Model updates: Honda’s legendary Super Cub – originally born in 1958 and with over a 100 million built – continues its storied journey into 2026.
And, as before, all the signature component parts are in place: four-speed gearbox driving through an automatic centrifugal clutch, easy-to-live-with step-through body design, fuel-efficient air-cooled engine and large diameter smooth-rolling wheels matched to comfortable, supple suspension. Smart Key operation adds convenience while the new, exclusive 26YM two-tone colour scheme brings the Super Cub right up to date.
1. Introduction
The very first Super Cub C100 was introduced in 1958, Honda’s 10th year of existence. Created by Soichiro Honda and his long-time business partner Takeo Fujisawa, its stated aim was straightforward: ‘to provide the joy of playing a useful part in people’s lives’.
Nearly 60 years later, in 2017, the 100 millionth Super Cub was built, cementing its status as the most popular motor vehicle the world has ever seen. Along the way the Super Cub’s simple attributes of unique styling, reliability, frugality and sheer usability have never gone out of fashion. And it has quietly achieved exactly what Soichiro and Takeo wanted: to get people mobile and keep them mobile.
The Super Cub series has long been popular in Japan – where it has long been popular with business users including the Japanese Post Office, and in South East Asia – where it retains an important role in people’s lives as private transport. Well aware of the number of urban European riders – across a wide range of age demographics – who look for credible retro-inspired machinery and head-turning style, Honda brought the latest version of the iconic machine to Europe in 2018, marking a new chapter in its long history.
In 22YM the Super Cub C125 received further advances for its European audience. The timeless look was unchanged, but a brand-new EURO5-compliant engine and host of improvements drove it forward, just as Soichiro and Takeo would have wanted.
25YM saw the Super Cub C125 gain EURO5+ compliance – thanks to minor revisions to the fuel-efficient, air-cooled engine. Nothing changes mechanically for 26YM, but a new colour combination brings the iconic silhouette right up to date.
2. Model Overview
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The air-cooled SOHC engine is EURO5+ compliant and designed to produce smooth, usable power, returning impressive fuel economy of 1.5L/100km (WMTC mode). A 4-speed gearbox drives through a centrifugal clutch.
Classic Cub styling – practical and easy to live with – is unchanged and includes standard-fit pillion seat and footpegs. Spring rates for front and rear suspension are set to smooth the ride on rougher city streets. New accessories available include a USB socket and heated grips.
The 26YM Super Cub C125 will be available in a sole, exclusive, paint finish:
- **NEW** Premium Silver Metallic with Pearl Sugarcane Beige
3. Key features
3.1 Engine
- EURO5+ compliant air-cooled engine is smooth, strong and fuel efficient – delivering 67.3km/l
- Powerful Alternating Current Generator (ACG)
Efficient and durable, the Super Cub C125’s 124cc air-cooled engine combines the bottom-end (with re-designed crankcases) of the current Japanese-market C110 with the SOHC two-valve cylinder head and top-end of the MSX Grom. Bore is set at 50mm, stroke at 63.1mm with compression ratio of 10.0:1. Peak power of 7.2kW (a 0.1kW increase) arrives @ 7,500rpm, with peak torque of 10.4Nm @ 6,250rpm.
Smoothing airflow on the clean side the airbox (designed around the engine) is compact and combines with the connecting tube/injector position to improve driveability. The outward appearance of the muffler is one of the many elements of Super Cub’s ‘mythology’ and houses, a single, uprated catalyser.
The gearbox is a 4-speed unit (with neutral at the bottom) and – in true Super Cub tradition – is operated via ‘automatic’ centrifugal clutch, without the need for a clutch lever. At standstill the rider simply selects the gear required with the left-hand foot lever and, as the throttle is opened, the clutch operates automatically and does so through each ratio change, up or down via heel or toe, toe for up through the gears, heel for down. Final drive ratio is 2.50 with 14T drive and 35T driven sprockets. A helical primary gear reduces ‘mechanical’ noise while the Alternating Current Generator (ACG) delivers healthy electrical output.
