After stopping production of the iconic Honda Monkey, and its burly variant, the Gorilla, in 2017, Honda has announced the debut of the 2018 Honda Monkey mini bike, based on the current model Honda MSX125. In its original form, the Monkey was a 50 cc urban motorcycle that was designed back in 1961, before being brought to market in 1967.
Building a loyal fan-base over the decades, the Monkey was discontinued last year, Honda citing difficulty in meeting emissions standards with the air-cooled, single-cylinder engine. However, the 2018 Monkey will use the underpinnings of the MSX125 – also known in some markets as the Grom – to build a brand new mini bike.
The new Monkey will use the 125 cc, air-cooled, single-cylinder from the MSX, which is Euro 3 compliant and delivers a claimed 9.6 hp at 7,000 rpm and 11 Nm of torque at 5,250 rpm, fuelled by Honda’s PGM-Fi. Weighing in at 107 kg, the Monkey carries fuel in a 5.6-litre tank, closely styled to mimic the tank on the original Monkey.
Other modern updates to the Monkey include upside-down forks, inertial measurement unit-based ABS which helps prevent rear wheel lift under braking and full LED lighting. Inside the cockpit is a circular LCD instrument panel with twin odometers.
Rolling on 12-inch tyres, the Monkey is stopped by a 220 mm diameter brake disc in front, and a 190 mm unit in the rear. There are three colour choices for the 2018 Honda Monkey – Banana Yellow, Pearl Nebula Red and Pearl Shining Black.
Boon Siew wud bring the new Monkey to greater heights. since previous Honda Monkey minibike bid goodbye after 50 iconic years.
2 strokes is ancient..pipu honda gonna fail badly this time lorr!
what makes you think this is a two stroke? do some research before ranting
With the right price, I would buy one for short rides around my house.
The original Monkey and Gorilla has got many collectors here, resulting in many replica models sold locally.
Nah… Honda MSX125 already selling at RM11k+
For sure this would cost more than RM12k+
I know this might sound silly and cliche but I’m a car guy keen on getting into the biking world. I dun wanna just get some random kapchai, but I dun wanna spend too much money on what’s potentially holiday romance either. So I go around asking for advice about what to get and feedback ranges from scooters to kawasaki ninjas, which hasn’t helped.
So my question is: what’s the bike equivalent of a hot hatch: slightly left field, barely but still practical, something you can ride to work and make you smile the whole way.
Posting it here cos I think the Monkey is a potential candidate. No?
Depends on how you define ride to work – 5km? 10km? Sure if it’s that. Anything that requires a highway this bike is no go. This is a city bike.
I think u can try to have a look at the mt models by yamaha and it’s rival
The Grom, TNT 135, Monkey are all good choices to be different.
Dont mind a bit of smoke then go for Aprillia rs125 (old 2 stroker), NSR 150. No more in production but will put smile to u and me.
U want power then have to go for 600c above.
You’ll need to be more specific bro.What’s your budget,daily distance and so on.In every segment there are always very good bikes.So the options is endless.However if not much highway riding I recommend 250 cc class.Great for beginner and easier on the wallet.
I want it !
Unless it was a road-legal vehicle, The Monkey will be a sales failure. Never ever seen a road-legal Monkey or even Zoomer/Ruckus ever sold in Malaysia. All of them comes with “not suitable for road” warning..
U mean copy type of Monkey or Gorilla? Ori Honda Monkey C50 or Gorilla is street legal and they are cool though!
Being the basis of the 2018 Honda Monkey, the MSX125 is a road-legal motorcycle.
Which means their size probably will be similar (And bigger than usual Monkey) to MSX. Interesting, since Honda Monkey are designed as “recreational vehicle” instead of a fully road-legal vehicle. Like I said before, I’ve seen some of the Monkey and Zoomer been sold (Klang/Banting anyone?) as a ’empty bike’, only for taman perumahan or off-road purpose. Anyhow, I honestly still waiting for a road-legal Zoomer/Big Ruckus or revived MotoCompo coming back on the market.