells were a band manufactured by Gary Usher, originally consisting of session musicia ...
in 1964, followed by the release of the original recording by
The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by the ...
. In 1965 The Hondells released "You Meet the Nicest People on a Honda", another song promoting the Super Cub, which was actually used in Honda's TV spots, as a B side to their version of " Sea Cruise." The long-running campaign, including the slogan, the music, and the upbeat images of respectable, middle and upper-class people, particularly women, riding Hondas became closely associated with the Honda brand ever since. The image Honda created was contrasted with the one percenter "bad boy" biker and became a focal point of
Japan bashing Anti-Japanese sentiment (also called Japanophobia, Nipponophobia and anti-Japanism) involves the hatred or fear of anything which is Japanese, be it its culture or its people. Its opposite is Japanophilia. Overview Anti-Japanese senti ...
boosterism of US-made
Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depre ...
motorcycles. Aside from Harley-Davidson fans, the company itself had a more conflicted reaction to the successful Honda "You meet the nicest people" campaign. At first, they were offended at the suggestion that Harley-Davidson riders were not "nice people." Harley-Davidson had, since its founding in 1903, scrupulously cultivated an image of staid respectability, and would not begin to tentatively embrace the "outlaw" demographic of their customer base for at least another ten years. In 1964 they denied any association with one-percenter bikers, and so distanced themselves from the implications of Honda's campaign. But they also "tried to have it both ways", and soon joined
Vespa Vespa () is an Italian luxury brand of scooters and mopeds manufactured by Piaggio. The name means wasp in Italian. The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A. of Pontedera, Italy t ...
and Yamaha in producing ads that were "suspiciously similar" to "You meet the nicest people." Whether they were being offended by or imitating Honda, at the time Harley-Davidson did not share the interpretation that Honda's advertisements, "added to the macho Harley image."


Model history

The Honda Super Cub debuted in 1958, ten years after the establishment of Honda Motor Co. Ltd. The original 1952 Honda Cub F had been a clip-on bicycle engine. Honda kept the name but added the prefix 'Super' for the all-new lightweight machine. The Super Cub sold poorly at first, owing mainly to the recession in Japan, and then three months after the 1958 launch when customer complaints began rolling in about slipping clutches. Honda salesmen and factory workers gave up holidays to repair the affected Super Cubs, visiting each customer in person. When it was imported to the US, the name was changed to Honda 50, and later Honda Passport C70, and C90, because the
Piper Super Cub The Piper PA-18 Super Cub is a two-seat, single-engine monoplane. Introduced in 1949 by Piper Aircraft, it was developed from the PA-11 Cub Special, and traces its lineage back through the J-3 Cub to the Taylor E-2 Cub of the 1930s. In close ...
airplane trademark had precedence. Similarly, in Britain they were only badged "Honda 50", "Honda 90" etc. as the Triumph Tiger Cub preceded. The recognised the 1958 Honda Super Cub C100 as one of their ''240 Landmarks of Japanese Automotive Technology''.