Amazing fuel economy is on offer – 1.5 litres/100km (67.3km/l) (WMTC mode) – giving a range of approx. 250km from the 3.7 litre fuel tank.
3.2 Styling & Equipment
- Evocative styling unchanged; pillion pad and footpegs standard-fit
- Convenient Smart Key operation
- Full LED lighting, front and rear, for optimum visibility
The Super Cub C125’s time-tested, evocative styling – defined instantly by the leg-guards and fully enclosed mechanical parts – is a design with one word in mind: ‘universality’. In other words, it must be easy for a wide range of people to use. A key part of this ethos is the laid-forward ‘S-shaped silhouette’ which runs from the step-through space to rear mudguard, making access on and off easy. The 2022 pillion seat and footpegs are standard equipment.
Also, instantly recognisable as Super Cub is the ‘unit’ steering, which unifies the separate elements – forks, handlebars and leg shields – into one cohesive whole. On the original machine the handlebars, shaped to be like the wings of a bird, were a tactile and welcoming sales point and the modern-day Super Cub C125 with its forged, tapered handlebar wrapped in curvaceous moulded resin incorporating the switchgear and instruments, pays loyal homage to the original.
The grips are placed in a natural, easy-to-hold position and complement the straight-backed riding position, which gives excellent all-round visibility. Aiding comfort, the seat uses thick, high-density urethane foam. It is also cut back on both sides up front, helping ground reach.
All lighting is contemporary LED while the instruments highlight the depth of the overall design with two lenses separated by dual chrome rings. The outer ring houses the sweep of the analogue speedometer’s needle plus warning lights; the inner an understated digital display.
A modern finishing touch is the Honda Smart Key which also controls the immobiliser as an extra theft deterrent and is equipped with an ‘answer back’ function whereby the indicators will ‘blink’ at the push of a button to make finding the vehicle easy in busy parking areas. And, with a nod to its forebears (and underlining its place in Honda’s history) a historical 3D ‘Classic Wing’ logo crowns the Smart Key fob.
3.3 Chassis
- Front fork and rear shock absorbers deliver supple ride quality
- 17-inch front and rear wheels
- Disc front brake matched by drum rear
Fun, easy handling has always been another Super Cub strength. To this end, the tubular steel ‘backbone’ frame has a rigidity balance carefully tuned around the headstock and between the engine mounting points, to optimise performance for the 124cc engine; the engine crankcases have specific hangers. Both handlebars and seat are rubber mounted and the footpegs also feature rubber inserts.
Rake and trail are set at 26.5°/71mm with wheelbase of 1,245mm. Wet weight is 111kg. 100mm travel telescopic forks and the twin rear shocks (matched to body colour) offer up a smooth ride on bumpy roads, while elegant 17-inch die-cast aluminium wheels (with machined rims and spokes) add stability and steering precision.
Tubeless tyres are fitted, sized 70/90-17 front and 80/90-17 rear. A 220mm front disc brake and single-piston caliper are matched by a 110mm rear drum.
4. Accessories
Useful Genuine Honda Accessories are available for the Super Cub to boost everyday useability: heated grips ensure a comfortable ride in all weathers whilst a USB socket is also available to keep personal devices charged.
5. Super Cub Facts
Unsurprisingly, over almost seven decades of production, the Super Cub has some remarkable stories and achievements behind it. Here are just fifteen:
- The first prototype wasn’t drawn out on paper, but using a clay model, into which Mr. Honda himself had strong input, using some ideas from a fact-finding trip to Europe in 1956.
- The first 1958 Super Cub C100’s low-floor backbone frame (for easy step-through), large leg shields (for protection from dust from unpaved roads), fully ‘enclosed’ bodywork (to hide the engine and harnesses), seagull-inspired handlebar shape and sky-inspired blue fairing laid down a universal template for decades to come.
- The size 17-inch wheels (relatively large in order to handle Japan’s uneven road surfaces) were designed and made exclusively for the Super Cub.
- It has always used a four-stroke engine – even from its first 1958 incarnation.
