Modern Vespa

I wonder what ever became of the Cub Judy had money down at the dealership in Hawaii. I've a sneaking suspicion they just took the money and ran. However, how would they know she had passed? Wonder if anyone ever let them know.

And continuing that thought, anyone know what happened to Leonardo?

I saw a blue one at Amerivespa last month, he had ridden down from Milwaukee, WI a couple of hours north. It's a pretty cool bike, I like it quite a bit.

There was also a yellow monkey bike at AV, trailered from Indianapolis. The owner had already added a bunch of cool stuff to it.

A couple of guys from California rode a pair of Monkey bikes over 1000 miles down the length of the Baja peninsula in Mexico. I saw this on Motor Trend Television, they abused these little bikes and they didn't waver a bit.

https://www.motortrendondemand.com/detail/1-000-miles-in-baja-on-honda-monkeys/0_ezyhumfv/

This weekend is the New England rally and I am tempted to take my cub but it is a "vintage rally" so I'd be afraid of getting yelled at.
If anyone is thinking about getting one - do it! Absolutely love it. So much fun to ride and plenty of get up and go. A great scoot.

What is more vintage than a Honda Cub? Been scootin' around since 1958!

Yeah well if they don't like it they can poke it.

I promise you it will generate more interest then their museum pieces.

Just sayin.

Bill x

Bill dog help me Honda help help me Honda haha

My first scooter was a used yellow Honda passport. It was the only used scooter available in my town that I could afford at age 15. I worked for the money to buy it worked on my farmer father's tomato harvester and then underage at Burger King for 2 weeks. I quit the Burger King job because the manager was an 18 yr old loser and he made me get on my knees and scrub the tile floor with a toothbrush. He was a loser that used his power for evil. I did get on the floor and scrubbed but that was also the day I quit.
Anyways , back to the Honda cub ....
I loved my passport and these cubs grab my heart! Alas I have too many bikes already. But never say never.

Bill Dog you'd look great on that blue one!

If motorcycle No 2 gets sold I'll drop around to my local Hodna dealership and start asking questions.

Blue is best.

Bill x

Greatest two wheeled vehicle ever built.

"I'm gonna wake you up early cause I'm gonna take a ride with you.
We're goin 'down to the Honda shop.........

My youth lost -

Bob Copeland
Frost Bite Falls Minnesota

One prior poster said that 'gears' were a problem on a scooter or bike. While I don't specifically dislike the 'twist and go' powertrain on scooters, they are a disconnect from the mechanical nature of motorcycles. I like gears, and a clutch. Really doesn't take much time to acquire the skills needed, and there's a certain satisfaction in doing it well.

My grand-daughter is learning to drive, on 'stick shift' cars. Wouldn't be surprised if she's the only person in her high-school class that will have that skill.

If I can get her mother to agree, might pick her up a new Cub, if I can find one.

Bad

http://www.piccolibastardi.it/pubblicita--d-epoca.html

Actually, I've asked a few Cub questions with 3 of the dealers around here. The answer is they each sold the one they got from Honda and have been unable to get another. So none for sale, locally anyway. I guess it really is a "limited edition".

I've seen a few around town and they look like a great inner city bike. I really hope that we get a black and cream one here in the US. The blue looks odd with a almost Lilac leg shield.

Not a matter of learning, road clutch bikes for years. It's traffic, gears may be great in Nebraska, try it in Washington DC Metro area traffic for a few years and see if you get tired of always being in the wrong gear..

I'm with Jimding. I like shifties -- maybe not so much the Stella I used to have that shifted like an ancient crash-box truck -- but sophisticated, modern shifties that work smoothly.

Back in the early '70s, I had an old Honda CT90 Trail with a three-speed self-clutching manual. Loved that thing. Rode it all over Northern Virginia and DC with no problems. Full rider/driver control over gear ratio and engine braking is a wonderful thing.

Every car I've ever bought for myself to drive in the past 50 years has been a stick shift, and I wouldn't have it any other way. If I could have a shifty modern Vespa, I would be overjoyed.

Ever heard of anticipating, WEBTech? Being in the right gear in traffic is just an acquired skill.

I love my little beast. I use mine daily.
Only thing bad about the cub is the stock rear shocks, they bottom out on bumps. I changed them out.
Some people calling the cub a scooter is wrong, it's a motorcycle.

I am also sad for my U.S counterparts, they didn't get the cylindrical gearbox design where you can change from 4th to N without going down the gears.
Nobody gears down on super cubs out here, it's considered dangerous apparently.

I have a Royal Enfield to sell.

It should be worth roughly what that's going to be worth new.

Decisions decisions.

Bill x

It's a tough one.
I gave up on big displacement bikes, I just didn't use them enough and probably didn't suit my kind of riding. Heavy and a bitch to manoeuvre and park.
Cub is light and fast. Handling like it's on rails.
You will look like a gorilla on a small bike though. I saw myself in the reflection in a shop window and got a shock. I nearly weigh as much as the bike.

You want to see a Gorilla on a bike ?

See below.

What is written on the tag in Thai?

Just aim to keep a knee down, not a knuckle...

... and as a windshield the window of a cathedral.

Explains the shifting directions. Can go to any gear in any direction.
Not available in the U.S models. Just a standard motorcycle pattern in the U.S.
Not sure about the Euro models.

