The Kneeslider

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Honda Super Cub Gets Electronic Fuel Injection

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Honda Super Cub with fuel injection

Here’s something I would have never noticed without a tip from Tom, but the Honda 50 Super Cub, a motorcycle that last year 2 years ago went over the 50 million unit mark in numbers produced is adapting for the future by adding electronic fuel injection. I guess Honda figures this little workhorse, still sold in 160 countries (that seems to be almost everywhere but the U.S.), has a lot of life left in it.

PGM-FI is a fuel injection system developed by Honda which believes small motorcycles still used in many countries can use cleaner exhaust and better mileage, just like their bigger brothers. In that pursuit, the system has now been added to the Super Cub 50. It looks like this is already used on their 50cc scooters.

It makes you wonder how long the Super Cub will continue. That is one amazing run and at this rate we may see another 50 million units.

Thanks for the tip, Tom!

Link: Honda Super Cub

Comments

  2. cubs are sweet. I took my first cycle ride on one as was forever hooked. I think this is a rather common experience?

  3. I love cubs (and derivatives like the CT90/110 or Passports). Why would Honda ever discontinue it if it continues to fill millions of people’s needs every year? Of course, Suzuki and Kawasaki gets more brand recognition for their Hyabusa and Ninja than Honda ever will from its Cub. I doubt the profit margins are very high on the bike either. If anything, it keeps millions of people loyal to Honda.

    -todd

  4. ” I doubt the profit margins are very high on the bike either”

    Todd – Are you referring to the Honda Cub? The profit margins on a cub may be “gravy” for Honda. How much money have they invested in that model over the decades vs. how many units sold over the decades?

    Plus, if the margin per unit is not great, but you sell a shipload, your volume margins are huge.

    Right?

  5. I’d buy one today in FI if they shipped it here. I also want to buy the DN-01 but Honda says they aren’t shipping it here until later. I mean I really want one now!
    John

  6. Cool – a boring little bike that one can link up to their computer and spend all their free time (whenever they are off the internet) re-mapping the ECU! And it comes with turn signals and mirrors!! Perfect!!!

    Yeah, they must have made no money on these things at any time in the last 40+ years. After all, back when this sort of thing was Honda’s main product, they were racing the low tech bikes of the day like the RC-166 ridden by no name racers like Mike Hailwood.

    Clearly, they made far more money on bikes like the CB1, Hawk GT, and GB500.

    Yes, I have much better things to do with my time…..

  7. Isn’t adding electronics to the simple machine kind of going against one of the main reasons for it’s success in the third world?

    I suspect that the availability of replacement ecu’s will become a major concern to buyers in rural Asia and Africa.

  9. By the time sombody needs a new ecu it will have been another 50 years and the surplus will be ample.

  10. I dunno if adding electronic is really all that bad. Have you ever seen the guys in hongkong fixing cell phones? They know whats up.

  11. The cub has to sell for approximately $1400US (not that it’s sold in the US- up to 340MPG before fuel injection!).

    I’m not considering development dollars when thinking about margins. Let’s consider the expense of maintaining a current model in the lineup: brochures and other sales literature, spares, recalls, warranty repairs, dealer and service training and support, showroom square footage, inventory management and warehousing, production line labor costs and square footage, vendor management, distribution, regulation compliance, etc… All these costs would be the same across the board regardless of the style or capacity or success of the machine. In fact many items are much higher considering the enormous volume the Cub achieves.

    I’d like to thank my friend ROHORN for pointing out other remarkable Hondas like the GB500, Hawk GT, and CB1. Let us not forget other truly unsuccessful Honda money pits: CB750A, Ascot, CX Turbo, Transalp (US), Pacific Coast, etc, etc. Since these bikes were pulled early and not many sold many of these costs were reduced or eliminated entirely. It doesn’t take any less labor or fewer components to build a 600 vs a 1000 but they’re priced thousands of dollars disparate.

    I’m also considering margin for the dealer in town. Quite often profit is a percentage of list price. If the bike lists for $10,000 the dealer stands to make fair change for the same amount of sales and service support and floor space as a bike that would sell for $1400. In many cases – such as Kawasaki’s Ninja 250 margins are nearly eliminated in the hopes the buyer trades up to the ZX10R in a few months. Dealers skip this step and start the new rider off on the ZX6R since it has some money associated with it.

    We have to thank Honda for keeping the Cub available somewhere in the world in the hopes that it may some day return to the US (unlikely) and start the boom over again. Sure it’s a commodity bike with fierce competition and pricing pressure. The only reason they bother to keep it going is because Honda is so huge in the first place, ironically this bike is what got them here. The thought is; if we give someone a Cub someday they will buy a Civic. If anything -more so than the profit- they enjoy the steady stream and high volume of orders to test models of efficiency that can be adopted in other, less successful plants.

    -todd

  12. Todd –

    If production line labor costs are the same for a Cub as they are for a CBR1000RR, maybe people should re-think their purchase. A skilled line employee who assembles the top of the line sportbike or Goldwing is making the same as someone who assembles a Cub?

    “If the bike lists for $10,000 the dealer stands to make fair change for the same amount of sales and service support and floor space as a bike that would sell for $1400”

    I can’t see a dealer claiming the cost of supporting a moped is proportional to sophisticated high performance motorcycles or Goldwings. A moped takes how long to service, yet the dealer rounds to the next whole hour, right?

    G-r-a-v-y.

    The Italian scooter success ~ 10 years ago has been credited for infusing loads of cash into brands like aprilia. Why? scooters are profitable.

    “The thought is; if we give someone a Cub someday they will buy a Civic.”

