Honda Super Cub, (originally the Honda C100 or Honda 50)

Honda Super Cub, (originally the Honda C100 or Honda 50) also known as the Honda Cub, is a 49 cc 4-stroke underbone motorbike first manufactured by the Honda Motor Co. Ltd. in 1958. With more than 60 million sold worldwide, it is the best selling powered vehicle of all time. The Honda 50 is still produced today, 50 years after its inception. The variant Honda C90 with a larger engine displacement is also still produced. Today, the Honda Super Cub's primary market is in Asia. In the European Union, the Honda Cub has been replaced by the more powerful Honda Wave series.

Specifications
The following refers to current 2007 model line: note: earlier models differ
Total length    1,800 mm (71 in)
Total width    660 mm (26 in)
Total height    1,010 mm (40 in)
Wheel base    1,175 mm (46.3 in)
Dry Weight    75 kg (170 lb)
Engine type    AA01E air-cooled 4-cycle SOHC single-cylinder
Displacement    49 cc (3.0 cu in)
Compression ratio    10.0:1
Bore x Stroke    39.0 x 41.4
Max Power output    4 PS (3.9 hp) at 7000 rpm
Max Torque    4.7 N·m (3.5 ft·lbf) at 4500 rpm
Max speed    80 km/h (50 mph)
Carburetor type    PB3L; Honda PGM-FI (Japanese market only)
Lubrication    Forced pressure wet sump combined use system
Fuel tank capacity    4 L (1.1 US gal)
Fuel Consumption    146 km/L (410 mpg-imp; 340 mpg-US) (30 km/h fixed area travelling test value)
Clutch    Wet multi-plate, operated both by centrifugal action and by gear-lever.
Transmission type    3-speed rotary type (4-speed some models)
Gear ratio    3.272, 1.764, 1.190
Reduction gear ratio    4.058/3.076
Starter    Kick (electric start optional on some models
Ignition    Capacitor Discharge Ignition (CDI Magneto) system (earlier models Flywheel contact-breaker points)
Front Suspension    Leading link (also known as Bottom link)
Rear Suspension    Swinging fork (also known as Swing arm)
Tire sizes (F/R)    2.25-17 33L / 2.50-17 38L
Front Brake    Drum, cable operated
Rear Brake    Drum, rod operated
Frame type    Low floor backbone pressed steel tube system

Model historyThe Honda Super Cub debuted in 1958, 10 years after the establishment of Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (The original Honda Cub had been a clip-on bicycle engine). It was decided to keep the name but add the prefix 'Super' for the all-new lightweight machine.

Honda had discovered how to increase the power and efficiency of 4-stroke engines by increasing engine speed (RPM), and the company set about breaking into a market sector totally dominated by the 2-stroke models of other manufacturers. The Honda Cub became the most successful motorcycle model in history, and made huge contributions to Honda's sales and profit. Honda used the slogan You meet the nicest people on a Honda as they broke into the English-speaking world, until then dominated by British motorcycles.

In 1964, two larger-engined versions were offered, the CM90 (OHV 87cc) and C65 (OHC 63cc) with slight alterations to frame and styling. It was during this time that the Cub gained popularity when Brian Wilson and Mike Love wrote the song "Little Honda," which was a reference to the Cub model. The song was released by The Hondells in 1964, followed by the original recording by The Beach Boys. Around 1967, the whole motorcycle was uprated, the 50cc engine going from pushrod 4.5bhp to SOHC 4.9bhp (a bored-down C65 engine)called the C50, and similarly the 90cc was redesigned with an OHC engine called the C90. Though the basic design of Cub remained unchanged, slightly new styling features and improvements were integrated, most visible being the enclosed front forks. In the 1980s, Honda fitted a new capacitor discharge ignition system (CDI) to replace the earlier contact points ignition, thereby helping to meet increasingly strict emission standards in markets such as the US. However, many experts on the Cub testify to the fact that Honda used the CDI system for better reliability and fuel efficiency, with the emissions improvements being an appealing by-product of these goals.

In the 1980s, a larger 100 cc GN-5 engine model was introduced especially for Asian markets. The newer 100 cc model branched off from the Honda Cub model design, with new features such as a telescopic front suspension to replace the older leading link suspension, and a 4-speed transmission to replace the older 3-speed transmission used in Honda Cubs. These changes were not incorporated into the Honda Cub lineup, not interfering with the timeless and dependable design of the Cub, but rather, were integrated into new models such as Honda Dream in Thailand and Honda EX5 in Malaysia. These bikes were never intended to compete or replace the Cub in the very strong Japanese domestic market, but were more suited for the lucrative Asian export market.

In the late 1990s, Honda introduced their newer NF series motorcycles, known as Honda Wave series (Honda Innova in some markets) which use steel tube frames, front disc brake and plastic cover sets in various displacement options: 100 cc, 110 cc and 125 cc. Though not Cubs, these bikes sold consistently well particularly in European countries, where the production of Honda Cub models had been previously discontinued. However, the production of Honda Cubs in Asia, Africa and South America still continues today even though the newer Honda Wave Series and other designs have been introduced alongside the Cub.

In 2007, Honda began installing their PGM-FI fuel injection system for the Honda Cubs in the Japanese market for even cleaner emission and better fuel efficiency

Today, internal combustion engines in cars, trucks, motorcycles, aircraft, construction machinery and many others, most commonly use a four-stroke cycle. The four strokes refer to intake, compression, combustion (power), and exhaust strokes that occur during two crankshaft rotations per working cycle of the gasoline engine and diesel engine.

