HONDA super cub | Review | NEW | c125 | First impression 

I am so excited about this bike, having left motorcycling for 20 years, I am desperate to feel that fun buzz again. This review made me smile in that special motorcycling way again. Despite the apparent compromises of this bike, nicely pointed out in this video I still want one.

Its more fun to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow.

Good morning to you ! I am an Grandpa and Cross Cub tourist from Japan . It is a nice bike video!! Honda Super Cub C125 is nice looks !! Have a nice day !

Thinking of making this my first two wheel vehicle! Very excited by your review, I think is a good sign that all my research brought me here. Cheers!!

Brilliant. C90,s were indestructable. I pretty much learnt to ride a bike on one in the early eighties. And 180mpg is amazing. Super cool bike, might get one to join the street triple and z1000sx in the garage. Great review.👍

THANK YOU DO MUCH FOR SHARING, I have been waiting for the review to come in on this !

My sister had C90 in 80s. They always had stamp in gears, secretly I liked riding it. Sounds great, you really captured the vibe.

Good review. Off to buy one tomorrow. Last Cub I had was 38 years ago!

One of those got me to my summer job in college two summers, I loved every mile. Great little bike.

Mr Fish, another great test. The bike is manufactured in Thailand. Last year's Honda Cup was better as it had a long normal seat that can easily carry 4 people (considered an SUV car in Thailand). The Honda Cup sold in Thailand is 110cc, normal spoked wheels and is about £1,100 on the road. You can change the gear pedal for normal type of pedal for about £4 from Honda in Thailand.

It reminds me of the vintage “You meet the nicest people on a Honda” ads. Great review

I enjoyed your video very much I received my Honda Super Cub C125 today 02/11/2018 and I am very very pleased with my purchase I also have a Royal Enfield Bullet 500 2017 which I also love

Hoping to shed some light on why the Cub is designed the way it is all these years: Toe/heel gearshifter - As Cubs were ridden by a lot of businessmen (still is, in Japan), you can wear leather shoes without fear of scuffing them up. ***Tip= You can toe the gearshifter down from “4th” to neutral and then “1st”. The shifting pattern goes in a circular manner aka 1-2-3-4-N-1-2-3-4. Useful if you’re approaching a stop from 4th. You can also do the pattern in reverse with the heel. Gears/enclosed drive chain - Lower costs, longer maintenance interval. You can drench that chain in lube and not worry about messing up your attire with the covers on. Easy to adjust gearing ratio, replace sprockets/chain quickly, should they break/need replacing etc. Makes Cub much cheaper to self maintain compared to fully automatics scooters with drive belts. Rear rack/pillion foot pegs: Here’s a mystery. The C125 as sold in Asia (other countries too?) come with rack & pillion pegs as standard. And there’s a pillion seat pad you can buy if you wish to have a pillion along. Maybe Honda UK hopes to milk buyers for accessories that should have been standard?

Excellent video in that you capture the essence of the thing. I have been riding bikes since 1968 and am now downsizing ; the BMWs and Guzzis are gone but I still want to have fun. My current bike is a Forza 125 is brilliant but I will get one of these-lovely,simple air cooled engine , nice silencer without the horrible matt black paint, tubeless tyres, LED lights- there is so little to go wrong. Give it plenty of oil changes and it will run forever.

Great little bike, Have used the 50 and 90 cubs for years, One of the best work bikes and reliable Fun to drive,

Putting a grin on is what it's all about! Cheers from North Carolina. I ride my son's Ruckus for the same effect!

I wouldn't pretend to say what HONDA did wrong with this little bike, I've owned one since 1981 with zero problems and Honda has sold over 100 million of them as of 2017 so they've likely got the formula worked out pretty well by now.

At last, Thank you Mr Fish for a brilliant review. Honda have done a fantastic job with the retro Cub. I've got big bikes but I'm pretty sure me and a lot of other bikers need a small bike as well in the stable. I'm seriously considering the Super Cub or the Monkey!

I’m second on the list at my Honda dealer in Chattanooga, Tennessee USA. It should be here January or February 2019. Thanks for putting a owner review on here! Can’t wait to get mine.

Nice review, I was the old boy with the classic Triumph asking lots of questions at Box Hill.

