Talk to me about classic Monkeys...
Discussion
lukeyman said:
I know nothing about them... only that I'd enjoy watching someone I don't know, on the internet, put one back together!
It may not happen yet, but the bare bones of it are that I recently lost one of my best friends since childhood. We grew up riding together, did everything bike related together for over 30 years...He showed me a Monkey bike he had in boxes, in bits when we were 16 (I'm 48 now) and we were always going to put it back together. His family and partner have both asked me if I'd like it to rebuild it. I'll be going up to have a look at what's left of it in the next week or so and it people are interested in that sort of thing I'll build it on here.
From what I can remember, it's a 70s model not sure what year and I think it's the really little Z type one, but not sure. It's either Honda red or blue from that period.
Hardest bit will be that it's never been registered on the road in the uk, no plate, V5 or anything. Whatever happens though, if I end up with it I'll be building it for him.
Edited by V1nce Fox on Friday 19th June 18:24
I love Monkey bikes!
Mine is below, I’m old enough to be on a standard car license.
Do you have paperwork for it?
Tax and MOT should be exempt for yours, I pay about £100 per year insurance.
Would be good to see some photos.

Edited as just seen your last post, condolences on your situation.
If you need any help, I’m also building a Z50 at the moment and can guide you regards parts etc.
Honda U.K. can help with the identification to gain the U.K. V5 etc.
Mine is below, I’m old enough to be on a standard car license.
Do you have paperwork for it?
Tax and MOT should be exempt for yours, I pay about £100 per year insurance.
Would be good to see some photos.
Edited as just seen your last post, condolences on your situation.
If you need any help, I’m also building a Z50 at the moment and can guide you regards parts etc.
Honda U.K. can help with the identification to gain the U.K. V5 etc.
Edited by 996Type on Friday 19th June 18:16
996Type said:
I love Monkey bikes!
Mine is below, I’m old enough to be on a standard car license.
Do you have paperwork for it?
Tax and MOT should be exempt for yours, I pay about £100 per year insurance.
Would be good to see some photos.

That's a cool little thing Mine is below, I’m old enough to be on a standard car license.
Do you have paperwork for it?
Tax and MOT should be exempt for yours, I pay about £100 per year insurance.
Would be good to see some photos.

We were both always all about Honda stuff (blades, XRs, etc) so if I end up with it I'll have to do him proud. In my head I half remember it having the bars that have unscrew handles at the ends to fold them down, does that narrow it down at all?
996Type said:
The folding bars were common across all models (an earlier owner put fixed ones on mine for some reason!)
Does the frame look like the image above (a hard tail?)
Ignore the lethal looking electrics as it’s a dead socket !!
Can I get it road registered if it has never had a log book or plate?
That I don’t know, Honda need a VIN to trace an origin to then give those details out for you to contact DVLA. Worth calling them to discuss, maybe the engine number can give them sufficient details.
Regardless, it will still be a great project to rebuild and either display dry in your house or run on private land.
Regardless, it will still be a great project to rebuild and either display dry in your house or run on private land.
996Type said:
That I don’t know, Honda need a VIN to trace an origin to then give those details out for you to contact DVLA. Worth calling them to discuss, maybe the engine number can give them sufficient details.
Regardless, it will still be a great project to rebuild and either display dry in your house or run on private land.
I've got a minimoto on some of the shelving unit in my living room currently, but that's probably where it will live. just been looking at bits, they seem relatively cheap and easy to work on. Regardless, it will still be a great project to rebuild and either display dry in your house or run on private land.
They are simple but there are some real perfectionists and this can drive up the price of any key spares. Fully restored bikes are now a fortune and I think this is being reflected in some of the prices. Shire Bikes have always had a good range and I buy some items from Europe.
Main thing is to build it up, enjoy the process and if you need to substitute pattern parts later to get the bike finished, just do it so you don’t lose momentum half way through.
These are the wheels redone, there were so bad the tyre and rotted on the bead onto the tyre and I needed to angle grind them off!
Each wheel has cost maybe £30 to refurb to this level, that’s the limit of the standard I want and the bike will eventually be back together along those lines.

Main thing is to build it up, enjoy the process and if you need to substitute pattern parts later to get the bike finished, just do it so you don’t lose momentum half way through.
These are the wheels redone, there were so bad the tyre and rotted on the bead onto the tyre and I needed to angle grind them off!
Each wheel has cost maybe £30 to refurb to this level, that’s the limit of the standard I want and the bike will eventually be back together along those lines.
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