This looks like the box that your other motorcycle came in but this 1982 Honda Motocompo really looks like this. Most of us know that they were made to be carried in the back of a car and taken out and used to commute into a crowded city but I can’t see that working too well today. This one can be found here on craigslist in Seattle, Washington and the seller is asking $4,500. Thanks to MattR for sending in this tip!

These things are really fun, believe it or not. If you’re a gadget junkie, they have enough cool and unique features to keep you interested. They aren’t fast by any means – 20 mph on mine feels like I’m going 50 – but they are fun to ride in an oddball, who-the-hell-cares-what-anyone-else-thinks way. That’s how I roll. I’m not out to be the big tough guy at Sturgis, there are enough of those already. Life is too short to not have fun with your vehicles.

The Motocompo was made for 1981, 1982, and 1983 and they were never officially sold in the US but now there are quite a few of them zooming around at 15-20 miles an hour. Well, maybe they aren’t zooming around that often as I’ve never actually seen one being driven other than mine. Investment-wise, they would have been a good investment as in 1982, they would have cost around $340. That’s $917 in 2020 dollars and they generally sell in the $3,000 to $5,000 range.

This is basically how I feel riding mine. Generally, 20 mph is considered pretty much the top speed and that feels fast. The seat folds down into that recessed area, the black plastic cover ahead of that comes off which is where the folded down handlebars go, and then you’re ready to haul it around. As with Hondas of this era, there’s a piercing beep when the turn signals are on. Yes, this thing has turn signals, a brake light, and a headlight, but no cup holders or GPS.

I recently lubricated the speedometer and cable on mine as it was starting to make a bit of a whirring sound above 10 mph or so, that solved it. If you can get one going 25 mph you’re doing better than I’ve been able to do. The red knob on the right side in the photo above is one of two knobs to loosen and fold the handlebars into the body of the bike so you can lift it into the back of your car. They weigh a bit over 80 pounds so they aren’t featherlight but it’s not too hard to lift one up. The tiny rectangular thing with the blue line across it is the gas gauge and the yellow thing to the left of that is the choke. The choke is in the up position in this photo which is on.

This is a Honda AB12E 49cc, 2.5-hp, single-cylinder, two-stroke, oil-injected engine which they put into millions of motorcycles over the decades. I have a few with this engine and they’re super fun, but I don’t ride them on the street. It looks like there may be some black tape on the spark plug lead so I’m not sure what that’s about, and you can see some surface rust on the underside parts. The seller says that it starts first kick as mine does (when the gas hasn’t evaporated out of it) and it runs great. I would love to find a yellow one someday for a bit cheaper than this one is selling for. Have any of you ridden or owned a Motocompo?