I think they have done a fantastic job. I'm a proud owner of an original c90, and it is in mint condition with less than 5.5k miles. If they add on two seats and sell it in sky blue I'm having one

It is a centrifugal clutch which means if you throttle back you can change gear. The Honda Dream and Honda Wave are rider and pillion passenger variants and in Thailand I have seen 5 people riding one bike. Three is quite common and depending on their dress the women sometimes ride side saddle. 2 year old sit on a seat in front of mum or dad. The Cub in Thailand has a substantial luggage rack behind the seat. Throw over saddle bags are use to carry mail and they are used in Thailand and Australia by Post Officers so we call them Postie Bikes. They are incredibly robust and easy and cheap to repair. With a single rider the bike pulls away quite well in second gear. First is only needed for very steep hill starts or slow riding on rough bush tracks. The Honda Wave has many tie down points allowing big loads to be (illegally) carried. In Thailand we tow two wheel Chinese Wheelbarrows with these Honda bikes. A rice bag is wrapped around the cross bar of the wheelbarrow handle and we sit on the bag, that is the only towing connection. I delivered a refrigerator using this system. Go Honda. The highway speed limit in Thailand is 90 KM/H equal to 56 MPH. I find the wind uncomfortable over 60 KPH or 37 MPH so I ride slow and enjoy the view. Who needs a big, heavy, expensive, dangerous speed machine when one can cruise around happy and relaxed on a Honda Cub? In Thailand they cost 42,300 Thai Baht, equal to British Pounds £1,046 , or Euros €1,157. I have bought 7 Honda motorbikes in my life thought I mostly travel by car. They are just so much fun to ride and one feels so free.

35 + years ago when i was in early teens, we used to ride Honda 90s (and 50s, even 70s )on some large waste land (an old tip ,years later called a nature reserve lol) and the gears were 1 back, (1st gear) 2 forward (2nd gear, avoiding neutral) and another forward for 3d and final gear! No idea how old the bikes were, we used to buy them from a bike shop as track bikes (failed mots) and strip as much off the bike as possible to loose weight! They used to rust n snap the seat! Great days!

Excellent review - One of the most comprehensive as of yet. Can't wait until they arrive in the USA

in my country we call it kapcai, very reliable and versatile, Honda for life brother!

Great video fish! I want one! I could tell the bike was 'smooth ' riding - I didn't get vertigo watching!

SuperCubs are brilliant. On my old C90 I used to sit further back almost on the rear seat so a twin seat would give you more room to shuffle about on a long journey. Any bike is most fun at the edge of it’s performance envelope and you get to the edge of that envelope pretty quickly on a Cub which is why they’re so awesome 😎

Great video do like Hondas as I've got more than one also have a SIM Simba which is very similar to the Honda super cub from one fan in Cornwall

i like the cub very much. The only drawbacks to it is storage space for me. I like the look of it, the gas mileage, the gear shift, especially the abs on the front brake. We haven't gotten any here in the states yet, but i heard they have four ordered at one of the bike shops. Thank you for the review! (i suppose i could carry a backpack?)..(this is coming from a yamaha vino125 owner & a honda pcx150 owner)

I restored an original 50cc cub from 1979. I repainted it in ocean blue to look like Butch O'Hare's F4f Wildcat complete with a roundel, white upholstery and a basket. It always drew smiles wherever I drove it. Then my old lady made me sell it, I miss that little scooter.

I have to say I agree with you . This a is a good-looking little bike I like the looks and the modern features the rims look cool with the polished edge's . And candy colors , thing is a bet it's not cheap !

I bought a Honda c50 in the early 1970s for my wife. It cost £147.00. In todays money that equates to £2000.00 so I suppose the price is about right for this 125cc model.

Good review. The red one's actually matched with more of a cream scheme than that brilliant white. So very classic. A long time ago I dismissed any step through as unworthy/irrelevant. Now I appreciate them. And this might be a serious choice. If I don't fall for my second sh300.

Really wish they would have tried harder to keep the cost down instead of adding fancy extra stuff like that key and alarm thing.

The key fob is actually connected to an immobilizer and makes the bike much less desirable for thieves, if you live in a big city it's a very welcome feature and an added bit of security. I think Honda nailed it with this one and I'm very happy they decided to put it into production. Granted, for the western market I think a 250-300cc model would be welcome.

That was a funky review for a funky little bike. It's really cute and in some ways more retro than anything else on the road today. One could prolly put a carrier of some on the back pretty easily, and I think half of Asia uses it as a means of family transport.

