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The compact Seiko 5 Sports MOTOCOMPO Limited Edition HDB010 takes its unmistakable yellow-and-black finish from one of Honda‘s strangest little machines. Measuring 36.4mm across, the mechanical field watch celebrates the 45th anniversary of a scooter designed to travel inside the boot of another Honda.
Released in 1981, the 49cc Motocompo had handlebars and footrests that folded into its rectangular body, with additional measures designed to make it safer to carry inside a car. It was a brilliant little piece of engineering designed to move its owner from four wheels to two, or give them six in total, depending on the journey.
The yellow dial makes the connection obvious. But much like the little Honda scooter that could, the better details sit beyond the colour scheme, hidden in the instructions for carrying, securing and operating the original Motocompo. Seiko has translated both the scooter’s appearance and the way it was used into a limited-edition watch.
The Little Honda Designed to Ride in a Boot
Honda launched the Motocompo alongside the compact Honda City in 1981, pitching the two as a new six-wheeled lifestyle that combined the comfort of a car with the manoeuvrability of a scooter.
The Motocompo weighed in at 42kg and used a 49cc, 2.5-horsepower two-stroke engine. The scooter itself didn’t fold in half, but its handlebars and footrests tucked into the boxy body, making it easier to load into the City’s flat luggage area.
Honda also added a leak-prevention system for the fuel, engine oil and battery, a sensible choice when you’re placing a two-stroke motorcycle directly behind the rear seats.
In 2023, Honda returned to the same idea with the Motocompacto, a foldable electric scooter that collapses into a briefcase-like shape for storage in a car or small space. Different execution, same familiar pitch: give drivers a smaller machine for the part of the journey their car couldn’t cover.
The original Motocompo was already a machine designed to travel inside another machine for that exact purpose. Now Seiko has squeezed all of it into a mechanical watch.
1/5Seiko Used More Than Yellow Paint
The HDB010 starts with a bright yellow dial crossed by a black horizontal band carrying the Honda logo, closely matching the side treatment of the original scooter.
You’ll see the “AUTOMATIC” lettering at six o’clock in a font inspired by the Motocompo logo. The crown is engraved with “TURN”, borrowing from the scooter’s fuel cock, while the nylon strap carries the references into much stranger territory.
One keeper is marked “CARRYING POINT”, referencing the fixing point used to secure the Motocompo inside a car. The strap tip reads “INSERTION POINT”, turning one of the scooter’s most practical instructions into a little Honda Easter egg for those who know where to look.
But the best hidden detail is the see-through caseback, which carries a Motocompo silhouette, limited-edition text and an individual serial number. Even the presentation box gets involved, recreating the corrugated cardboard carton used to ship the scooter.
The collaboration could have stopped at a Honda logo and matching paint. Instead, it rewards anyone willing to look past the yellow dial and see how the Motocompo was carried, secured and operated way back when.
With e-bikes now flying along paths everywhere, it would be good to see Honda bring the original trunk-bike idea back properly. Preferably as something a little more useful than a rideable briefcase.
A Compact Watch for a Compact Honda
The HDB010 uses the smaller Seiko 5 Sports Field-series case, measuring 36.4mm across, 12.5mm thick and 44.4mm from lug to lug. That makes it a fitting base for a scooter built around squeezing as much mobility as possible into a tiny footprint.
Its stainless-steel case receives a black hard coating and sits beneath a curved Hardlex crystal. Water resistance is rated to 100 metres, while LumiBrite on the hands and indices keeps the dial visible after dark.
Inside is Seiko’s familiar 4R36 automatic movement, offering manual winding, stop-seconds, a day-date display and approximately 41 hours of power reserve.
Limited to 8,000 pieces, the Seiko 5 Sports MOTOCOMPO Limited Edition is priced at AUD$575 and will arrive in Australia in September 2026.
The original Motocompo turned a Honda City into a six-wheeler. Seiko has now taken that little scooter that rode in the boot and made it a very good-looking field watch.
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