Honda Super Cub

"Honda Motor Co.", a company that started in 1948 with the production of bicycle motors from the remnants of military components, and was housed initially in a wooden shed, by the mid-50s already produced full-fledged, albeit not revolutionary motorcycles and began to look narrowly at the vast and difficult motorcycles of the United States and Europe. The future expansion of the production of affordable motorcycles, according to corporate legend, was based on two ideas. Firstly, in the series of consistent preferences of a poor post-war buyer in Europe and Japan, “a motorbike - a scooter - a stroller - a minicar " there was no place for a motorcycle, and it was necessary to think of a way to occupy it. Secondly, according to the then-chief manager of the company Takeo Fujisawa, who addressed the engineers, "if you construct a small motorcycle, say, a 50 cc, with a cover that covers the motor with all the wires and hoses, I can sell it; if the motorcycle will it’s so easy to operate that you can drive it with one hand while holding a noodle tray in the other - then every noodle deliveryman in this country, no matter how many there are, will buy such a machine. "

The founder, leader and leading engineer of the company - Soichiro Honda - heeded the words of the financier and, having previously visited the salons of European competitors, took up the design of the future Super Cab. Prior to that, among the Honda models there was already a “Cub” - without the “super” attachment - which was an ordinary motorbike with an engine suspended from the side of the rear wheel. The name translated from English means "puppy", "cub" - they decided to leave it for the new model of the youngest class in the gamut. But compared to a motorbike, it was already a “super kid”: a normal motorcycle layout, an engine with a kickstarter, a three-speed gearbox and automatic clutch, a well-developed lining, a spring suspension and a soft saddle, full-fledged appliances and light. When the finished layout was presented to Fujisawa, he said that he would be able to sell 30 thousand of such devices per month - one and a half times more than the entire then motorcycle market in Japan.

Especially for the new model, a plant was built in Suzuka with the expectation of producing 30 thousand Kabs a month, and after expansion - up to 50, on the model of the Volkswagen-Zhuk production line in Germany. The plant cost the company 10 billion yen, and experts of that time considered such an investment to be “extremely risky,” and the target American market “saturated”. However, by the year 60, the enterprise had successfully reached its design capacity, becoming the largest motor plant in the world. In mass production, the cost of Kaba fell by 18%. At the same time, the development of the dealer network was somewhat late, and the company was faced with a temporary overstock.

For half a century, “Kab” has survived several restayls - the appearance of a cheap mass typewriter greatly affects its sales, even if the mechanical part is perfect. A 4-speed gearbox, an electric starter, contactless ignition and other amenities were introduced. There are 90- and 110-cc versions, as well as a 125-cc 2019 model year. The production of the original Honda was repeatedly expanded by foreign branches - mainly in Southeast Asia, as well as in Latin America, Africa ( Nigeria ) and even Europe ( Belgium , 1963). A successful engine was used on several lightweight Honda models - the popular mini -bike Monkey, light motorcycle Honda 70 and others. At the moment (2019), Super Cub is still relevant. The original sells well due to the traditional Japanese quality, controlled by the company regardless of the place of production. In the Asian and post-Soviet markets, the “native” Honda was pressed by even cheaper Asian clones, which, however, differ in the very unstable quality of the metal of the frame, welding, cladding and drive chains. The cloned engine remains "indestructible" subject to elementary standards of operation and maintenance. On clone scooterettas, cast wheels, telescopic forks and disc front brakes have become common.