I just put an order in for one this morning. Should be a great second bike. Something to zip around on. I owned a step through for eight years when I was living in Laos. Without reservation, the best town/city transport I've ever owned.

Thanks for the review; after watching the the video clicked some links to see what's on the Honda's offer here in Canada just to learn that they will not sell it locally - a good reason to move south or back to the UK.

Thanks for the inspiration My 2022 Supercub Carlisle - Sitio de Calahonda and back 2 weeks in total 3700 miles, great mpg, lots of smiles Cheers Hope you are well young man

Finally Honda Super Cub is Coming to USA .. So excited and Waiting for it..

Taken delivery and can confirm that the UK owners manual states a weight limit of 106kg and NO pillion. Gearbox is indeed cyclical. Very good low and mid range torque. 1st sees 29 mph, 2nd an indicated 50 - not much beyond that from the other two gears. Terminal velocity for me is 57mph in 3rd. Time to go on a diet :-) Dealers should ask the weight of buyers - this limit was not publicised until I'd taken delivery and read the manual. Delivery driver told me, "oh it will do 70mph" - haha - not a chance

Back in the day, the one up, three down shift pattern WAS the standard, and was followed by the British and European manufacturers for decades. My 1970 Guzzi Ambassador with 4spd uses it, and from the factory had a toe/heel shifter that could be set up for either the right or left foot. It wasn't until the 1970s that the one down, four up shift pattern took over as the standard. My 1969 CM91 Super Cub did not have a rotary transmission as Mr. Coffee and Gasoline claims. It was a 3spd semi-automatic, with a one up, two down pattern if I'm not mistaken. Bridgestone and possibly Suzuki were the only modern makers to use a rotary gearbox and shift pattern that I know of. It was too easy to inadvertently go from 4th to 1st at high speed and damage the gearbox.

Good review! I live in Thailand and have a 7 yr old honda wave 125. That kind of gearbox is in many different hondas as you know. One big advantage for learners and lazy riders is that you can pull away in any gear, 4th is very slow ha ha. People here in Thailand just pull up without bothering to put it in neutral. They then get off the bike (still running in gear) have a smoke or whatever and then just open the throttle and pull away changing into a more suitable gear if necessary and if required. Perfect for learners and lazy people...ha ha. Oh I also ride a t120 Triumph and mainly use the 125 for suburb commuting.

I love the Cub gearbox. You do have a clutch - it's actuated by pressing the gearchange pedal and releasing it. To operate it with finesse takes a bit of skill but it's worth developing and adds to the riding involvement. I wouldn't want a full auto. I love my Innova 125 round the Cheshire lanes where it excels! Easy to park in town as well. I love the lightness and the handling and the gearbox! Mine's a 2012 (last year of production, fuel injected) I bought for 1,500 quid when it was 3 years old and added a Wave front basket and a top box, 1 owner, from the Cornish dealer who'd originally supplied it and serviced it. It still looks like new (it's silver-grey) and I ride it more than my R9T and can't imagine ever getting rid of it. BTW, the gearbox goes 0-1-2-3-4 and if you are stationary another tap down takes it to neutral again (but not if you are on the move). I'm quite a bit heavier than your 17 stone but a bit shorter too at 5-11 and my Innova will do 55 on the flat with me on it and even in the Peak District 3rd will suffice on most hills. I have had one fault with it - it started to run roughly but a second hand fuel injector (£25 off eBay) cured that.

Great bike & video. Really want to test ride one.

Very cool bike, It shifts gears like my 1972 Honda CT 90 thanks for reviewing this bike. 👌🏻

Thanks for the review, you are the same size as I and wondered how one of these would fit me.

Nice job on the video with lots of detail. A total of 100 million sold make this the best selling vehicle (including cars, trucks, etc.) of all time. Motorcyclist magazine's review showed (I hope I'm correct about this) the shift pattern with neutral at the bottom and click up (with toe?) for gears 1 to 4, just like you'd expect.

Good review, thanks. I’m actually quite drawn to this bike. I ride big cc bikes and wouldn’t of considered something like this in the past but something about this has intrigued each since it was announced so might give it a go 🤔

It does look good in that color scheme.

