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 (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.
