Back in the Day: The Honda Cub

I enjoyed this video.  I think you will, too.

Good buddy TK sent this to me a day or two ago (thanks, TK). I didn’t know the Honda Cub was the best-selling vehicle on the planet or that Honda had produced a cool 100 million of the things, and I think that number is all the more significant because several manufacturers make copies of the Cub not included in the total described in the video above.  One of the other  manufacturers producing a Cub variant is Zongshen.   I saw several of Zongshen’s production lines during my many visits to Chongqing.

I owned a 50cc Cub back in the day.  I was a teenager and a guy down the street had one he picked up in a trade of some sort.  He just wanted to get rid of it and $50 later it was mine.   It was fun, and it was incredibly well built.  I wish I still had it.

Hey, on another note, I have a new article in print this month.   It’s in the June 2019 issue of RoadRUNNER magazine, and it’s on the Chinese motorcycle industry.  I know a bit about that world, and yeah, I’m an unabashed fan of the Chinese.  I’ve been in Chinese factories and I’ve ridden their motorcycles.   The Chinese motorcycle industry’s process control and production capabilities are as good as or better than any in the world, and folks who recoil at the idea of a Chinese motorcycle are simply displaying antiquated prejudices and ignorance.  I expect I’ll get a few emails and maybe a few comments on that last statement, and we welcome them.   The June ’19 issue will be on the newsstands in a few more days, and for those of you who subscribe to RoadRUNNER, you are receiving your copies now.  My copy arrived in the mail yesterday, and I am enjoying it enormously.  The travel and other stories (and the accompanying photography) are just outstanding.    If you’re not already subscribing to RoadRUNNER, you should be, and you can sign on here.