- It had to avoid the need for a clutch lever so delivery riders could ride one-handed with a stack of Soba noodle boxes on a left shoulder.
- Honda’s Suzuka factory was built in 1960 to help meet the demand for the hit product.
- The Super Cub has been produced in 16 factories across 15 different countries and sold in 160 different countries.
- It went on sale in the USA in 1959, with a sticker price of just $295. It took west coast surfing youth by storm and paved the way for much bigger things for Honda in America.
- The first European production started in Honda Belgium (the second ‘overseas’ factory to product the vehicle).
- The Super Cub also starred in the ‘You meet the nicest people on a Honda’ ad campaign that changed the American perception of motorcycles away from being vehicles associated mainly with ‘biker gangs’.
- The Beach Boys made it even more famous in 1964 with their song ‘My Little Honda’.
- Also introduced to South Asia in 1964 the Super Cub became prized family transport that neatly dealt with the overwhelming traffic of the ever-growing major cities.
- The Japanese Patent Office awarded it a 3D trademark registration in 2014, recognising its shape and design as an iconic Honda product, and making it the first vehicle to achieve this status.
- Original sales were projected to be possibly 30,000 a month, which was amazing at the time as total motorcycle production in Japan was around 40,000 units a month, but something of an underestimate in the end.
- In typical, low-key Super Cub way on October 29th, 2017 a commemorative ceremony was held at Honda’s Kumamoto factory to mark worldwide production of 100 million units.
6. Technical Specification
|
ENGINE |
|
| Engine Type | Air-cooled 2-valve OHC single cylinder |
| Engine Displacement | 124 cc |
| Bore x Stroke (mm) | 50.0 mm x 63.1 mm |
| Compression Ratio | 10.0:1 |
| Max. Power Output | 7.2 kW @ 7,500 rpm |
| Max. Torque | 10.4 Nm @ 6,250 rpm |
| Stationary Noise Level (dB) | 80 dB |
| Max Speed | 95 km/h |
| Oil Capacity | 1.1 L |
| Starter | E-Starter |
|
FUEL SYSTEM |
|
| Carburation | PGM-FI Fuel Injection |
| Fuel Tank Capacity | 3.7 L |
| CO2 Emissions WMTC | 35 g/km |
| Fuel Consumption | 1.5 L/100km |
|
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM |
|
| Battery Type | AGM |
| Battery Capacity | 12V 3.7 Ah (20HR) |
|
DRIVETRAIN |
|
| Clutch Type | Wet multiplate and automatic centrifugal clutch |
| Transmission Type | 4 speed rotary |
|
FRAME |
|
| Frame Type | Steel mono-backbone frame |
|
CHASSIS |
|
| Dimensions (L´W´H) | 1,915 mm x 720 mm x 1,000 mm |
| Wheelbase | 1,245 mm |
| Caster Angle | 26.5° |
| Trail | 71 mm |
| Seat Height | 780 mm |
| Ground Clearance | 125 mm |
| Kerb Weight | 111 kg |
|
SUSPENSION |
|
| Suspension Front | Telescopic fork, 90 mm travel |
| Suspension Rear | Swingarm twin shock, 92 mm travel |
|
WHEELS |
|
| Wheels Front | 17M/C X MT1.85 Cast aluminium |
| Wheels Rear | 17M/C X MT1.85 Cast aluminium |
| Tyres Front | 70/90-17 M/C 38P |
| Tyres Rear | 80/90-17 M/C 50P |
|
BRAKES |
|
| ABS Type | Front ABS |
| Brakes Front | Single-piston caliper. Single 220 mm disc |
| Brakes Rear | Drum brake 110 mm |
|
INSTRUMENTS & ELECTRICS |
|
| Instruments | Round LCD |
| Headlight | LED |
| Taillight | LED |
| Additional Features | SMART Key |
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About Honda Motorcycles
Honda is the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer, founded in 1948 by Soichiro Honda. The company is known for producing reliable, high-quality motorcycles and is the world’s largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines. Honda’s early focus on reliable four-stroke engines and innovative designs, like the highly successful Super Cub, helped it become a global leader in the industry.
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