If you roll up to a light in 4th gear you can go direct to neutral. Only works once you stopped for safety reasons.

You'll fit right in with a cub then. Lol.

Yeah it's an optional extra. You also have to get the frame tapped to fit the footpegs. They are plugged.

Interesting passenger notes mick! Oh, anyone in V.B., Honda of Virginia Beach on V.B. Blvd has a Cub on the showroom floor. Blue color. Going to go and kick tires as I've wanted to see one in person and Im to lazy to go to Newport News. They had a red Monkey Bike when it first came out but I think it sold already. Cub is much cooler!

That can be easily rectified with a 181cc kit with a 4 valve head.
Very pricey but it makes wild power.
9.6 hp is standard and the 4v kits make just over 20hp.
6 month waiting for the Super cub one to be back in stock. It's sold out.
http://www.takegawa.co.jp/products/detail.php?product_id=3994&category_id=1997

I thought the dealer was going to take that sucker back?

Just noticed you and I both have a px150 upgraded to a 177 and a super cub. Great minds think alike.

Don't think I'm going to be doing any changes to the cub. Suits my need perfectly.

I just sold both my PX scoots. They were rusting away before my eyes. Living next to the sea with high humidity is no place for a PX.
2 years old and it looked 40 years old.

As for the Cub, I'm going the 181cc kit but not the 4 valve head.
Cheaper and you get to keep the torquey ride.
Once you do 4v, it needs to rev higher to make the power.
There is also lots of auxiliary parts that I didn't mention. Like upgraded oil pump, starter motor and oil cooler.
Those alone are nearly another $1000 bucks.

Or just buy a bigger scooter ?

A friend of mine offered to put the Royal Enfield up for sale in his shop so I agreed because I was sick of it.

The reason that it didn't go back was that even though the dealer had agreed to warranty the " blow in" on the fork leg on the very first day of riding I got a stone chip on the tank so it became less than perfect.

When the inspector came to look at the fork he spotted the chip so I couldn't really give it back without repairing the tank.

I'd rather just be rid of it.

You live and learn.

Bill x

Honda has recently shown two off-road versions.
For use if you're at a rather rough RV park, I guess.
O.S.

Yeah I'm a bit puzzled by buying something new that you're already dissatisfied with then attempt to improve it.

Bill x

Are you referring to modifying the cub? I'm not dissatisfied with it all.
I just want more power. I'll hammer it for a year or two and sell it.
That how I roll.

I have gone through over 50 bikes and scooters in the last 8 years.

I bow to your hammering prowess.

In standard trim it doesn't have enough power for you so it's lacking.

Hence dissatisfaction.

I gone through an entire bag of Doritos.

That's how i roll.

Bill x

I don't see it. I am happy with the bike and have no complaints in standard form. I just want more power and non standard look.

Come to Phuket, Thailand and I'll show you around. You'll never see a standard Cub or Monkey ever.
Check out this site
https://www.aphonda.co.th/cubhouse/

We have special Cub houses around the country that customize from the showroom floor.
I've never seen anything like it in the west.

It's easy to get caught up in modifying when you have facilities like that.

Poked around the site a bit. Very cool concept; makes it easy to help people personalize their bike. What's the markup like to have them mod a bike?

Their prices are the same as retail. Actually cheaper because the baht is strong right now so it's cheaper to import.
Any modification is backed by Honda 3 year warranty if you modify with them. This concept moves them a lot of units.
They have custom paint facilities and a bike wash bay. Stop in and they detail your bike like new while you relax and have something to eat or drink.

Some stuff is very expensive like the Showa shocks for the monkey
Very limited release of 100 units and about $2000 USD a set.

I've seen guys buy the base Monkey for 89,000 baht (2900 USD) and pump about 300,000 baht (10,000 USD) on modifications.

I get that people want to customise their rides - make it their own so to speak but the bit that I'm missing is after you've gone through the careful process of choosing the bike that you want to own ( especially from new ) you buy it knowing that you're going to change it.
Why not look for something that you don't need to change ?
Many modifications are performance based so to buy a PTW that's destined to be given more power because you don't think it has enough is an anathema to me.
Maybe it's like making a Pizza. Here's the base and now I'm going to make a meat lovers.
Oh, there's one on a shelf already made with 20 % more meat.
Not the greatest analogy I know but I think you know what I'm getting at.
On a personal front there's nothing to change on my Kymco because they have thought of everything and the only thing on the Benelli I'd swap is the pipe because it weighs a tonne, but that's it.
I figure out if I'm happy with what I'm about to buy and leave it like that because it's part of the appraisal process and if it's not fast enough I'll buy something faster.

Horses for courses I guess.

Bill x

Sure I get what you're saying Bill. Modifying isn't for everyone. I guess it becomes addictive once you get started.
Even when I owned the Kawasaki H2 I modified that thing to the max. I was making 365hp at the wheels from the 310hp standard. It was a wild wild ride that I would have been killed on if I kept it. Can't describe the pull of the H2. Supercharger whine with modified boost sound like heaven.
Taking things to the max is the rush but it's basically a death trap lol.
Nothing will ever come close to that bike. Ever.

Same can be said about cars. Guys buy 600hp cars from factory and immediately push them to over 1000hp. Why? Because you can.

It's not for everyone. I've toned it down a lot now I'm 43. In my 20's I was doing some wild stuff with Mazda rotary cars.
Wheel stands taking off from the lights.