Buying a Honda Cub
Expectation: Pulling out your phone, turning on your computer, logging into Facebook Marketplace, or your local Craigslist then finding a moderately priced C70 with title, with a key, and not to mention running for $1500.00 locally. You don’t have to do a thing, but transfer the title and ride it home! You really do meet the nicest people on a Honda.
Reality: Pulling out your phone, turning on your computer, logging into Facebook Marketplace or your local Craigslist and finding an overpriced C70, with a lost title, no keys (but starts by twisting ignition wires) running (but only with full choke or by dousing the intake with starter fluid) for $2500.00 in the next city/town/county. Seller won’t budge on the price, I know what I got and I know what it’s worth. You buy it, you’re excited, because, “you will meet the nicest people on a Honda”
Riding the Honda Cub
Expectation: Turning the key into the on position on the ignition. pulling the choke lever/knob to engage the choke. Squeezing the brake lever and pressing the start button to the reliable Honda engine ticking over at 800rpm. Kicking the gear lever up one notch to engage first gear, then twisting the throttle and go. Brakes feel good, and you’re riding at a good pace. You see other smiling faces and give a friendly toot of the horn to let know “you’re meeting the nicest people on a Honda”
Reality: Connect the two wires that close the ignition circuit. Fiddling with the choke lever on the carb through a broken leg shield. Kicking over the engine furiously because you’ve realized the battery on your bike is beyond saving, but you’ve left it in to close the ignition circuit. The bike starts, but barely, it idles high because the carb is all gummed up. kicking up the gear lever to engage first, it jolts you. Brakes work, but the drums don’t retract, but they work. You set off down your street because you’ve been wanting to ride this bike ever since you’ve seen that Discovery channel documentary of the best bike in the world. You’re frustrated but smiling, and people smile back at you, just because “you’ll meet the nicest people on a Honda”
Fixing and maintaining the Honda Cub
Expectation: Theres absolutely nothing major that needs done! You ride the most popular vehicle in the world and it’s been maintained regularly up until your ownership! The wheels spin freely. The tires are new-ish. The brake shoes are good. The oil is fresh. The clutch basket oil slinger and screen are all cleaned from the previous owner. The spark plug is new and properly gapped. The chain and sprocket are new and properly tensioned. The battery is holding a steady charge. The gas tank is free from corrosion. The fuel lines are soft and flexible. The seat cover is mint, and the seat is soft. All the lights work, including the turn signals. The suspension is solid and the shocks are functional. Because really “you do meet the nicest people on a Honda”
Reality: You first look at your bike, and you facepalm at the amount of little things needed to bring this bike up to speed. You were told online there is a small tool kit and owners manual inside the left side frame cover. But your bike doesn’t have the cover, let alone the manual or tool kit. You break out your box wrenches and socket set, a flat head and a #2 phillips, only to realize that you’ve stripped the screw heads that look a lot like phillips head, but they’re actually JIS screw heads. Your tires are over 30 years old, and while the tubes hold air, the tires are cracked and dry rotted. The brake shoes, while they’re good-ish, the lever and cam on the drums backing plate is seized and your wheel can’t spin till you free that up. The oil hasn’t been changed in who knows how long, so you empty it, and nothing comes out. In that process, you also figure it ought to be fitting to clean out the oil slinger in the clutch basket, but you don’t have a replacement clutch cover gasket, and you tore the one that was in there during removal. The sparkplug, probably one of the easiest thing to replace, you changed that no problem. You want to inspect the chain and sprocket, maybe oil the chain, it’s old, it’s rusted. After all it’s been sitting. Battery is toast, but that’s okay, you can order a replacement. Another one of the easier things to replace. The fuel tank? Oh man, now you’re really shaking your head in disbelief. There was half a tank of old nasty fuel in the tank, leaving the upper half exposed to rust, and the lower half essentially fermenting and congealing. This also meant that the outlets for the fuel lines are blocked due to gumming, and leaving the rubber fuel lines to dry rock hard. You search online for a replacement tank, since these bikes are the most popular bikes in the world. It’s either no luck, or someone is willing to sell one to you, but wants your first born in the process. And because the gas tank, and fuel lines are all old and rotten, this probably means the carburetor has also succumbed to it’s possible demise. Easy! you can rebuild it. You do, it doesn’t work. You order new jets and gaskets. It doesn’t work. You consider an offshore carb, it half works. You don’t give up, but you’re getting more frustrated day in and day out. The seat has more duct tape than seat, and the foam cushion has dried to the point where it crumble if you breath on it. Your tail lights and turn signals work, but you ran the bike without a battery, or you ran the bike with a weak battery and realized that the headlight is a sealed unit, and a replacement costs 60+ bucks. You’ve fixed all that you can fix, and you take the beast for a spin, and find that the suspension is more in tune to a fitness trampoline than motorcycle suspension. You’re happy it’s all up and running, but you could always refresh the paint at some point. But hey, you’re still smiling because you have to remember, “you will still meet the nicest people on a Honda”
The bottom line?
Do your research, read the forums/the Facebook groups/the subreddits, and ask the pertinent questions
A C70 Supercub is and will always be a bike that stands the test of times. It may not be the fastest, it may not be the prettiest, but it’s a bike that works the way Honda intended.
From delivering news papers in Japan, hauling an entire family in Asia, to circumventing the world, you really do Meet the nicest people on a Honda!
