Reports suggest Honda Monkey Baja 125 is returning
Reports from well-connected outlets in Japan suggest that the Honda Monkey Baja 125, which is inspired by the 1992 XR600R Baja, could be returning.
A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, the Honda Motorcycle Company had a very good sense of humour. So much so that the Japanese giant took its best-selling big-bore adventure bike and went full Honey, I Shrunk the Kids on the thing. The result? The hilarious yet seriously cute Honda Monkey Baja 125.
Looking like a caricature of Honda’s rally winner, the Baja 125 featured distinctive paint, a red rally seat, and those awesome, and oh-so-1980s, twin round headlights set into an oval bull bar.
You could even buy a body kit for the bike that slipped over the top, giving it the look of an over-inflated Africa Twin in miniature. To this day, it remains one of the rarest of Honda’s Monkey bikes. We found one for sale in Barcelona with just 300 miles on the clock—and an asking price of £6,000!
Well, if reports from Japan are to be believed, Honda’s product planning team might be ready to have a laugh once more, with numerous outlets, including the famously well-connected Young Machine, pointing to the Monkey Baja’s return.
The modern-day Honda mini-bike range currently boasts three options: the MSX125 (aka the Grom), which is a modern street bike; the Dax 125, which leans on more classical lines; and the icon of the family, the Monkey. It seems the only thing missing is a rugged little off-roader, complete with knobbly hoops and a luridly applied paint scheme straight out of the ’80s. When you think about it like that, it makes total sense.
Whether or not the bike will actually arrive, who knows? The rumours could just be the result of some overexcited lunch chats between journalists and Honda execs. But recent events suggest Honda is willing to push boundaries. Its V3 concept, revealed at EICMA last year, basically broke the internet with its wild design and technical spec.
If Honda truly wanted to make the world a better place, a new Honda Monkey Baja 125 would be by far the best way to do it.
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Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
