Watch A Honda Super Cub Go From Rust Bucket To Retro Beauty

Why is it that watching someone resurrect a seeming goner of a bike is so satisfying? Maybe it's that whole "we really like an underdog" thing, or maybe it's just the inherent satisfaction of seeing an older bike get restored back to running order. Either way, if that's your thing, you'll get a whole lot of it with this video from the Metal Restoration YouTube channel.

This guy restores a LOT of unloved (or maybe too-well-loved) Honda Super Cubs on his channel, but few are quite as rusty and horrifying as this one when they come in. Your opinions on his choice of music beds may, of course, vary—as may your opinions on his not wearing closed-toe shoes, or even gloves. Which is totally fair, but I mean, if he wants rust flakes permanently embedded in his skin, I guess that's the choice he's made? 

In any case, and apropos of nothing else, you get to watch a process that must have taken weeks or longer to complete, compressed into a neat half-hour video. He carefully takes everything apart, then methodically removes the rust, cleans everything up, and puts it back together. He takes the frame down to the metal, cleans up all the rust, putties, primes, putties, sands, primes, and finally paints the whole thing before its eventual reassembly with the newly-rebuilt engine.

Look at how everything shines at the end! Maybe it's the sense of restored order that videos like this bring that makes watching them so very satisfying. Also, the greater the sense of initial chaos going in, the more rewarding it feels when skilled people are able to bring bikes like these back to life. It's both amazing and awe-inspiring to see.

Maybe it's also slightly the fact that so many things feel disposable now, and so it's extra cool to see someone taking the time and effort to give this Super Cub a new lease of life instead of just consigning it to the scrap heap. In any case, the Super Cub has legions of fans around the world—and I'm definitely glad this guy is one of them.