Super Cub line

The first Super Cub variation was the C102, launched in April 1960. The C102 had electric start in addition to kick starting, and battery and coil
ignition Ignition may refer to: Science and technology * Firelighting, the human act of creating a fire for warmth, cooking and other uses * Combustion, an exothermic chemical reaction between a fuel and an oxidant * Fusion ignition, the point at which a ...
instead of magneto, but was otherwise the same as the C100. The enlarged OHV engine of the 1963 C200 was used on the 1965 CM90 step-through. New in 1965 was a engine with a chain-driven
overhead camshaft An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...
(OHC). This was used in two new models: the C65, a step-through with , and the S65, with a frame like the C110/C200 and @ 10,000 rpm. In 1966 the C50 appeared and remained in production through the mid 80s, becoming one of the most widespread and familiar versions of the Super Cub. Honda replaced the C100's 50 cc OHV engine with the OHC alloy head and iron cylinder engine from the CS50 and C65, which increased power from . Similarly the CM90 was replaced in 1966 with the OHC CM91, which a year later on 1967, got restyled forks and headlamp like the C50, to become the familiar C90. Though the basic design of Cub remained unchanged, new styling and improvements included enclosed front forks. The C100 stayed in production alongside the newer versions one more year, until 1967. After 1980 the USA C70 was called the C70 Passport. Because some countries offered age restriction and tax advantages for mopeds, Honda also introduced the C310S, a
moped A moped ( ) is a type of small motorcycle, generally having a less stringent licensing requirement than full motorcycles or automobiles. The term used to mean a similar vehicle except with both bicycle pedals and a motorcycle engine. Mopeds ty ...
version of the Super Cub complete with bicycle pedals. The C310S fuel tank was relocated from beneath the seat to a more conventional placement at the top of the leg shield. This iteration is now somewhat rare, having been marketed primarily in the
Benelux The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a politico- economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in western Europe ...
countries. In 1982, for most markets, Honda fitted a new
capacitor discharge ignition Capacitor discharge ignition (CDI) or thyristor ignition is a type of automotive electronic ignition system which is widely used in outboard motors, motorcycles, lawn mowers, chainsaws, small engines, turbine-powered aircraft, and some cars. It ...
(CDI) system to replace the earlier contact points ignition, thereby helping to meet
emission standards Emission standards are the legal requirements governing air pollutants released into the atmosphere. Emission standards set quantitative limits on the permissible amount of specific air pollutants that may be released from specific sources over ...
in markets such as the US. At the same time the electrical system was changed from 6 volt to 12 volts. In 1984, Honda released restyled versions of the Cubs on some markets, with square lamps and plastic-covered handlebars and rear mudguard. On the domestic Japanese market the square style was optional, but in some places such as the UK they replaced imports of the traditionally styled round lamp Cub. In 1986, a larger ''100 cc'' HA05E engine model was introduced especially for Asian markets. The newer ''100 cc'' model was developed exclusively for Southeast Asian market, especially in Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam, where underbones were very popular, with new features such as a telescopic front suspension to replace the older leading link suspension, and a four-speed transmission to replace the older three-speed transmission used in older Cub variants. The ''100 cc'' model was initially known as the Honda Dream in Thailand and Honda EX5 in Malaysia, before being standardized as the Honda EX5 Dream in 2003. In addition, Honda Japan began importing the made-in-Thailand Dream as the Super Cub C100EX in 1988. The Japanese C100EX was later being facelifted in 1993, while the Southeast Asian EX5 Dream retains the 1986 design until the present day, with only minor cosmetic changes. In 2011, the carbureted EX5 Dream was phased out in Thailand and being replaced with the
fuel-injected Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of an injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines. All comp ...
Honda Dream 110i, with the powertrain being derived from the fuel-injected Honda Wave 110i. In the late 1990s, Honda introduced their newer NF series motorcycles, known as Honda Wave series, called the Honda Innova in some markets, which use steel tube frames, front disc brake, and plastic cover sets in various displacement options: ''100 cc'', ''110 cc'' and ''125 cc''. Though not Cubs, these bikes sold consistently well particularly in European countries, where the production of Honda Cub models had been previously discontinued. However, the production of Honda Cubs in Asia, Africa, and South America still continues today, even though the newer Honda Wave Series and other designs have been introduced alongside the Cub. Starting in 2007 Japanese market Cubs began using Honda's
PGM-FI Programmed Fuel Injection, or PGMFI/PGM-FI, is the name given by Honda to a proprietary digital electronic fuel injection system for internal combustion engines with port injection. It is available since the early 1980s. This system has been imple ...
fuel injection Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of an injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines. All com ...
. Honda made a 2018 model year special edition to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Super Cub production, with a celebration at the
Ōzu, Kumamoto is a town located in Kikuchi District, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. As of October 1, 2016, the town has an estimated population of 33,793 and a density of 340 persons per km². The total area is 99.09 km². The town is known for its Azalea ...
factory where the 100 millionth Super Cub was produced in October 2017 . In 2018 a new model was released in the USA, Europe, and Australia with a 125cc engine. It features ABS front disk brakes, LED headlights, and a keyless ignition using a smart key. This model was available in limited numbers. File:1972 Honda C70.JPG, 1972 C70 File:Honda C90.jpg, A 12v square headlight C90 File:Honda_Dream_110i_Super_Cub_ND110M_2014_Right.JPG, 2014 Dream 110i Super Cub File:Honda Super Cub C125 - Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show 2018 - August 9 2018.jpg, 2018 Honda Super Cub C125


