So awesome the Beach Boys wrote a song about it...
What's the most popular motorcycle in the world? Here's a hint, it's been in continuous production since 1958 with more than 60 million units sold world-wide during it's run. A fairly entertaining British bloke named James May once rode one on a thousand mile tour of Vietnam, and why not...it gets 340 MPG (US)! If you said anything but the Honda SuperCub you're completely and totally wrong. It's a cool little machine that's been on my brain a lot the last few days, since stevefoxx had mentioned in a way how completely excessive a machine like a Suzuki GSRX-1000 is for every day riding. You see these things--SuperCubs, I mean--were EVERYWHERE in Japan.
Without a doubt these lean little machines were the most common motorcycle like devices I saw and, literally, I saw them everywhere. Sure, I saw a lot of other bikes and scoot and other similar things but the single model with the strongest representation was the SuperCub. I saw them used for commuting in heavy Tokyo traffic. I saw them lugging crates of soft drinks up sandy mountain trails to lonely vending machines standing out in the middle of nowhere. I saw them hopping curbs, barreling down sidewalks to bypass traffic lights. I saw them beneath men in business suits with $600 dollar Arai helmets and under greasy, knuckle-dragging barroom brawlers wearing hard-hats held on with twine. I saw them being completely, thoroughly and totally used to every inch of their ability.
Fast? Haha! Yeah, not a chance but holds its own against other scoots in it's displacement class. Fast enough? For getting around town they sure seemed to be. For getting around the country side too! Durable? Dude, I couldn't even begin to tell you how old some of those beasts were, surely more than a few I saw bombing around were older than me. Efficient? See my comment about 340MPG. Practical? Completely and totally without a doubt, watching them haul pallets of frozen fish, crates of soda and who knows what else inside of big lock boxes bolted to their cargo racks earns it mad respect. There are very good reasons that Honda is still stamping these things out and why they're seeing sales of them picking up, even after 52 years!
Personally, it's not a bike I'd buy for myself (under normal circumstances) but it's not a machine that I'd ever dream of dismissing as underpowered or incapable or a toy. They are serious bikes that can do serious work and do it reliably for years at a bargain basement price. It's a brilliant example of why big, bad and sexy doesn't always mean better; ultimately it's about what gets the job done for whatever value the job happens to be. The SuperCub is a machine that's been getting the job done for more than half a century so...why is it again that anybody needs a more powerful motorcycle?
Wants, on the other hand, are completely different needs...