This year marked the 65th anniversary of the venerable Honda Super Cub. It also happened to be the 75th anniversary of Honda Motor Co. As such, the annual Cub Cafe Meeting at Honda’s headquarters in Tokyo had even more cause for celebration than usual. Nearly 400 Super Cubs showed up to the two-day event, and even a bout of heavy rain didn’t stop riders from showing up on the second day.
The Cub Cafe Meeting has been held by Honda every year since 1997. The café part of the event is because the lobby of the Honda headquarters in Aoyama, Tokyo has a coffee shop in it. The event was designed as a bikes and coffee gathering, a chance to mingle with other Super Cub fans, but with the added bonus of fun and games. So many Super Cub owners wanted to attend that entry slots had to be doled out by lottery. Still, 379 bikes showed up in two days.
Super Cubs ranging from the 1960s to today were all represented. There have been dozens of updates and variations over the years, not to mention countless aftermarket accessories. No two bikes were alike.
In commemoration of the dual anniversaries, attendees were invited to a Bike Forum in the HQ building, where Honda representatives and a special guest panel talked about the Super Cub’s past, present, and future. The panel was comprised of Hiroshi Chubu and Kenichi Kobayashi, authors who have written books about the Super Cub.
The headquarter building’s lobby also contains a gift shop, and a special selection of Super Cub goods were made available. These included artwork, watches, stickers, keychains, and models, including Hot Wheels.
Each Super Cub on display received a placard, and attendees were encouraged to vote on the bike they liked best. In the end, the winner of the People’s Choice Award went to the gentleman with the blue Super Cub 110. The colors make it look vintage though it’s actually from circa 2009. But that’s part of the Super Cub’s charm; the essential design hasn’t changed much in 65 years. Not many vehicles can make that claim.
The theme of the 2023 meeting was “You meet the nicest people on a Super Cub.” The line was borrowed and paraphrased from the famous U.S. ad campaign that swept America in the 1960s. It spawned a Beach Boys song and helped Honda establish itself in the U.S. market. They even put on display a USDM 1962 Super Cub CA100 like the one featured in the ad.
With over 100 million Super Cubs sold globally it is by far the most popular motorized vehicle of all time. It’s no wonder attendance had to be narrowed down by lottery. The Honda headquarters lobby is not a large space, and it’s often used for historic car displays, but it’s nice to see it also used as a gathering spot for fans as well.
Additional Images:
Images courtesy of Honda.
Once, while in high school, I had missed the bus so, a friend took me home on his Honda Super-Cub. I had never ridden a motorcycle before and, while it wasn’t a long trip … it was on the slightly scary side as we needed to negotiate the notorious Laurleton Traffic Circle! Remember, this was during drive time at about 4:00pm and, NJ had a lot of deadly traffic circles then … I think most are gone now. Not fun at the time for this uneasy rider and, I never actually learned to ride a motorcycle. Now, at 75, think I am a bit too old … unless it was at least a 500cc and an automatic!
The bike of choice for London black cab drivers doing the knowledge.
The Super Cub keeps rolling right along. Happy 65th!