Sports Cub

The C110 Sports Cub debuted in October 1960. The C110 was more like a traditional motorcycle that the rider had to straddle, not a step-through. It had a different frame, with the fuel tank on top of the frame and in front of the seat, and the frame's steel tube spine ran horizontally from the head tube to the seat. It also had a bit more power, increased from @ 9,500 rpm. Sub-variants of the Sports Cub were the C111, absent the
pillion A pillion is a secondary pad, cushion, or seat behind the main seat or saddle on a horse, motorcycle, bicycle or moped. A passenger in this seat is said to "ride pillion". The word is derived from the Scottish Gaelic for "little rug", ''pillea ...
seat, and C110D, also called C114, which had a low exhaust pipe. Early versions of the Sports Cub had a 3-speed gearbox but later this was changed to 4 speed. The C102 stayed in production for six model years, through 1965, and the C110 Sports Cub through 1966. In 1963 came an enlarged OHV engine of and . It was used first in the C200, which had a frame like the C110, with more upright handlebars. The S65's last year of production was 1967, and the CD65 and CL65 took its place for only one year, 1968. These had the higher-revving engine of the CS65. Then the C70 replaced the C65 and CL65 in 1969. It had the same peak horsepower, but at 9,000 rpm instead of 10,000, and more torque, at 7,000 rpm instead of at 8,000 rpm. It was introduced in the USA, Canada and Asia at launch and in the UK in 1972.


Mini bikes

In 1960 the CZ100 arrived, using the same engine in a much smaller frame with only 5″ wheels. First of the
Honda Z series The Honda Z series or Monkey Bike was a line of minibikes made by Honda which have a model number starting with the letter Z. The bike came to be known as a monkey bike because most people looked large in relation to the very small motorcycle ...
, the CZ100 was meant only as a short-distance novelty or paddock bike, but instead found popularity in the
monkey bike The Honda Z series or Monkey Bike was a line of minibikes made by Honda which have a model number starting with the letter Z. The bike came to be known as a monkey bike because most people looked large in relation to the very small motorcycle: ...
niche. File:Honda Monkey Z100 1961 in Honda Collection Hall.jpg,
Honda Z100 Honda Z100 was a prototype Honda Motor Company minibike which was introduced at the Tama Tech amusement Park in Tokyo, Japan in 1961. The Z100 minibike was never meant to be produced and sold to consumers. The success of the Z100 prototype convi ...
Monkey in the
Honda Collection Hall The Honda Collection Hall is a transport museum housing a collection of Honda consumer- and racing-oriented artifacts. It is on the grounds of the Twin Ring Motegi race track located at Motegi, Tochigi, Japan. It opened in 1998. It is operated by ...
File:Honda Monkey Bike riders.jpg, A group of Honda monkey bike riders


Trail

An on- and off-road version of the Super Cub, what today would be classed as a dual-sport motorcycle but called a trail bike at the time, the CA100T Trail 50, came out in 1961. Jack McCormack, the first national sales manager of American Honda Motor Company, said the Trail 50, and even more so the later
Honda CB77 The Honda CB77, or Super Hawk, is a straight-twin motorcycle produced from 1961 until 1967. It is remembered today as Honda's first sport bike. It is a landmark model in Honda's advances in Western motorcycle markets of the 1960s, noted for its s ...
, was the result of Honda's willingness to listen to and respond customer demand. "When you talk about Japanese manufacturers, their strength (besides the quality of their equipment) was that they listened to the marketplace. People always suggest that it was about Japanese management, but, to be frank, I was never impressed with Japanese management. They did what no other motorcycle maker did—they listened." In 1960, McCormack noticed that one Honda dealer in
Boise, Idaho Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown ar ...
was selling more Honda 50s than the combined total of all six dealers in Los Angeles. He found out that the Idaho dealer, Herb Uhl, was selling the CA100s as a trail bike by adding knobby tires for off-road traction and a "cheater
sprocket A sprocket, sprocket-wheel or chainwheel is a profiled wheel with teeth that mesh with a chain, track or other perforated or indented material. The name 'sprocket' applies generally to any wheel upon which radial projections engage a chain pas ...
," that is, increasing the final drive ratio by using a larger rear sprocket with more teeth, which increased the effective torque of the rear wheel, trading off lower top speed as a result. Uhl said the advantages of light weight and the automatic clutch allowed unskilled riders to enjoy off-road riding, in comparison to traditional big trail bikes that could be difficult to handle. McCormack shipped a version of Uhl's customized CA100 to Japan and requested Honda put it into production, and by March 1961 the Trail 50 was available to US dealers. ''
Cycle World ''Cycle World'' is a motorcycling magazine in the United States. It was founded in 1962 by Joe Parkhurst, who was inducted to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame as "the person responsible for bringing a new era of objective journalism" to the US. ''Cyc ...
'' praised the simple pleasure of trail riding on the new bike, and it was a US sales success.


