With more than 60 million sold worldwide, the Honda 50 (now Super Cub) is the best selling powered vehicle of all time. The Honda 50 is still produced today, 50 years after its inception. They’re cheap to buy – about $1,400 US new – and you’ll find them in 160 countries around the world. As great as the Cub is, you can’t get new ones in America anymore. Honda quit selling them here in the 1980s, when the bike was called the Passport.
The song “Little Honda”, about the Honda 50, was written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love of The Beach Boys.
Go!
I’m gonna wake you up early cause i’m gonna take a ride with you.
We’re goin’ down to the honda shop, i’ll tell you what we’re gonna do.
Put on a ragged sweatshirt, i’ll take you where you want me to.
First gear, it’s all right (honda, honda, go faster, faster)
Second gear, i’ll lean right (honda, honda, go faster, faster)
Third gear, hang on tight (honda, honda, go faster, faster)
Faster, it’s all right.
It’s not a big motorcycle,
Just a groovy little motorbike.
It’s more fun than a barrel of monkeys,
That two-wheeled bike.
We’ll ride on out of town
To anyplace i know you like.
First gear, it’s all right (honda, honda, go faster, faster)
Second gear, i’ll lean right (honda, honda, go faster, faster)
Third gear, hang on tight (honda, honda, go faster, faster)
Faster, it’s all right.
It climbs the hills like a matchless,
Cause my honda’ built really light.
When i go in to the turns
Better hang on tight.
I’d better turn on the lights
So we can ride my honda tonight.
First gear, it’s all right (honda, honda, go faster, faster)
Second gear, ill lean right (honda, honda, go faster, faster)
Third gear, hang on tight (honda, honda, go faster, faster)
Faster, it’s all right.
When I was a teenager, I had a to get me around town. Back then, California law allowed a driver with a learning permit to legally ride a motorcycle solo. The driving test at that time for a motorcycle endorsement for your permit or license was to do a figure eight in the DMV parking lot. That was easy. After I passed the written test for the motorcycle, I received a motorcycle endorsement to my permit. When I got my license (the day I turned 16) I could have a passenger ride along with me on the Honda motorcycle (or motorbike – they weren’t called scooters at that time). I still have that motorcycle endorsement on my license even though it’s been a few years since I’ve ridden one. Nonetheless, I’ve had the opportunity to ride a variety of much more powerful motorcycles over the years. My favorite was a 650 Triumph, back in the days before the helmet requirement, but the one I had the most fun with was that Honda 50.
UPDATE April 2009: World’s Most Popular Motorcycle Returns to America! Sym, a former Honda subsidiary based in Taiwan is selling the 100-mpg Symba which sports the Cub’s timeless step-through design but updates the bike with a smoother transmission, improved suspension and other features. The 101-cc engine produces 6.7 horsepower. The motorcycle also gets a semi-automatic four-speed transmission and will carry a $2,600 price tag.
