TINY TIGER

A Cub of any type will be enjoyable to ride, assuming it is in reasonably good order. The engines are surprisingly lively, especially the hotter Sports variants, and the four-speed gearboxes are some of the sweetest changing and most precise you could wish for. The clutches are (should be) light and won't slip of drag if set up correctly. The lighter type of front forks can be leaky, a bit sloppy and saggy, but the heavyweight forks are more than adequate. The brakes are very good on the smaller-wheeled machines, but they gradually become less effective as wheel sizes increase. So the front brake on a 16"wheel model is much better than one on a 19" or 21 "front wheel. The full-width hubs on the Super Cubs still have exactly the same brake shoes tucked away inside them as all the others.

There have been all sorts of horror stories about plain big ends and timing side main bearing bushes, and it is true that the last, roller big-end types with a ball bearing on the timing side are the toughest. They're often the most expensive, too. A plain big end will not fail overnight or anytime soon if it is kept in good shape with frequent oil changes and careful servicing. Never nurse a Cub engine by slogging it. It's better to let it rev a bit, with lots of nice clean oil getting flung around inside. It is also fun