Specifications


Current popularity

Sales for Super Cubs have increased in Japan with upgrades to the engine and the installation of fuel injection for Japanese domestic market models starting from 2007, making it more powerful, more economical and cleaner. With respect to newer, plastic body underbone designs, such as the Wave, the original Cub remains popular. ''
Cycle World ''Cycle World'' is a motorcycling magazine in the United States. It was founded in 1962 by Joe Parkhurst, who was inducted to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame as "the person responsible for bringing a new era of objective journalism" to the US. ''Cyc ...
'' magazine's Peter Egan and Steve Kimball entered a stock Honda C70 Passport in the 1981
Craig Vetter Fuel Economy Challenge The Craig Vetter Fuel Economy Challenge is a motorcycle fuel efficiency contest created in 1980 by motorcycle fairing inventor Craig Vetter. The contest was cited in Vetter's Motorcycle Hall of Fame induction. The contest initially ran from 1980 t ...
, competing against specially designed high-mileage two-wheelers built by teams of engineering students, and an entry from American Honda. The course was a loop near
San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly hal ...
that had to be completed in 1 hour and 40 minutes, give or take 10 minutes, meaning an average speed of . Kimball, riding the Passport, won the event through skillful and error-free riding, with . By 2002 in Vietnam, Super Cubs had been the predominant model of motorcycle taxi for so long that "Honda" had become a
genericized trademark A generic trademark, also known as a genericized trademark or proprietary eponym, is a trademark or brand name that, because of its popularity or significance, has become the generic term for, or synonymous with, a general class of products ...
or
metonymy Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept. Etymology The words ''metonymy'' and ''metonym'' come from grc, μετωνυμία, 'a change of name ...
for any motorcycle taxi, equivalent to "xe ôm". In the English speaking world as well, "Honda" was often a synonym for "motorcycle" as a result of the ubiquity of the Super Cub. The Super Cub was included in The Guggenheim's 1998 '' The Art of the Motorcycle'' exhibition. In 2006, on the
Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Chan ...
's ''The Greatest Ever'' series, an episode on motorcycles placed the 1958 49 cc Super Cub in first place.
James May James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter of the motoring programme '' Top Gear'' alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond from 2003 until 2015. He also ...
, a co-presenter on the popular television series ''
Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...
'', bought a Honda Super Cub for the 2008 Season 12 Vietnam special. Author Roland Brown wrote that, "of all the brilliant bikes Honda have built — the CB750 superbike,
Mike Hailwood Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood, (2 April 1940 – 23 March 1981) was a British professional motorcycle racer and racing driver. He is regarded by many as one of the greatest racers of all time. He competed in the Grand Prix motorcycle ...
's six-cylinder racers, the mighty Gold Wing, you name them — the most important of all is the C100 Super Cub of 1958." In 2014, the Super Cub became the first vehicle in Japan to be granted a three-dimensional trademark. Super Cub, a Japanese
light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a '' wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...
series featuring prominently the Honda Super Cub, has been running since 2017. An anime adaptation was released in 2021. In June, 2018, Honda announced that, after an absence of 45 years, the 2019 Super Cub C125 model would once again be available in the US.


Licensed models

Chongqing Guangyu Motorcycle Manufacture Co, of China, known as Kamax, has a line of motorcycles based on the Super Cub Design, licensed from Honda, including the EEC Super Cub. This Super Cub 'remake' was developed solely for the European market in cooperation with Super Motor Company. Super Motor Company which is the sole European distributor of the EEC Super Cub sells three different variations, the Super 25, the Super 50, and the Super 100. From 2009 to 2010, Flyscooters imported a Yinxiang Super Cub variant to the US, under the name Fly Scout. Similarly, China Jialing Industrial Co., Ltd. has ten models based on Honda's Super Cub design, including the JL50Q-2 and JL90-1 which are faithful to the original 1958 styling, as well as several more modern restyling.
Lifan Group Lifan Industry (Group) Co., Ltd. (Lifan Group or Lifan,China's L ...
exports a version to the UK, the LF100, which features telescopic forks, a four-speed gearbox and a digital gear indicator.
SYM Motors Sanyang Motor Co., Ltd. () (stylized as SYM) is a Taiwanese motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Hukou, Taiwan. Founded in Taipei, Taiwan in 1954 by Huang Chi-Chun and Chang Kuo An, SYM currently has three major production facilities in Taiwa ...
of Taiwan licensed the Super Cub design as the Symba 100, previously called the ''Symba 110'', which they exported to the US between 2009 and 2016. While keeping the basic design, SYM increased the size of the front brake from and added an LED fuel gauge. Instead of leading link front forks, it featured
telescopic fork A telescopic fork is a form of motorcycle front suspension whose use is so common that it is virtually universal. The telescopic fork uses fork tubes and sliders which contain the springs and dampers. The main advantages of the telescopic for ...
s. The Symba engine had a carbureted single claimed to produce at 8500 rpm, with a four speed gearbox using a centrifugal clutch semi-automatic transmission. SYM ended the production of the Symba in 2016.