You haven't mentioned the lovely engine characteristics when compared to most 125s. These are torquey low revving engines that sound like tiny dirt or rally bikes. The characteristics were something I really complained about with many other small bikes I rode compared to my Wabe 125i (almost same engine and revision as the C125). Despite similar specs (2v same bore and stroke) the CB125's I owed had no low end torque and needed rev like crazy - sounding lime an angle grinder when cruising. The automatic scooters I rode do also sound really anaemic often times, even though can accelerate faster due to their CVT making better use the engines peak power. Though as a trade off CVTs have far worse durability a d handle far worse due to the heavy unsprung weight in the swingarm as the engine and gearbox are on the swingarm.

you would make a fantastic honda salesman Mr Fish.

The shift pattern was this way on the original Cubs and most of the copies.. I have a Fly Scooters Scout 110cc. Basically a copy of a C90. It's a Moto GP shifter setup.. lolz. Super light.. and the old ones anyway we're indestructible. Watch some of Ed March's videos on C90 Adventures. He ride a supercub 14,000 miles across Europe.. Did an Arctic adventure in winter... And other amazing trips.. on a C90... Amazing what you can do with 6hp.

I learnt to ride on my friends fathers c50 48 years ago. The chain guard rubber bung is for chain tension inspection I think

brings back memories. first bike I had was a C70

I love the old c90👍

Knew you’d get out first on that :-) Mine’s next in hopefully. I’m a couple of inches taller and toe the downshifts on my Cubs. Be interesting to compare this to my older other Cubs

The Asian version has two seats on the back (plus foot-rests) and a small luggage rack over the front wheel. I think it was a bad mistake not to follow that design for the UK.

I hope they do a dual sport version like the original postie bike with a high and low gearbox..that would be awesome. Looks faster than my new royal Enfield 500 haha . Great vid mate.

nice revue ..i will wait for a second hand one to come up too exspensive in my opinion.. ooh and im an old git 68 ..been riding since 1967

I love my Super Cub…I;m only 5’0” tall and 100 lbs so the feeling is different for me. She’s super fun bike

How to wheelie a Cub: Start rolling slowly in first gear. GENTLY depress the shift pedal until you hear the clutch release but WITHOUT shifting to second gear. Pin the throttle. When the revs are up yank your foot off the shift pedal and hang on. Sure, maybe you'll drag the back fender. If it's damaged just cut it off and next time maybe you can loop it. Be mindful that this does no favors to the driveline so is best done on a test ride or with a friend's Cub. And, of course, only do this on a closed course and only if you are a professional wearing full safety gear.

excellent vídeo!😆in Brazil; Honda successo total! congratulation!

Great review! You covered it all. I have to say I’m really appreciating smaller bikes after riding some big fast beasts. There’s a fun factor you can’t get with heavy bikes. Would love to see this cub in a military green option.

It’s a great bike, the mirrors aren’t necessary as nothing’s ever behind me. I have got a KTM 790 duke but got the Honda because I have got arthritis in my knee and definitely not disappointed.

As 'Coffee & Gasoline' told you, you are not really the intended user. This bike (all its predecessors) are basically 'the' workhorse of Japan and other east Asian countries. Honda would not dream of trying to sell this here in Japan without first fitting carrying rack and rear footpegs. I am sure I have seen the older 90cc version with footpegs, too, although the bike never has a rear 'seat', only a rack you put a seat-like cover on. Have you seen the TopGear boys trying to destroy on of these like they tried to destroy a Toyota Hilux? They dropped it off a building, then stood it up and rode it away, a bit mangled. It's worth a quick look. Thanks for the video.

I love this bike , I may buy it, I used to ride this bike's 50cc version in Pakistan in 80's.that bike was super reliable

I am doing research on Honda Super Club & DF-50 TKC Tadpole! Some time next year best buy it !

Great review!

In the 1980 and 90's...I had the C50 C70 and C90.....all were great commuter bikes in the City As well as my Cub I also had standard large sports bikes...Sold the car....biked everywhere for 5 yrs I can say that I've done more miles on the Cub travelling to work etc than I did on any large bike They were great machines This should be great with the 125cc engine.....would like a kickstarter...double seat....The old Cub screens were also great...for keeping dry....

