Something I love in Asia (not just where live in Thailand but all over) is the love of classic scooters. In Thailand and Indonesia where I have spent most of my time they are prolific and it seems in recent years there has been a renewed interest in the restoration and preservation of these beautiful classic scooters from the the 70s and back. And nowadays the iconic Honda Super Cub has been re-released more or less along the same design style of the bike that dominated to market in the 60s and 70s. Lets have a little comparison.....
A Honda Super Cub from sometime in the 60s (maybe 70s I cant tell):
Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/boo66/25969930061
Now lets compare it to the newly released Super Cubs. How badass do they look yet defo following the same style!
Source: https://s1.cdn.autoevolution.com/
When I started seeing them more and more in my travels around Thailand during covid my interest was peaked. Then suddenly I saw one for sale on my buddy's facebook feed and I called him up. Dude I said - I want that bike. So he cut me an OK deal and funnily enough rode it to the post office and sent it to me. From Chiang Mai to Phuket. Heres the bike when it arrived. This is literally how it arrived at the post office in Phuket. All wrapped in cardboard...:_
I unwrapped it and was super excited to see it was in reasonable condition but for sure needed some work and detailing. I got it started and drove her home....:)
I started scouring the internet for ideas on how best to pimp my little C70. I didn't want to go overboard and customize it beyond her classic style. It's a popular bike to customize and as much as I love the results of some of these bikes I wanted to keep it classic.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/K.speed.net
She is from 1979 and the guy I bought it from had already done a pretty nice job on restoring the paint work and the engine was running nicely. I decided to do the following. Some of this was aesthetic and some of it maintenance.
Change out the checkered seat cover for tan leather.
Add chunky white wall tyres.
Replace the plastic wind guard.
Repaint the engine black.
Replace the handlebar grips.
Replace the speedometer.
Put a new front basket.
Add silver trim to the fairings.
Replace all the wiring.
New carburetor.
New battery.
New lights.
New indicators.
New ignition.
So after the work was done this is what I ended up with......
I was pretty happy with it but had one last final detail! I wanted to put a skateboard rack on it. So I had it made of stainless steel and then bought some leather bicycle tape.....:)
Pretty cool right? I was super happy with it so decided to do a little promo shoot with it for my skateboard business. I got my best friends son to be a cool model along with a cool skater chic!
I love my C70. I ride it most days but never much further than my local bar or to grab some something from the local minimart.
I got three pretty nice bikes now. I ride the small ones every day and keep the big bike for heading off the island. I think my C70 may be my favourite. Everywhere I go I get thumbs up from Thais and farang alike. Even the police love it because I got it fully registered and insured...:)
That's quite a restore you've done there. I know a few people that are quite proud of their old-school motos over here. They have kind of become the new Vespa of Thailand. Myself, I have a very old Suzuki that is a step-through as far as the gears are concerned. I just love the fact that with very little maintenance this bike has served me with well for over a decade. They just seem to be impossible to break.
Hey thanks man! Yeah I just love these old bikes. And you got to hand it to the Japanese - they make engines that last forever. I never had a Suzuki - it seems Honda well and truly have the market wrapped up here. Whats the model if you know?
It is a Katana and is very similar to a Dream but just not as good. Everyone kind of knows that the Hondas are the best but the Suzukis are cheaper. I just bought it because someone was leaving the country in a rush and was selling it for damn near free. Other than changing the oil every now and then and replacing a tire here and there I have literally done zero maintenance on it. Love these bikes.
Wow, you have the classic honda 70. It is an antique motorcycle in Indonesia. I learned riding motorcycle with honda 70 in 1990s when I was in senior school. I am not sure where was the honda 70 of my friend today. I think he sold it.
Hey thanks! Love my little classic Honda C70. We never had these in Australia when I was growing up but happy to be the proud owner of one now.
Sweet ride. Although not as much of a classic as your own a friend of mine has a old school Honda Wave and I really enjoyed riding that. Lately all the bikes are automatic with these rubberized drive trains and I don't like them. I don't know why the industry changed because there was nothing wrong with these bikes at all.
Yes it's funny how styles and fashions invariably go full circle. It seems nowadays that everything old is cool and companies have started manufacturing new things to look old. Go figure. I used t have a Honda Wave - another indestructible machine from Honda.
The Honda C70 is very good, bro, especially after you modify it but still maintain the classic model, cool !! Oh yes, what you said is correct, in our country Indonesia, there are still many Honda C70 motorcycles that have also been modified and still maintain their classic models. I am amazed by people like you 👍
I agree the C70 is a fantastic bike. I see so many in Indonesia - I think the scooter culture there is actually stronger than here in Thailand.
But I like this model very much, in fact my own satisfaction in any matter is a big thing. The photographs were quite nice.
Thanks for the mention on the photos - the ones with the skateboard are super - my good friend Kimmo shot them for me at Patong Beach in Phuket. Was a fun shoot and we had many people watching.
Whoaa, look badass indeed 👍👍
My uncle used to do bike restoration. All of the parts that he need, is imported from Thailand.
Your restored bike look a lot like Demak Eco 110
Source
Woww. We dont have that model in Thailand. Is this a new bike? I just love that they are reproducing the old classic style on new bikes. Looks so cool!
This is so cool!. I don't know anything about bikes and scared to ride on one. I saw someone rode exactly the same model (or maybe different) recently. He said he was on a 300km road trip to somewhere. This type of bike was quite common in the early 80s. I remembered seeing them on the road back then ;)
Dont be scared! These bikes dont go much faster than 40kmh and if you crash at that speed it's almost funny...:) I would hate to ride 300km on my c70 - I get uncomfortable after 15mins hahaha.
40kmh? Really? 😮🤣...I had no idea...now that's cute 😍
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Appreciated as always! Glad to part of the community.
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Thanks so much!
A beauty man, when I was back home in the US recently, I was looking for a c110 for the wife to have should we ever reverse our US immigration denials. The C70 is the most common one available in the US, but a little underpowered for American sideroads. I wasn't able to find one, but I did see the new modern Cubs while there, really cool but way to expensive.
I used to restore and tune Vespas and Lambrettas in the USA, so I'm partial to my Vespa two-strokes, still have a PX200 in the USA, heavily tuned and now a 250cc beast. I wasn't able to score an old Cub in the USA, but I ended up getting very obscure bike, the shaft-driven Yamaha Townie.
I love the high spoke count wheels and whitewalls on your bike, gives it a bling-bling lowrider feel.
Hey thanks @justinparke! I'm not familiar with the 110cc - defo would be a nice power upgrade here too. The C70 is hilariously underpowered although perhaps when it was new it was a different story. Now with my and my fatass gf we can barely make it up any hills in my hood...:)
I love the look of Vespas and Lambrettas but they cost a fortune here for an old one that needs tons of work and impossible to register. I have never tried riding one but am always on the lookout for one thats not too pricey.
Thanks for the compliments on my old girl!