EV-Cub

At the 2009
Tokyo Motor Show The is a biennial auto show held in October–November at the Tokyo Big Sight, Tokyo, Japan for cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles. Hosted by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), it is a recognized international show ...
, Honda presented the EV-Cub
concept vehicle A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...
, an electric motorcycle patterned after the venerable Super Cub, featuring
two-wheel drive Two-wheel-drive (2WD) denotes vehicles with a drivetrain that allows two wheels to be driven, and receive power and torque from the engine, simultaneously. Four-wheeled vehicles For four-wheeled vehicles (and by extension, vehicles with six, e ...
by means of electric motors mounted in the hubs of each of the wheels. Honda said they felt keeping the 1958 layout for their 21st-century concept bike made sense because, "the human body has not changed in the past 50 years," and, "the size, shape, and position of all the Super Cub parts had a kind of necessity to them, and that the design of the Super Cub was very rational and rider-centric." Without the engine in the center of the frame or the fuel tank under the seat, there was room for a scooter-style underseat helmet compartment. Integrated with the new electric motorcycle was an interactive communications system, to let riders converse while riding. Several other companies, including Christini,
KTM KTM AG (Kraftfahrzeug Trunkenpolz Mattighofen, formerly KTM Sportmotorcycle AG) is an Austrian motorcycle, bicycle and sports car manufacturer owned by Pierer Mobility AG and the Indian manufacturer Bajaj Auto. It was formed in 1992 but traces ...
, Öhlins, and Yamaha have done development on two-wheel drive motorcycles, and have found that the addition of power to the front as well as the rear wheel aids in stability, particularly in corners and in the hands of novice riders. At the time Honda hinted that they would bring the EV-Cub to market in 2010. In a 2016 speech, Honda's President and CEO Takahiro Hachigo said they planned to release the EV-Cub in Japan in about two years, followed later in other
ASEAN ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, milita ...
markets.


See also

* Yamaha v50 * Suzuki FR50 *
Honda CT series The Honda CT series was a group of Honda trail bike motorcycles made since 1964. The CT designation is a slight exception in Honda nomenclature in that "CT" does not indicate a series of mechanically related bikes, but rather a group of differen ...
* Simson — Production has started in 1958 as well


Explanatory notes

* The Chinese
Flying Pigeon Flying Pigeon () is a Chinese publicly owned bicycle company based in Tianjin. Since 1950, more than 500 million Flying Pigeon PA-02 bicycles have been made, and as of 2007, more than any other model of vehicle. The next closest vehicle mode ...
bicycle, with on the order of 500 million in service as of 2007, is the most produced
vehicle A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), ...
ever. See † Herb Uhl's son, Billy Uhl, competed alongside his father in the
International Six Days Enduro The International Six Days Enduro (ISDE), formerly known as the International Six Days Trial (ISDT), is the oldest 'off-road' motorcycle event on the FIM Calendar. The ISDT was first held in 1913 at Carlisle, England. It has occurred annually, ...
in 1969, won the Gold Medal five times in the 1970s, and was inducted into the
American Motorcyclist Association The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) is an American nonprofit organization of more than 200,000 motorcyclists that organizes numerous motorcycling activities and campaigns for motorcyclists' legal rights. Its mission statement is "to pro ...
Motorcycle Hall of Fame The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum is an offshoot of the American Motorcyclist Association, recognizing individuals who have contributed to motorcycle sport, motorcycle construction Motorcycle components and systems for a motorcycle are en ...
in 2007.


References


External links

*
Super Cub official site (in Japanese)
{{Honda Supercub Supercub Motor scooters Motorcycles introduced in 1958 Standard motorcycles