NEW Honda patent images of a motorcycle strikingly similar to the legendary Monkey have been uncovered by the Indonesian website TMC.blog.
The design illustrations show a machine that could be mistaken for the classic monkey bike but modernised with disc brakes front and rear, upside-down forks, a new frame, sub-frame and swing-arm and in all probability a 125cc engine. The 10-spoke alloy wheels are new and it also appears to have gained LED lights and an engine bash plate.
The old 49cc Z50 Monkey, with drum brakes, right-way-up forks and steel wheels, is still in Honda's range in Japan, albeit now with fuel-injection.
Given the popularity of Honda’s tiny MSX125 – the closest model to a monkey bike in the firm’s current UK range – it’s no so far-fetched to imagine that a modernised Monkey go on sale here, using the same 125cc engine.
TMC.blog is predicting it could debut at the Intermot motorcycle show in Cologne, Germany, on October 4, or Eicma in Milan, Italy, on November 8.
Read our top 10 Japanese bikes that aren't offered here.
