Post-Sale Update: After 49 bids on eBay, this Honda Super Cub C50 sold for $1,675.
If you learn anything from this post, let it be this song:
Top Gear fans may remember it as the little jingle James May sings as he, Jeremy, and Richard crossed Vietnam on little bikes – James himself chose a Honda Super Cub for the challenge, as he’s gone on record multiple times saying it’s the greatest machine ever made.
Regular readers know that we’re big fans of little Hondas, and this might just be the best of them all. The Super Cub is still being produced, and since its release in 1958, Honda has sold over 60 million models. It is the most produced motor vehicle in history, and the race isn’t even close. So, it’s about time that we featured one of these wonderful bikes, which changed the face of motorcycling in the United States in conjunction with the famous marketing campaign, “You meet the nicest people on a Honda.”
At the time, bikes were associated with threatening guys wearing leather. Honda made motorcycling for the people, with features like an underbone frame to make mounting the bike easier, an enclosed chain that kept clothes clean, and a leg shield that blocked road debris. All this plus the semi-automatic transmission turned the Super Cub into an appliance, as opposed to a hobby, and opened up motorized two-wheel transport to a much broader consumer base.
From a stats perspective, there wasn’t much to the Honda Super Cub C50. The 50cc engine produced all of 4.8 horsepower at 10,000 rpm, while the 3-speed transmission and 150 pound dry weight helped the rider maximize the range of a gas tank that only fit .8 gallons.
This specific Honda Super Cub C50 is from the first model year of production, and it seems to be an excellent example of a restored but ‘unmodified’ scoot. The restoration was claimed to be a bare-frame job, and it’s all complete except for the installation of turn signals. For whatever reason, the seller never intended to run it, so all fluids have been drained.
Find this Honda Super Cub C50 for sale with frenetic bidding (thanks to the lack of a reserve) up to $920 in Lake Havasu City, Arizona