2019 Honda Monkey | First Ride 

You guys realise this is an icon right? These bikes were huge in Europe at their prime time called the Honda Dax/monkey. Always pretty neat when I see some of the originals riding around my home town, 50ccs of nothingness. The fact that they’ve released a 2018model is huge and great, despite its price. It’s not about the suspension or handling or anything like that.

The mini bike was not a new concept. In the early 60's we had domestic built mini bikes, with briggs and Stratton lawn mower type engines. But after the first season of riding, those things wouldn't even start on a reliable basis anymore. When Honda came out with the Monkey bike, it completely took the market by storm. They came complete with working lights and multiple speed transmissions and were utterly reliable and completely kid proof. Honda's introduction of the trail 50/70 series of mini bikes was huge.

The sky in this video is just amazing like 6:55 for example

I'd take the Monkey over a Grom all day every day... but that price is a bit steep. Too close to the new Honda Cub, which I'd buy instead. Maybe I will... 🤔

Great video chase. It was so cool to interact with you live. And I really like the graphs you are trying out.

Just got my monkey and loving it! Price may have been steep for such a little bike, but looking past that, for me it’s priceless.

It’s a shame you have no appreciation for the original mini trail on which this is based but thanks for showing it to those who do remember.

You can ride all the way to Aspen on that thing.

just bought one at the age 49 , and must say i love it , it is so comfy and fun to ride

The tank to seat gap is part of the aesthetics of the original

You guys realize, it's to make us former trail70, trail90, guys part of the party too! Beautiful!!

The Monkey was actually around in the 70's they had like a 65cc engine and were like little trail bikes. I hope this trend of bike companies reviving/reintroducing updated versions of older bikes continues....but I'm a retro nerd, soooo

Best review online so far. Lots of fun and you pointed out some interesting aspects of the bike. Good and bad.

Now that’s a REAL bike

You mentioned an older honda from the 60's that looked like this Monkey. Well yep, it was one of the coolest and badass little bikes of all time, a true beast. People are restoring them and you can find on on Ebay for like $1300. They were $300 in the early 70's and I wanted one so damn bad. When I had my son I got him an old one for a few hundred and that thing took me up hills in the dirt with ease! And I am 6' tall and weigh 190. They are a true collector item that every guy should have! Trust me! It was the Honda Minitrail 50.

I was 7 (1968) when the K1 50 cc came out called the Mini Trail made for kids. Well these are made for adults reliving their childhood which is great, I know because I have a K 3 Mini Trail . Try those roads on 49 cc and drum brakes ( actually please don’t )!

Picked up a Yamaha XS1100 for $1,000 that just needed an oil pan gasket. Blows my mind that people pay full price for new bikes.

Who wants to get to their destination fast when it’s that fun to ride?!!

These small displacement bikes are so fun in a group. A group of us ride Honda Metropolitans on back country roads. It's so much fun! Especially when we pull into a biker bar and a bunch of us old timers get off of our Metros. I have a Fat Boy and a V-Max but these little bikes are really fun with the gang. Back roads and in town, you can't beat them. More fun than a barrel of monkeys!

I love this bike. Thanks brother. I love this old school stuff. People understand - a top of the line bicycle cost more than this and you have to peddle it.

It kinda looks like an old CT70 which I loved riding when I was a kid. Folding handlebars for storing on the back of campers. Fun bike.

What an outrageous little thing! Chase laughs all video I expect.

If I was a kid I would think this is the coolest thing ever, just like I thought the Yamaha GT-80 in the mid seventies was the coolest thing ever. It has a Z50 vibe going on.

Tampa Grom Squad, and sold the first Monkey in our area. Love my Grom.

1:12 I really like how you guys edited the cut to cinematics, very smooth switch with great background music!

This legit looks like one of those "REALISTIC GTA6 MOD" videos

Finally a first ride!!! FR's are why I subbed C2W in the beginning... Always enjoyable!

You are not just the absolute best motovlogger, you are an absolute master at editing I love it so much man

Love those 2019 bikes, I’m restoring a 1970 mini trail

Man this bike takes me back to my 9th birthday when my dad got me my first bike, 1969 Honda z50 mini trail..best day of my life!

