HONDA SS50
Thought the SS50 was just another moped? Well, here’s the original one!
Steve Cooper with our buyer’s guide!
Mention the words Honda and SS5050 iin the same sentence and the chances are yourr audience will immediately be conjuring up images of period 1970s mopeds with a battleshhip grey chassis and pedestrian performance.
For many who started riding under the shadow ofo the infamous sixteener law, Honda’s leaner-legal moped was the Captain Sensible choice for those that didn’t want a two-stroke. Always marginalisedd by the likes of Yamaha’s Fizzy and frenetic Latin tiddlers, the diminutive Honda was generally the subject of scorn. However, the moped’s story start ts much earlier than 1973 and drew heavily on som me of the firm’s earliest commercial successes.
Most enthusiasts know and acknowledge that thet might of Honda was based firmly on the sales success of countless step-through commuter machines. Honda pioneered the concept of user cum non-motorcyclist friendly two-wheelers and their vision helped to launch the powerhouse that wass the South East Asian tiger economy. Alongside the likes of Cubs and Super Cubs, Honda expanded the concept of reliable, small capacity single, four-sstroke singles by revising the step-through’s simple chhassis into something more akin to a traditional motorrcycle.
The earliest commuter-derived, so-called proper motorcycles were powered by push-rod engines that had previously found service in the C100, C110 and CM90. Honda took the 90 engine and dropped it into the soon-to-be ubiquitous pressed steel, T-shaped frame, whilst retaining the trailing-link front forks to deliver the C200 sports 50. Pretty much the first of the OHC (Over Head Cam) bikes running along a similar theme was the S50, which sported comparable running gear to the C200. Capable of delivering a fairly healthy 5.5bhp at a then ludicrous 10,250rpm, the bike made a serious statement about small capacity machines.
Fast forward just a few years and the S50 had morphed into the rather delicious SS50. Someone at Honda HQ had obviously sat down and thought long and hard about revising the rather quaint styling of the earlier bikes. Out went the quirky front suspension to be replaced by traditional telescopic forks, the previously bulbous petrol tanks were swapped out for low profile units complete with chrome panelling and significantly more discreet rubber knee pads. Brighter colours, in addition to the traditional black finish, lifted the bike visually and pitched the machine at a different market. Here was a sporty motorcycle that just happened to be a 50 and for those who wanted a little more go Honda could oblige, courtesy of the 15cc’s larger S65!
In typical period Honda fashion, the model ended up with a proliferation of model designations along with the added fun of two styles of silencer; one low level and running parallel to the road, the other cocked up at a jaunty angle as per the later SS50 moped. Annoyingly, the model designations, generally flagged up with a suffix, don’t automatically follow one set pattern. Therefore, SS50F and SS50G are indeed French and German market models with an SS50E destined for England. But an SS50D is not Deutsche or Dutch, rather it’s a general export model. And just to muddy the waters the SS50MD is also a general export model where the ‘M’ apparently signifies the bike as running a high-level exhaust system. So M is definitely the high pipe model then? Well, not necessarily, as the SS50V is a general export model, but with a high pipe, whilst the SS50Z is a UK market machine, again with the high pipe. Ultimately there are at least 14 or 15 variants of the original SS50, not including the later sports moped, but generally they’re all essentially similar to varying degrees.
So, given that the bike is ‘only’ a fifty, why would you want one? First off it’s not a moped, it’s a real motorcycle that was later fitted with pedals, therefore there are no unwieldly compromises. Secondly, it’s a Honda designed at a point in time when motorcycles were the bread and butter of the firm. This means the quality of the build and science behind the metallurgy are all top-drawer. The little fellow will give sterling service as long as it’s looked after properly so it will consistently run like the proverbial Swiss watch. Thirdly, it’s a lightweight machine packed with character and charm that will always draw a crowd.
You won’t be riding fast on an original SS50, but chances are you may be riding far. Given a tank full of fuel and a decent day you might just find you’ve ridden the diminutive Honda a lot further than you’d planned… they really are that good!