I remember delivering Pizzas on a C90 many moons ago, tearing around roundabouts with the footpeg and exhaust scraping along the tarmac making sparks, awesome fun! :D I feel that Honda missed something on the styling of the C125, to me it isn't quite as cool as a "proper" C90

Great review of the best selling vehicle in the world! But still waiting for a review of the SH 125/150i

I like the ol' clunker gear box the same as l had on my C70 that was great to get around on. Wish I'm still had my licence I'd love that bike especially now that I can no longer drive a car .

Good video 👍🏼

Looks very nice, reminds me of my C50. BTW it's a centrifugal *clutch*.

that gear shift pattern is like my old FS1E 4 down!

It is the most build motorcycle ever. Mostly find on asian roads. But even worldwide.

Gained some weight here in the US?! Hahaha, I could see that! Good review, I'd love to hop on one but I don't think we will see many this far west.

Its a rotary transmition, from 4 when full stop u can tap again directly to neutral. Its common in southeast asian contries these with defferent purposes, even dual sport it even have.

we have options for a small pillion seat in asia.. and you should see what the thais do with this bike.... and this bike has the rotary gear... just kick down at 4th and it goes N....

A 3.7ltr tank 😱 mental!

Anything with to wheels and an engine is fun takes me back 12 years old riding c90 down disused railway line that had heal and toe gear lever with 3 gears😁

I'm thinking about getting one just to drive to work and back. I'm stuck on this or a Grom. I used to have a 1965 cub 50 that I drove around town but if I get this it would be my first real street legal bike.

Just bought one of these; it’d better be good 😉😁

That's it I'm going to part exchange my 2019 500f for this this week 😁

I rather enjoyed that! From the USA

The unbreakable cub

Niiiiiice Box Hill! Use to go there every weekend with the guys (Woking Boy), ever go to Newlands Corner much?

Great review, your missing the point on the gearbox. It's a cub that's how they are. I've a c90 in my collection and love it. Everyone will stick a white top box for storage. I'm so glad they've got the essence of the original cub. Wait till your with a mate with another cub. Brilliant fun. As you say you don't need 1200cc to have fun. The only thing it needs is spoke wheels So glad honda have done a great job.

Going up a hill? You need 3rd. Top is like an overdrive on these bikes. Fun video anyway :-) .

Legend

I have a 2021 Super Cub. 61 years ago, I had it’s 50cc great granddad. A simple, rock solid piece of equipment. I am amazed at this engine’s power output for it’s displacement! Impressive. I am disappointed that - to clean the oil filters - the engine has to be partially dissembled! That is a gross error. Also, the sight glass and arcane 8 minutes of preparation for checking oil level is another gross error. They went from simple to complicated. Lack of a kick starter is an annoyance to. Again, from simple to complicated. Maybe they were aiming at a market segment? The complicated procedures required for the smart key moves us backwards. It solves a problem that didn’t exist. A dumb key is so much simpler. I tour, and sometimes camp, on the bike. Very enjoyable. Courtesy of Half Vast Flying

meanwhile, we in southeast asia we appreciate this bike so much cause we use this bike everyday to commute its cheap and easy to maintain. And yeah sometime went we see foreigner especially european or american ride it i feel like the bike too small for them. For gearbox, i enjoy using semi automatic i dont need to pull the clutch and i can carry something big on my left hand while ride a bike.

My new 2021 Super Cub arrived today. You're partially to blame!

There is something Freudian about sticking a key in the ignition, especially if you find yourself shouting "Work with me baby" while doing it!

Great review. It had to be good, it's probably got the longest pedigree in motorcycling to live up to. I quite clearly heard you describing the shift pattern, but I just have to be sure. I rode CT's and NBC Super Cubs for thirty years with Australia Post (over the odds at 19 stone plus 50lb mail), 'til very recently, and in all the iterations of the model over that time, the shifting pattern was heel down to change up, toe down to change down, the exact opposite of what you said. Over time I concluded that the rocker gear shifter was designed to take the weight off the de-clutching phase of the up-shift, which was possible to do with the toe under, but was definitely fatiguing over time. Have Honda really changed the pattern after so long?

Didn't take long to get to the cub 3k pretty smart price

Very beautiful, but in Italy certainly loses half sales due to lack of passenger seat, not even optional

Very nice wee bike \scooter

Loving the video's. I'm 54 and toying with getting back on two wheels, had a Honda CB50 when I was 16 and later on a 125 motorbike when I was a student. In your opinion what would be the best for a rural commute of approx 15 miles, Super Cup, CB125F or SH125i.