Here at RideApart, we're well-documented lovers of all things Cub House Honda.
For those unfamiliar, Cub House is an offshoot of Thai Honda, specializing in creating small, limited-edition runs of Honda's extremely popular 125s. While you could argue that they're generally all about paint and graphics, my friend, isn't that the first thing that catches your eye when you look at any bike? Aesthetics aren't the only thing, sure, but they're important.
Anyway, as you may also have heard, internationally beloved Dragon Ball manga creator and noted gearhead Akira Toriyama died on March 1, 2024. He was 68 years old. Fans around the world have been posting tributes to the man and his undeniable influence in manga, anime, and also far beyond either of those realms.
But you probably don't even need me to tell you that, because you've seen creations like the Ganesha Customs Monkey Racer Replica:
This build is a particularly amazing example of how art inspires art, because this is a real-life recreation of a Moto Guzzi V8 GP Racer that Akira Toriyama drew in his manga. So it went from being a real (if essentially unobtanium) classic race bike in the real world, was filtered through Toriyama's brain and talent, and then was abstracted once more by Ganesha Customs into the real-world Honda Monkey-based replica you now see before you.
Honestly, the fact that folks build stuff like this was a tribute to Toriyama's enduring influence long before he passed away.
We could also point to these fantastic working creations, built by Bel y Bel customs in Barcelona (the makers of the working Kaneda's Bike custom from Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira.)
Before All Of These, There Was The Cub House Monkey X Dragon Ball Limited Edition
Back in 2019, Cub House Honda created a special, limited edition Honda Monkey x Dragon Ball bike. So, quite fittingly, on the occasion of Toriyama's passing, Cub House posted the following touching tribute to its official Facebook page.
The text reads, "From the most popular anime of all time through the story comes the Limited Edition pattern. Monkey x Dragon Ball will be a legend ... forever. To Professor Toriyama Akira, the creator of Dragon Ball. Thank you for giving us special memories at CUB."
It's simple, it's fitting, it's perfect.
If you want to take a closer-up look at the details of this bike from when it was originally released, Thai YouTube channel GT-R Maxx has a video walkaround which we've posted here. Please note that the spoken language here is Thai, and they're walking around the display at Cub House when it was introduced.
The original MSRP for the Monkey x Dragon Ball Limited edition was ฿119,990, which is about US $3,356 in 2024 money. Adjusting for inflation, that would have been about US $2,782.
We at RideApart join the many whose lives were touched by Toriyama's enduring gifts and enthusiasm for cool motor vehicles, and wish his family and friends the best during an indescribably difficult time.