The cycle begins at top dead center (TDC), when the piston is farthest away from the axis of the crankshaft. On the intake or induction stroke of the piston, the piston descends from the top of the cylinder, reducing the pressure inside the cylinder. A mixture of fuel and air is forced (by atmospheric or greater pressure) into the cylinder through the intake (inlet) port. The intake (inlet) valve (or valves) then close(s), and the compression stroke compresses the fuel–air mixture.

The air–fuel mixture is then ignited near the end of the compression stroke, usually by a spark plug (for a gasoline or Otto cycle engine) or by the heat and pressure of compression (for a Diesel cycle or compression ignition engine). The resulting pressure of burning gases pushes the piston through the power stroke. In the exhaust stroke, the piston pushes the products of combustion from the cylinder through an exhaust valve or valves. The largest and intermediate size diesel engines are usually two stroke diesel engines, requiring scavenging air pumps or blowers.

The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel (generally, fossil fuel) occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine the expansion of the high temperature and pressure gases, which are produced by the combustion, directly applies force to a movable component of the engine, such as the pistons or turbine blades and by moving it over a distance, generate useful mechanical energy.

The term internal combustion engine usually refers to an engine in which combustion is intermittent, such as the more familiar four-stroke and two-stroke piston engines, along with variants, such as the Wankel rotary engine. A second class of internal combustion engines use continuous combustion: gas turbines, jet engines and most rocket engines, each of which are internal combustion engines on the same principle as previously described.

A large number of different designs for ICEs have been developed and built, with a variety of different strengths and weaknesses. Powered by an energy-dense fuel (which is very frequently petrol, a liquid derived from fossil fuels) the ICE delivers an excellent power-to-weight ratio with few safety or other disadvantages. While there have been and still are many stationary applications, the real strength of internal combustion engines is in mobile applications and they dominate as a power supply for cars, aircraft, and boats, from the smallest to the biggest. Only for hand-held power tools do they share part of the market with battery powered devices.

Basic process

As their name implies, operation of a four stroke internal combustion engines have 4 basic steps that repeat with every two revolutions of the engine:
Intake
Combustible mixtures are emplaced in the combustion chamber
Compression
The mixtures are placed under pressure
Power
The mixture is burnt, almost invariably a deflagration, although a few systems involve detonation. The hot mixture is expanded, pressing on and moving parts of the engine and performing useful work.
Exhaust
The cooled combustion products are exhausted into the atmosphere

Many engines overlap these steps in time; jet engines do all steps simultaneously at different parts of the engines.

Combustion

All internal combustion engines depend on the exothermic chemical process of combustion: the reaction of a fuel, typically with oxygen from the air (though it is possible to inject nitrous oxide in order to do more of the same thing and gain a power boost). The combustion process typically results in the production of a great quantity of heat, as well as the production of steam and carbon dioxide and other chemicals at very high temperature; the temperature reached is determined by the chemical make up of the fuel and oxidisers (see stoichiometry).

The most common modern fuels are made up of hydrocarbons and are derived mostly from fossil fuels (petroleum). Fossil fuels include diesel fuel, gasoline and petroleum gas, and the rarer use of propane. Except for the fuel delivery components, most internal combustion engines that are designed for gasoline use can run on natural gas or liquefied petroleum gases without major modifications. Large diesels can run with air mixed with gases and a pilot diesel fuel ignition injection. Liquid and gaseous biofuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel (a form of diesel fuel that is produced from crops that yield triglycerides such as soybean oil), can also be used. Some engines with appropriate modifications can also run on hydrogen gas.

Internal combustion engines require ignition of the mixture, either by spark ignition (SI) or compression ignition (CI). Before the invention of reliable electrical methods, hot tube and flame methods were used.
Gasoline Ignition Process

Gasoline engine ignition systems generally rely on a combination of a lead-acid battery and an induction coil to provide a high-voltage electrical spark to ignite the air-fuel mix in the engine's cylinders. This battery is recharged during operation using an electricity-generating device such as an alternator or generator driven by the engine. Gasoline engines take in a mixture of air and gasoline and compress it to not more than 12.8 bar (1.28 MPa), then use a spark plug to ignite the mixture when it is compressed by the piston head in each cylinder.
Diesel Ignition Process

Diesel engines and HCCI (Homogeneous charge compression ignition) engines, rely solely on heat and pressure created by the engine in its compression process for ignition. The compression level that occurs is usually twice or more than a gasoline engine. Diesel engines will take in air only, and shortly before peak compression, a small quantity of diesel fuel is sprayed into the cylinder via a fuel injector that allows the fuel to instantly ignite. HCCI type engines will take in both air and fuel but continue to rely on an unaided auto-combustion process, due to higher pressures and heat. This is also why diesel and HCCI engines are more susceptible to cold-starting issues, although they will run just as well in cold weather once started. Light duty diesel engines with indirect injection in automobiles and light trucks employ glowplugs that pre-heat the combustion chamber just before starting to reduce no-start conditions in cold weather. Most diesels also have a battery and charging system; nevertheless, this system is secondary and is added by manufacturers as a luxury for the ease of starting, turning fuel on and off (which can also be done via a switch or mechanical apparatus), and for running auxiliary electrical components and accessories. Most new engines rely on electrical and electronic control system that also control the combustion process to increase efficiency and reduce emissions.