If I ever get that bike I'm putting ape hangers on it

Making these retro bikes is the best decision Honda made so far. I have been riding my original 1972 Honda C50h for quite a while now and I have been loving it the moment I got on it. Finding out that Honda is going to bring back the Super Cub with all the modern features is almost as good as having sex for the first time, if not better... I don't care that it is probably the most expensive and slowest A1 licence motorcycle one could buy, because the C125 is a novelty. A novelty I really badly want. Having a C125 sitting next to my C50 sound like a dream for me. And in true Honda fashion they did not cut corners on designing it. Except for the transmission which is both the best and the worst at the same time Honda has solved a lot of issues the original C50 had such as front suspension that WILL kill you if you even think of making an emergency stop, god awful brakes and throttle that turns too much from idle to full throttle. I am so glad that they kept the semi-auto gearbox. As polarising as it may be, it is so nice to use except if you try to downshift at any engine speed other than idle. You HAVE to blip the throttle during downshifts on the C50 which is fun and engaging, but it can also be a chore, make you come across like a dickhead and not to mention that is is bloody dangerous. Disc brakes, finally! stock drum brakes on a C50 slows you down but that is about it. Telescoping front fork. Now, this isn't new to the Super Cub however the old ones came with a leading link design which rides really comfortable, but also makes the front brake extremely dangerous. If you use the front brake the whole front end will hop up, so yeah no nose diving but this is even worse. If you come on the front brake a bit too quickly and a bit too hard, the front end will lift up so quickly that the front tire actually comes off the ground. This means that no matter how fast or slow you are going, if you brake too hard the front end will bounce up and down causing you to loose control and fall. Also they changed the order of the gears, originally it is first gear, neutral (which is an actual gear instead of in between), second and finally third. Which can be useful sometimes but it also causes your first to second shifts to be really slow because you have to press and depress the shifter twice! With the new design you are forced to go either through fourth of first gear to get to neutral. more than double the displacement but not even double the power. This is a bit of a shame honestly... It is not a fast bike and it doesn't have to be. But since the maximum limit of power for A1 licence bikes is 14hp I was hoping for at least 12hp, hearing that it only makes 8hp bummed me out. I hope Takegawa is going to make some performance parts for this engine because I really want to bump up the power to 14hp or maybe even more. It is very fuel efficient though, I have to give them credits for that. even more efficient than the original C50. Seating position and geometry. Comfortable yet a bit cramped, like the original C50 (I'm glad that I have the Dutch version which has the nice buddyseat), true to original though. Eventhough almost everything is changed about this thing it is so much the same as the original and probably feels instantly familiar as well.

The return of the Mini Trail! Kids loved 'em.

Honda never go old school, they always go with more stylish futuristic bike.

The original Honda mini bikes from the late 60's and into the 70's had points and condensers, manual chokes and drum brakes but the new bikes have bigger tires, electronic fuel injection, disc brakes. You can even get ABS. I love this new Monkey. I put down a deposit at my local Honda dealership but I won't get it until January.

This little bike is going to create a whole new generation of dreamers, just like original mini-trails did back in the day. To bad though, i dont see to many parents popping the 4 grand to buy one.

My bicycle is almost $4K, so not that bad for 2 wheels with a motor :-)

Love this thing, like the retro look, bring back the old bikes!!!

I loved it when you’re saying it would be great for new riders while cruising along with a forgotten turn signal blinking away... 😁

The original monkey was and still is a popular moped in Finland. Fittingly it's greatest adversary is and has always been another mini: a 2 stroke Suzuki PV. If you think that thing is fun to ride just hop on a 80's monkey with a 110cc cylinder kit, raised suspension and a full exhaust.

