In the Chinese market, for Honda, CG125 is a legendary story - it is a thing that does not require too much lip service, does not need to look at any parameters, test data, and does not have much of a word of you, I say a word, and the "mutual knowledge" between users. Perhaps, this is the best interpretation of what word of mouth is.
Two years ago, also in March, we published a review with the title of CG125 , "Honda opened the Chinese market with the old CG" . To this day, I personally still feel that the same logic, such as Haojue Suzuki, Jinan Light Ride, etc., is to use the GS platform to establish today's status - leather is reliable, durable, is the basic function that commuter cars, and even most motorcycles should have.
Wuyang-Honda Motorcycle (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd. released the new 2022' CG125 Special last week, with a retail reference price of 7,480 yuan. The car was dubbed special "special, special", a distinct external feature, the predecessor of the CG125, the 1972' CB100 export version (for north American exports. The predecessor of this version is the body pattern of the 1970' Benly CB90) for the Japanese domestic market. This body pattern is similar to the color style of many Honda models such as the 1969' Benly CB125 local version in the 1960s and 1970s, but there are differences with the "traditional" CG hues in the eyes of domestic consumers.
Based on some of Honda Japan's documentation and published information, the resume about CG125 is roughly as follows:
1. Focusing on the Southeast Asian market, Honda introduced the CS90 equipped with a four-stroke OHC engine to the Southeast Asian market in January 1968, followed by the CB100 in September 1969. At that time, Honda's competitors mainly sold two-stroke engine models with relatively simple structure but better power characteristics in the local area, and due to the unique after-sales service and vehicle maintenance in Southeast Asia, Honda's local market expansion was not smooth;
2. In order to break the situation of exporting to the Southeast Asian market, Honda decided to develop a new four-stroke OHV engine and launched the S110 to the Southeast Asian market in March 1973, but there was no sign of the situation improving;
Below: S110 for the Thai market (profile picture. Image credit: Funk Major).
3. In May 1974, in order to conduct thorough market research in the local area, Honda's internal working group responsible for the development of two-wheeled models for developing countries conducted a comprehensive inspection for about one month in the major cities of Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Iran and Pakistan.
4, the report of the inspection team, part of which describes: the local people ride motorcycles, let them imagine, "the fuel tank is placed on the child, a car carries three or four people"; at that time, the dealer's main business was to disassemble and repair the faulty vehicle, the dealer and the customer did not consider that after the motorcycle broke, it could be repaired at one time, nor did they regularly inspect the vehicle;
5. After synthesizing the results of the investigation, they developed the new CG125 at the end of 1974, which is equipped with a four-stroke OHV engine with high reliability and easy maintenance (personal experience is "maintenance-free"), which can still be strong and durable under harsh comprehensive use conditions. The car was first landed in the Thai market in March 1975, and then exported to Asia, South America and other countries.
6. Corresponding to the regulations, tax systems and driving license management of different countries, while launching CG125, CG110 was also launched to meet the needs of the market;
Image below: 2020' CG110 currently on sale in the South American country of Bolivia (profile image).
7. CG125 was originally produced at the Suzuka Factory in Honda, Japan, and later moved to the Kumamoto Factory. By 1976, production began in a joint venture established in Brazil;
8. The production of CG125 in Japan ended around 1998, and the subsequent CG125 was all produced by overseas joint ventures. By the end of 2018, in the past 42 years, the CG125 has become a best-selling model with cumulative sales of 7 million units;
9. Wuyang-Honda Motorcycle (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd. is a Sino-Japanese joint venture jointly invested by Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd., Japan Honda Giken Industry Co., Ltd. and Honda Giken Industry (China) Investment Co., Ltd., which was established in 1992. At the beginning of its establishment, the model was the "Five Sheep" model, and then the CG125 was also put into the domestic production line;
10. Comprehensive information released by Honda, from March 1975 to 2019, Wuyang-Honda released the National IV CG125, and the entire CG125 has undergone seven updates. In 2019, Wuyang-Honda launched the CG125 equipped with the FI electronic fuel injection system in China, which is called the seventh generation of CG;
11. Extending forward, the CG125 of the OTR specification listed in China in 2008 belongs to the sixth generation model, the CG125 (WH125-3) listed in 2002/2003 belongs to the fifth generation; the first domestic CG125 launched by Wuyang-Honda in the 1990s belongs to the fourth generation;
The image below shows the Five Sheep-Honda CG125 (WH125-3) and the imported CG125 (profile image) that we photographed in 2003. The absence of an electric starter is one of the important differences between the imported version and the domestic model.
12. In China, CG125 has two versions: "square lamp" (square headlight) and "round lamp" (round headlight). The "round lamp" version of the CG125 belongs to the early version of 1976, mainly sold in Brazil and later in the European market;
13. The CG125 in the European market is mainly produced in Brazil.
Picture below, CG125 European edition for 1976 -2005 (profile picture).
Picture below, 1976' CG125 European Edition (profile image).
Image below, 2003' CG125 European Edition (profile image).