The Honda 50 is also known as The Honda Cub or Honda Super Cub. It is a 49 cc, 4-stroke, underbone motorbike first manufactured in 1958 by Soichiro Honda. In 2006, in a show on the Discovery Channel, "The Greatest Ever", a fast-wheeling documentary on motorcycles, rating the best in a top-ten system, deemed the Honda Super Cub "Number One", declaring it "the greatest ever motorcycle".Honda wanted to build a motorcycle that was usable by anyone. It used a clean, efficient and quiet high performance four stroke engine which remarkably produced around twice as much power as the typical two stroke 50c motors of the time. Incredibly, this engine makes nearly 5 brake horsepower at 9500 rm which is a state of tune normally found only on top flight racing bikes of the era. Despite which however it has proved over time to be very durable.

Fuel consumption is quite astonishing, when used carefully , it will exceed 200 miles per gallon.
At current unleaded petrol rates (May 2009) at say €1.05 per litre, that’s 200 miles for €4.76.Soichiro Honda was born on the 17th of November 1906 in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan. The eldest  son of a blacksmith who repaired bicycles, the young Soichiro had only an elementary school education when, in his teens, he left home to seek his fortune in Tokyo. He was a mechanical engineer with a passion for  motorcycle and automobile racing.

In 1922 An auto repair company hired him, but for a year he was forced to serve as a baby-sitter for the auto shop's owner and his wife. His racing career was short lived, however and he suffered serious injuries in a crash. He recovered from his injuries and established his own company, manufacturing piston rings, but he found that he lacked a basic knowledge of casting. His company mass-produced metal propellers during WWII, replacing wooden ones. Allied bombing and an earthquake destroyed most of his factory and he sold what was left to Toyota. In 1946 he started his company building motorized bicycles with small, war-surplus engines. He would grow to become the world’s leading manufacturer of motorcycles and later one of the leading automakers. He established the Honda Technical Research Institute.

His bikes became very popular in Japan in 1948 and the Institute soon began making engines. The company Renamed Honda Motor company began manufacturing motorcycles. He brought out the Dream Type E motorcycle in 1951, which proved an immediate success thanks to Honda's innovative overhead valve design. The smaller F-type cub in 1952 accounted for 70% of Japan's motorcycle production by the end of that year. A public offering and support from Mitsubishi Bank in 1958 allowed Honda to expand and begin exporting, the versatile C100 Super Cub was released and became an international bestseller.

The American Honda Motor was founded in 1959 and soon began using the slogan, "You meet the nicest people on a Honda," to offset the stereotype of motorcyclists during that period. Overseeing a worldwide company during 1967, he entered the automobile market.

At 67,he retired in 1973 on the 25th anniversary of Honda's founding and declared his conviction that Honda should remain a youthful company. He also received the American auto industry's highest award in 1989 when he was admitted to the Automotive Hall of Fame.

Soichiro Honda died from liver failure on the 5th of August 1991 at the young age 84. His history lives on forever.... Long live the Honda 50.