Lifestyle Cafe and Custom Moto Shop by HONDA
Welcome to Pattaya Thailand where you will find along the main Sukhumvit road a number of motorcycle stores nearer the city. This is one of the newest additions, a homage to the humble Honda Supercub. An initiative by Honda themselves, there are a limited number of these 'Cub House' establishments in Thailand. Another is located in a trendy area of Bangkok. Another is in Phuket and this one in Pattaya, all aimed at the bespoke or more boutique end of the market by preparing limited edition models. That's as many as I know although it would appear you could also order these bikes by filling out a contact form on the website - see https://www.thaihonda.co.th/cubhouse/
All the bikes and merchandise inside are unique to the stores, and not what you'd find at any normal Honda motorbike store.
Stylish inside and out
Each Cub House location is a completely bespoke purpose built construction. Below we see the exterior with a high roof.
Exterior of the building which gives a clear strong presence to passing traffic.
First, some history
On display the 'first ever' Honda motorcycle, although that's not what we're here for it is very interesting all the same.
The sign says it all - The Supercub was born in 1958 and has never been out of production since, in one form or another. It has become the best selling motorized vehicle of all time. More Supercubs have been made than any other car or motorcycle. It is the VW Beetle or Model T Ford of the bike world, thus very iconic.
The Super Cub Sport C110 featuring Elvis Presley - 1965. Iconic all the way.
Born as an icon, Honda saw a gap in the American market to reboot the way people thought of motorcycles. Until then, it had a rather dark, 'rebel without a cause' image and bikes were loud and raucous. The 50cc Cub with its ability to be driven with one hand and to balance a delivery of soba noodles in the other was a magic formula. In the USA, they came out with the tagline 'you meet the nicest people on a Honda'. A homage to this is seen on the wall painting of the boutique.
Note the wall slogan, original marketing material from Honda USA. The Supercub was responsible for making motorcycles accessible and friendly to all, transforming their image overnight.
Modern (New) Supercub C125
These bikes are all for sale, ready to hit the road. The C125 version is actually an import and slightly higher specifications than the locally made Supercubs, also featuring a 125cc vs 100cc. although the average person would be hard pushed to tell. This does increase the price, although they do look very posh compared to the standard local built.
All the original style with modern riding character, modern components and performance.
Modern Supercub in a different colorway
Custom Prepared / Limited Editions
On display at the window was this completely custom Honda Monkey decked out in a ton of fishing gear.
opposite it sat another Monkey with crazy Anime graphic artwork. More of both below
Outdoors Adventurer
*On display outdoors, a Supercub CT125 which is basically a mini-adventure bike capable of tackling off-road terrain.
There are some really fun designs. I noticed they were actually wraps/stickers - so one could actually change the theme later anytime. Very cool.
Chopper, Asian cartoon style. I like this bike a lot.
That gas tank is a thing of beauty. It'd make you feel like you're living in a cartoon.
Here's that fishing Monkey ... No doubt a dream for some keen trendy fishing fan! Just the thing for riding out onto long fishing piers or accessing off-the-beaten-track fishing lakes in the back country. It'll handle the roughest roads you through at it. NOtice the nice big bash-guard under the engine, and big grippy tires. No ordinary Monkey!
Boutique
Display shelfs with props intermingles with actual products for sale. I only just noticed all the little bike models ... next time I'll have to check whether these are for sale!
There is also a cafe section which I completely forget to take photos of. I'll be back again to update!
Creative displays
A 'HotWheels' Monkey ... I like it!
To wrap up, there are a lot of accessories from approved after market suppliers, so you can even build your own if so inclined. Many of these parts likely fit both older and newer models (some research required, in case I can find myself an old one to restore!).
Extending the whole lifestyle theme, they even sell Skateboards to go along with you and your bike on adventures.
Check out Supercub!
Probably my favorite bike in the world, and also one of the most underated Anime series of 2021. If you haven't watched the Japanese series 'Supercub', check it out now - it's stunning.
Thanks for reading! See you in the next one :)