No, not the Honda Cub, but a preeeety close facsimile or maybe I should say facSYMile could be making its way to the USA. That’s right! During a recent visit to the SYM plant in Taiwan, Scooter World Publisher Bev Brinson was pleasantly surprised to see what upon first glance appeared to be a Honda Cub. Further investigation led her to realize it she was laying her eyes upon a SYM creation called the “Wo Wow” (which after watching the video below I’m concluding that is the sound a dog makes in Taiwan).
Bev began digging into this matter. She wanted to know when they would start shipping them to the US, after all they DO have an established distribution network in the USA and they are known for some high quality builds. The SYM crew was pretty certain that American’s would have no interest in them. That makes perfect sense, right? I mean, Honda makes the Honda Cub, the biggest selling vehicle on the planet and THEY aren’t shipping to the USA… why should SYM? Well, I don’t think SYM see’s the potential for sell here… yet, but they ARE considering it after a persuasive discussions with Bev and some internal debate.
Now, it’s up to you. If you are a Cub fan and have been wanting to get them stateside, let your nearest SYM dealer know. This is one of those rare cases where YOU may be able to directly influence the addition of a new model to be shipped to the US… not only that, YOU might be able to influence what they name it AND the engine size! SYM is listening, here’s the details:
SYM likely will not keep the fun “Wo Wow” name for the US market. Instead they are considering one of the following names, either the “Pup” or the “Dash”. Next, they are considering two different displacements, either a 110cc or a 125cc version. So, armed with that, why don’t you voice your opinion in this multiple choice poll.
Here you can see the video commercial that shows off all three colors, White, Blue or Pink.
19. August 2007 at 12:07 am
punk-assed-rawk!!!! I always wanted a Cub, now I may be able to get one!
They should keep the name an combine it with an offer from Dunlop to get a Wah-Wah/Wo-Wow pow-wow. you would have all of the broke guitarists riding one to gigs in a most economical manner.
19. August 2007 at 12:56 am
Nice idea, but I would much prefer to see Honda sell the SH 150 in the U.S.
19. August 2007 at 2:05 am
SYM may be able to bring something like this to the USA, but I don’t believe that we could have that sort of influence with Honda. We don’t buy enough here to have that sort of impact with them.
19. August 2007 at 2:33 pm
I think that commercial broke my brain. Who buys the Wowow in Taiwan? Exiles from “The Prisoner”?
19. August 2007 at 4:26 pm
What if I told you the Sachs MadAss-125 is coming to the USA?
Gossip has it that the MadAss-125 is being imported by a California company (Tomberlin is not involved as importer or distributor). Let’s hope this is the real deal and not a Chinese MadButt-125.
19. August 2007 at 6:21 pm
Only available in white, light blue or pink???
How about painting them in some manly colors. No self-respecting, homovgphobe is gonna dig those colors.
How about brown? Brown is pretty tough, right?
20. August 2007 at 2:41 am
Hey David! It’s true. Now we have a chance. I nearly began researching how to pull graymarket Honda Cubs in from Mexico… This could save lots of hassle. “Wah-wah, wo-wow, pow-wow” sounds like the beginning of a good song… maybe one of those broke guitarist can catch a break off of it.
Orin from Scootin’ Old Skool! Welcome back. I too would like to see the SH series in the USA. Honda is keeping mum on it AND they sorta already have their plans made. We just have to wait for them to lay ‘em out for us. As Johann says, with SYM we at least have a CHANCE at convincing them of what we want.
RickRusselTX, welcome! You gotta love foreign commercials. They’re always good for a little mind funk.
Dudel! Good to see ya round these parts. I’ve been hearing similar rumors myself, or at least alternates of that rumor. I promised to dig into this some more. I’ll make it happen this week. (Hear hear! on the “No Madbutt” or “AngryAss” knock-offs”!)
Fat Tony! Welcome back. I figured a manly-man like yourself would say something like that. Brown would be nice. Maybe a brown and white leather Gucci seat? That would be pretty sweet… but, you’d probably go for something more masculine… like a “football leather” seat. I guess you’ll just have to do some customizing, eh?
