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Post 308: Honda Super Cub .... or not


“You meet the nicest people on a Honda”. About a month ago I was openly declaring my love for the Honda Super Cub and wondering why Honda hadn’t reintroduced a retro version of the model. With global sales in excess of 60 million, it’s by far the most successful powered vehicle that has ever been produced.


Across Thailand, and possibly across the whole of Southeast Asia, Kids are buying up old and forgotten Super Cubs and returning them to the road where they belong. Some of the modifications might be of questionable taste, but there is no doubting that the Super Cub is now the coolest ride to have.


This morning I was chugging past a Honda Dealership when something very yellow caught my eye. I turned around to investigate and what I found was a brand new, box-fresh, Honda Super Cub in canary yellow. It was indeed, a thing of beauty. My new love affair lasted for all of a minute. Something was wrong. It had a bright orange electric start button and the engine casing didn’t scream ’Honda’. In fact, it screamed ’Tiger’, made in Thailand.

I suspect that Tiger Motorcycles of Thailand bought the rights to the Super Cub and they’ve really made a fine job of reproducing it. The engine is a newer 110cc unit but beneath the fibreglass frock, it looks truly original. The rest of the bike seems almost unchanged, which in a way is a shame. The Super Cub was first produced in 1958 and technology has moved on. I’m sure that modern suspension and brakes would have made the package far more attractive, but at around £600 on the road, it’s still very tempting. On the other hand, it’s really motivated me to go out and find an original Honda C90 of my own …. mai pen rai

I'll be 'On the Road' for the next few days and probably wont be adding to the Blog. I'll try to behave myself and stay out of trouble, but I'm not making any promises .... mai pen rai

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