Description
A full photo gallery for this Motocompo is available here for your perusal.
Nowadays, you can hop on a Bird or a Lime for your “last mile” transport needs. But Honda had a different idea for Japan in the early 80s. At the time, the company was selling a subcompact car called the City. But in a densely-packed city like Tokyo, it was difficult for even the drivers of tiny cars to find parking near their desired destination. Honda’s solution was the Motocompo, a scooter that was designed to fold up so that you could store it in the City’s trunk. Ride into town, park your car, and then get your scooter out for mobility among the masses!
Paul d’Orleans (of The Vintagent fame) has saved a old City ad that briefly features the adorable Motocompo:
The motor is a 49cc 2-stroke that was good for a blistering top speed of about 19 miles per hour (30 km/h). The slow speed just makes it easier for everyone to check you out. Wet weight is a pound short of 100, and the handlebars/seat would fold up almost flush with the bodywork for easier storage in the City’s trunk.
As the ‘compo was only offered for three years and only in Japan, they’re hard to find in the homeland, let alone here in the USA. Just 53,369 were built between 1981 and 1983. Riding one is an odd experience, but if you crave attention it’ll be hard to beat this.
Ride on a loud sportbike and you’ll get some nods from people in the know – you’ll also get plenty of disapproving stares from people who can’t appreciate that sound of internal combustion. But ride a Motocompo, and everyone will love you. Men want to be you. Women want to be with you.
We’re excited to offer this Motocompo (VIN: AB12-1043656) with no reserve, though there are some issues we should note:
1.) The tires are cracked – we rode on them for the video but wouldn’t recommend you keep them on. The seller has included new tires and we would be glad to install them for you before delivery as part of our White Glove services.
2.) The handlebars don’t fold in currently because of how the throttle cables are routed
3.) If the petcock is not shut off when the bike is off, you may see a fuel leak. Our Service/Parts Liasion Sandro also has a yellow Motocompo that suffers from the same issue, so we’d like to pretend it’s a yellow bike issue.
The sale includes a previous Japanese Bill of Sale, and you’ll be provided a Bill of Sale for this transaction as well.
Got any Motocompo stories? We’d love to hear them below in the comments! Or, let us know if you have any questions and we will do our best to answer them for you!