20. August 2007 at 5:54 am
You can get a Cub in the U.S., just not new. There are some 70cc Cubs from back when Honda was selling them here (up until 1984). Occasionally a 50cc Chinese knockoff will show up on eBay. At least the SYM engine options are both above 100cc. Even the 110cc SYM would blow the original Cubs out of the water and make a much more practical commuter bike.
Perhaps SYM should offer more than just some new colors (though I’ve always been partial to a white Cub and I’m sure the other colors would sell well). That same chassis could also be used for a CT-90 style dual-sport and an S-90 or CL-90 style top-tank bike. Honda built a whole line of small motorcycles off of the Cub and its engine. SYM can do the same if they want.
20. August 2007 at 11:51 am
I have always liked the Cub but i do doubt it could sell well in the US.
20. August 2007 at 5:57 pm
I think the “WoWow” would sell as well as any other of the SYM scooters they’re currently exporting to the USA. After all, it’s a much easier-to-handle design than a scooter, and its looks are both very retro and unique. I think we’ve about played out the “Vino” style retro scooter look and the “WoWow” is a refreshing departure. I agree about the colors, though – they’re too girlie.
BUT – anybody who collects Honda Cubs (or the early-80′s C70 “Passports”) would probably buy one! I certainly would!
21. August 2007 at 12:25 am
UNCONFIRMED:
* Gilera GP800 and Fuoco-500 will be USA models.
* Moto Guzzi will have their own version of the 839.3/CVT in a motorcycle (ala, Aprilia 850 Mana).
21. August 2007 at 2:11 am
Dudel… are you pullin’ my leg?
Both of those would be dream additions to the US market, but what are the chances of us getting Gilera in here? Slim at best. Do you think otherwise?
I’m more partial to the “Aprilia making their own version of the Fuoco 500″ rumor. Seems likely… but I’ll definitely put this up on the radar!
21. August 2007 at 4:55 am
Wow, Bev must like you better than me this week because this is the first I’ve heard of it. ;)
Pretty cool though, and I’d love to see it come here, especially with a 125.
21. August 2007 at 5:19 am
I think the “Wo Wow” Cub as well as the Wolf Classic would be strong sellers for us. Retro bikes are hot right now. Plus vintage Hondas are getting harder to find and more expensive.
I own a ’81 Passport C70 and I get questioned about it all the time despite the fact that it needs alot of work. Last year we got a mint ’65 Honda C50 running for a customer. Just about everyone who saw it wanted to buy it, including me.
The motor design on the Cub is proven to be very reliable. The Bajaj, PX150, and Stella have proven there is a market for authentic manual shift scooters. Plus im sure it would help SYM make a name in the US by doing something different from what the others are doing.
21. August 2007 at 6:46 pm
For the longest time Daelim USA had a Wave/Innova copy on their web site… you could download a manual for the 110cc bike (think Cub replacement model).
From what I can tell, though, they never brought the actual bike into the market…
1. September 2007 at 4:25 am
Oh, just found out it also comes in black.
3. February 2008 at 2:43 pm
Hey, this issue may be coming to a decision point soon! I just emailed Carter Brothers (exclusive importers of SYM vehicles) regarding the “Wowow”, and here is their response:
“Carter brothers and SYM are considering offering the Wo Wow to the US buyer. We will have a sample of this scooter on display at the Dealers Expo in Indianapolis, Indiana February 15, 16 and 17. If enough dealers show interest it could be imported for sale in the US after the EPA and DOT regulations are met. SYM would then have to set up a special product run for the US approved model.”
So, if there ever was a good time to contact your nearest SYM dealer and tell them you’d be interested in the “Wowow”, it’s NOW!
Here’s a link to the SYM USA “Find a dealer” page:
http://www.cartersym.com/popups/dealer_locator/sym_locator.html
2. March 2008 at 1:40 am
oh dude! I want one soooo bad. I have a honda Metropolitan right now, but I would buy the wowow in a heartbeat.
I do hope they get them over here in the US!
30. July 2008 at 1:11 am
It is now almost August, and well no BOW-Wow, nor any SYMs on the market. Dosent suprise me since Carter Bros. is more into their pla-play go karts that the Scooter market. Also if they do the wow wow like the Fiddle and DD50 the thing will be slow as molasses going up hill in the winter.