Descrição
The Honda Super Cub (or Honda Cub) is a Honda underbonemotorcycle with a four-stroke single-cylinder engine ranging in displacement from 49 to 124 cc (3.0 to 7.6 cu in).
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* in history. Variants include the C50, C65, C70 (including the Passport), C90, C100 (including the EX) and it used essentially the same engine as the Sports Cub C110, C111, C114 and C115 and the Honda Trail series.
The Honda Juno 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, the most widely used plastic, 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 3.4 kilowatts (4.5 hp) from a 50 cc four-stroke Honda engine, where the first engine the company built a decade earlier, a “fairly exact copy” of the 50 cc two stroke war-surplus Tohatsu engine Honda had been selling as motorized bicycle auxiliary engine, had only a 0.37–0.75 kilowatts (0.5–1 hp) output. Honda’s first four-stroke, the 1951 E-type, had just a little more power than the Super Cub, 3.7 kilowatts (5 bhp), with nearly triple the displacement, 146 cc (8.9 cu in).
To make the new motorcycle, Honda built a big factory in Suzuka, Mie to manufacture 30,000, and with two shifts, 50,000, Super Cubs per month. 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. 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 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.
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 airplane trademark had precedence. Similarly, in Britain they were only badged “Honda 50”, “Honda 90” etc. as the Triumph Tiger Cub preceded.
The Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan 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 coilignition instead of magneto, but was otherwise the same as the C100.
The enlarged 86.7 cc (5.29 cu in) OHV engine of the 1963 C200 was used on the 1965 CM90 step-through. New in 1965 was a 63 cc (3.8 cu in) engine with a chain-driven overhead camshaft (OHC). This was used in two new models, the C65, a step-through with 4.1 kW (5.5 bhp), and the S65, with a pressed steel sports frame and 4.6 kW (6.2 bhp) @ 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 40 mm × 39 mm (1.6 in × 1.5 in) 50 cc OHV engine with the 39 mm × 41.4 mm (1.54 in × 1.63 in) OHC alloy head and iron cylinder engine from the CS50 and C65, which increased power from 3.4 to 3.6 kW (4.5 to 4.8 bhp). Similarly the CM90 was replaced in 1966 with the 89.5 cc (5.46 cu in) 5.6 kW (7.5 bhp) 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 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 countries.
In 1982, for most markets, Honda fitted a new capacitor discharge ignition (CDI) system to replace the earlier contact pointsignition, thereby helping to meet emission standards 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,also the c50 gearbox was changed to a fully automatic 3 speed with added parking brake. 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 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 and Africa 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 fuel injection.
Honda made a 2018 model year special edition to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Super Cub production, with a celebration at the Ōzu, Kumamoto factory where the 100 millionth Super Cub was produced in October 2017.
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