    How many civics are running around India, Pakistan, etc. compared to new, replacement or refurb’d Cubs?

    The Cub is McDonald’s economics…not quite billions served, but hopefully that helps.

  13. Right! The dealer makes a hundred or so off the sale of the “moped”. 1500 miles later (about ten years on a moped) the bike comes in for a valve check and oil change. Round up to 1 hour and the owner balks at the $100 bill. Say’s it isn’t worth it and leaves the bike.

    Dealer two who was smart enough to sell the ZX10R made $2000 from the sale and an additional $2000 selling a helmet and set of leathers. Tack on a $2000 exhaust and power commander. Two weeks later the dealer sells $2000 worth of replacement fairing bits and turn signals and mirrors… After 6 months the dealer fits a set of Diablos and does a valve adjustment, filter change, services the coolant and brake fluids, installs new pads and rotors, chain and sprockets, clutch plates and cover, and a carbon look gas cap sticker. Total= $2000. A year later the dealer makes $2000 off the ZX10R trade-in and another $2000 on a new ZX14…

    Which bike would you rather sell?

    -todd

  15. I just don’t know, The Honda/Yamaha/Suzuki shop in town sells ALOT of scooters, and with gas around the 3.00 mark, I can’t help but think that the little buggers would sell here in Bloomimgton Illinois. How about where you folks live?

  16. The Cub has had electronics for a long time. I doubt if very many of them have been retrofitted with points and condensor ignition.

    But what’s the worst that could happen, anyway? It’s 2031, and you roll into a dusty little village in Xinjiang on your wheezing 2009 EFI Cub. The mechanic fixes you up with a carburettor from a 1963 model. Where’s the fire?

    Tom

  17. Hmmm. Dealer #1 sells a R1200GS to a 59 y.o. and with installed accessories and new gear makes $3500 in profit. A few years later the customer retires to Florida and no longer rider. Meanwhile a 15 y.o. – let’s call him Erik* – sits at home and plays video games. A few years later Erik gets a car and never rides motorcycles.

    Dealer #2 sells a Super Cub to 15 y.o. Erik and pretty much just breaks even on the deal. It’s the first of 23 motorcycles Erik will own during his lifetime.

    If you were a motorcycle dealer, which sale would you rather make?

    Tom

    *Fun fact – Erik Buell’s first ever motorcycle ride was on a Super Cub.

  18. We’re talking here about the manufacturer’s success, not about the dealers. (anyways, seeing the dealers around here and the way they treat their customers, I don’t give a s… if any motorcycle dealer makes some benefit or not on the cub or on the latest ZSXGR-RR).
    The cost of the bike is made of the material it’s made of, the energy and manpower used to build it, but also and mostly the costs of design, engineering, the investment in manufacturing equipments and tooling. In this case the Cub has been produced since Mathusalem, these engineering costs and investments have been paid off since forever. The return on investment is more than excellent, the Cub is a dairy cow for Honda !
    (Remember also that the price of a bike is made of what the customer is ready to pay for, not really it’s direct material value)
    In this case, it’s probably the Cub’s rentability that provides the cash to design and engineer the CBRs, RCs, Goldwing, and any other bikes you’re dreaming of.
    No Cub = no dream bike at the dealer …

  19. tooling and equipment doesn’t last forever. The cub probably wears out a set of tooling at least once a year. I guess everyone here thinks it’s free to manufacture something once you figure out how to do it the first time. That’s the sort of thought that put the British motorcycle industry out of business. Heck, Honda probably has an entire division and set of facilities just to handle Cub production. No such thing as free money, Cubs don’t grow on trees.

    -todd

  20. Todd, it’s just because it’s not free to manufacture a product that the more you do the less they cost. At this level of production, Cub is a dairy cow.
    Honda would not make 50+ millions of this bike (and upgrading it) before figuring out it’s not a good deal for the company’s finance, namebrand, or for their distribution network …
    (I don’t ride any honda currently but I have the most respect for this company)

  21. Todd, I don’t mean to be rude or presumptuous, but I don’t think you understand how a motorcycle dealership works. Motorcycles are what gets people in the doors, they nudge them in the right direction. A brand new Speed Triple only returns a few thousand dollars NZ when it’s sold. However, that person then needs a new helmet. A new jacket, new pants, riding boots, they want an Arrows exhaust, a bellypan and some carbon fibre goodies. It’s these addons that make the money, not the motorcycle, and it’s here where the Honda Cub comes into it’s own.

    I’ve spent thousands of dollars on bits for me and my bike in the just over two years since I first swung a leg over the Yamaha V50. So you can say that the Cub isn’t economical for the dealers, and on it’s own it might not be, but that’s not the full story.

  22. my point exactly. Don’t get me wrong; I love the Cub and wish there were more just like it.
    -todd

  23. There is a reason why they’re the best motorcycle in the world, after all. Name another bike that’s gotten so many people out of cages?

  25. i am in vietnam where the word honda is stand for bike.
    my father ran a second hand 1980 cub for 12 year without any great problem.and i really like this model. it is wonderful for short daily routs.
    but no out let here selling this type of bike. if some do the price may be roughly 3000usd. incredible but it’s true.

  26. Honda has announced that they are making the Honda Supercub 110 as partkits in Thailand and assembling them at a Japanese plant for Japanese sales. No announcement concerning US sales of this machine have been forthcoming. 65 km/l?

    Apparently very few parts are shared with the last US edition, though it may actually share some with the Symba, both have a the same suspension design in the front, (no more leading link!). See the press release in the last couple of weeks. The timing seems suspicious, doesn’t it?