Chances are, if you started riding motorcycles in the middle nineteen sixties to early nineteen seventies, at one time or another you were on a Honda 90. And why not? The Honda 90 cost about three hundred bucks new (in 1964), could hum along at 55 mph, and get 165 MPG doing it. 
The first 90’s were push-rod step-through girly bikes that had big baskets on ‘em, with big white plastic splash guards and giant fenders, so you didn’t get mud on your white bucks, or dirt on your dress. You met the nicest people on these things, and soon everybody had one.
They were everywhere, on the backs of campers, bolted to bumpers of Mustangs, tucked away in mountain homes and rented to drunken sailors on liberty. The Honda 90 was an unbreakable, cute little motorbike that introduced thousands of folks to motorcycles, people who otherwise wouldn’t have ever made that leap. And they didn’t leak oil, not a drop. 
There were so many iterations of the Honda 90 it is truly mind boggling. Trail 90s, Street 90s, Step Thu 90s, hot rodded S 90s, 90 this and 90 that. After the first push-rod 90s came and went, the OHC ones showed up, but they still only put out around seven Shetland ponies at full chat, and you couldn’t just ride the damn things into dust anymore, you actually had to maintain them somewhat. Adjust the cam whatzit ever few decades. Spark plug? What’s that? 
And they still live on to this day, in the Honda 90 knock-offs sold by Pep Boys and Western Auto. Oh sure, you can’t find any spare parts, but will you ever need them? Probably not…
And that ancient design gets stuck into everything on wheels, scooters, pit bikes, ATV’s, quads, hell, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Honda 90 motor on a lawnmower, or fishing boat. Honda 90 pump motor? Dental drill? Let’s see, what else can you stick a Honda 90 motor into?
Just about anything you can think of, evidently.
So here’s to the Honda 90, still going strong after all these years, and after the worn out tooling wears out again, maybe Honda can authorize Eskimos to start building them. All over again.
And yes, I had one, a portly 1969 SL90 that never quit running, and was finally stolen out of my Grandparent’s garage. I was kind of happy someone ripped it off, tell you the truth.
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