In order to improve Cub’s sales in America, the company launched an extensive advertising campaign, the slogan of which was “You meet the nicest people on a Honda”, with nice people like teenagers, housewives and senior citizens, and one of the main ideas are contrasting the light and bright image of the “Cube” with the frightening image of an aggressive biker on a powerful growling “ skeletonized ” car. The growing American motobands evoked a general negative perception of the motorcycle in general, and Honda carefully dissociated itself from the “ one percent ” community. There was a popular song “Little Honda”, which got into the Top10 and subsequently rewrote “ Beach Boys ”, with the words “this is not a motorcycle, this is a cool bike with a motor” and the refrain “It's all right” - “It's all right." The only major motorcycle manufacturer in the US, Harley-Davidson, reacted somewhat painfully to the massive Honda ads and launched a counter campaign in a very similar style to accompany the rival 50 cc Harley model. In general, the image of the not very serious transport of “wonderful people” is still associated in America with the Honda brand, at least in terms of light motor vehicles.

The Super Cub engine is widely known in Russia thanks to the Chinese counterparts called "139FMB" (not to be confused with "QMB" - a swinging variator unit from a classic scooter, a Honda GY6 clone, also very common); the second and third digits are the rounded diameter of the standard cylinder in millimeters.

Features:

• 4-stroke with overhead camshaft
• 4.5ls in the original version
• volume from 50cc to 125 in the original and more than 150 in third-party variations
• counter-flow cooling
• horizontal cast iron cylinder
• pressure distribution lubrication
• twin-shaft 4-speed gearbox with electronic gear indication
• wet multi-plate clutch on the crankshaft, automatic or manual, found in clones and dry on the shaft of the box
• gear motor and chain reverse gear
• chain drive from electric starter
• permanent flywheel generator, stator on removable outer crankcase cover
• contactless ignition since 1982
• injector since 2008

Currently (2019) is produced in huge numbers by many many third-party manufacturers, mainly Southeast Asia, and is installed on a wide variety of inexpensive motor vehicles from mopeds and light motorcycles to ATVs and snowmobiles.

The original scooteretta, like its direct Asian descendants, is not very popular in Russia because of its somewhat archaic design (although it is easy to operate for a manual transmission device, it is economical and comfortable). But unlike the “whole” scooter, the very successful, reliable and maintainable “Kaba” engine can be found literally in any Russian village: on Chinese mopeds like Alfa and Delta, cheap small motorcycles, snowmobiles and ATVs, which are manufactured and sold more and more . With the cessation of the production of engines and spare parts for Soviet mopeds, home-made craftsmen began to install a Kabovsky motor in their chassis, receiving a twofold increase in power, much lower gasoline consumption (less than 2l / 100km) without mixing oil, better throttle response, flexibility of torque characteristics and a wider range operating speeds, more powerful and advanced 12-volt electrical equipment with a battery (optional) and a starter, comparative purity and "solidity" of the exhaust.

By replacing an inexpensive set of a cylinder (not a head) and a piston assembly with rings and a finger, the engine capacity can be increased to 72cc without external differences from a 50 cc unit. Replacing the crankshaft with a longer one (with a larger crank radius), together with the corresponding cylinder, piston and, preferably, the head, gives a volume of 110cc with minimal external differences from the original. Due to the margin of safety of the crankcase and transmission, 110 cc motors are no less than 50 cc and are very common. Larger versions have an already modified crankcase with increased space for the crankshaft and a seat for a larger cylinder, but structurally the motor remains the same “cab”. The marking of such engines varies according to the diameter of the cylinder and design features - for example, "157FMH".

Known engine problems are caused mainly by illiterate operation - extreme off-road driving, overheating of multi-cubic versions - and the floating manufacturing quality of Chinese components. The low exhaust pipe is easy to think of as a random obstruction. The driver’s footboard is attached to the crankcase, and the engine itself to the frame is only at two nearby points; but in practice, claims to such a fastening do not arise. Catastrophic failures of the oil pump are rare - the head and cylinder are partially cooled by oil, and the cessation of circulation can cause the development of irreversible piston jamming. The engine requires a relatively frequent oil change due to the clutch in the common oil bath, as well as the intense thermal conditions of the 110cc versions. There are inexpensive oil cooler kits on sale that solve the problem of overheating of a working cubic motor. The main difficulty in routine maintenance is the inconvenient access to valve adjustments through screw plugs in the head.