Well, Chase, you actually accidentally called this what it was usually called back in the day. "Minibike" was a term for any small bike, with wheels about riding mower size. They went from the most basic, with lawn mower engines and centrifugal clutches, and sometimes only a back brake that scrubbed on the tire, to the Hondas and other Japanese makers who put motorcycle style engines with transmissions on them. Most of the Hondas had automatic clutch, meaning you just pushed the gear pedal. What is usually the clutch lever is a second back brake lever. My 2015 Rancher ATV has this same setup! My friend had one that was made by a company called Bonanza, and it had a 2 stroke Hodaka engine from a dirt bike on it. That sucker would go! But I'd say 90 percent of these back then had no tag, and were driven (mostly...Ha!) off road. Gravel pits, powerlines, and wherever else you could get away with it. The police would chase you and impound it if you were caught, at least here in MD. Back then we would have LOVED if we got 60 MPH out of them! Some people who put tags on them would tie them onto the back of their RV so they had a little transportation once they parked at a campground. The usual Minitrail had only 50 cc. We had NO trouble doing wheelies on them. You just need to be going very slowly to start , or do one from a dead stop. I had to chuckle when you said you had to find out if it would do one, cuz I saw the thing had a 125cc engine, I was wondering how you could NOT do a wheelie! thanks for your review!

We owned one back in the 60's as well as the 55cc Cub.

So many nice reviews on the Monkey alone everywhere just make me wanna buy one. Thank you for your video.

Absolutely love my Grom.... But 4K for a Grom with a different look. That's used sport bike, used dual sport/ supermoto price all day.

As a kid I learned to ride on my mom's old Z50A so this definitely hits the nostalgia button for me. I could easily see myself commuting to work on it but that price is a big ask, especially when I have a bike already. Plus, I'm a little tiny bit disappointed that it doesn't come with a kickstarter. The rear suspension is something I can fully get on board with however.

Wish you would have mentioned the RUCKUS crowd and their modified, stretched out Ruck's with wide tires on back, chrome or painted wheels, aftermarket exhausts and so much more. Those things are badass and there are crowds of people in Miami and California loving them.

I used to have a 1975 Honda CT Trail 70 it reminds me of that bike I rode the crap out of that thing until my brother ran into a ski lift at Full Throttle bent the front forks and destroying the bike that thing was a lot of fun

When I first saw the Grom, I thought "That would be great as a little scrambler". And here it is.

The gap in the tank-seat is the style take from the original Honda monkey bike the late 60’s z50a. That Z50a had a big goofy pillow seat also.

Adorable little bike. It could be a mini-bike for a kid or a mini-bike for an adult. I want one....and I'm 56.

I seen it in person this morning. It reminds me of my first motorcycle when I was 8. Just like a taller version of a old 1977 Honda z50.

$4k only seems pricey to people who didn't learn to ride on the Monkey's Grandfather... For the younger crowd, you've got the Grom.

I just picked up a brand new 2019 honda monkey for $3300. They are unboxing it now and will be delivered Saturday morning. I wanted a yellow one but i couldnt pass on that price, less than a new grom.

7:12 Boomer Camaro flyby denied

Basically the engine of the grom and the honda monkey are the/is engine of the honda xrm. A moped we have here in the Philippines.

I personally like the Monkey better just because of the look and it offers a more off-road approach than the Grom, I will probably wait until we have more of a used market for these bikes before I buy one. This looks like a fun bike to modify and mess around with, it will be soon before all the Honda Grom crowd starts to be obsessed with the Honda Monkey and more and more will be on the used market for at least $1000 less.

There is also the kymco spade in the mini bike line up. Shits dope

Hey Chase.... You are the best!.... Keep posting incredible videos 🔥🔥👍

Thanks Chase, really enjoyed that. In 1969 I had a honda mini trail 50cc and had a great time with what was exactly the same bike. I think I'd like another! Good stuff!

The only reason I dislike this video is because you didn't stop comparing it to the Grom and not stoping talking of it... This a very cool bike inspired on the old Honda model's back in the day, I'm old enough to remember those cool bike and personally I really like this one a lot; the down side is yes, the pricing is a bit to high; that being said you do a really good quality videos!

I had a Honda mini bike, 30 I think with ape hanger bars. But would climb anything in first and haul ass in third. Rode it my entire youth. Tough mini bike.

The king of first rides👌😍absolute awsome video and very cool bike, looking forward to see a custom one of these

It’s like a vestva scooter and a grom mated and thus the monkey is born. Haha!

Wow, I love this bike :D Price's quite high tho... great review anyway!

cool bike and looks like a fun backroad bike to get the fun on

I don't think it is expensive, the fuel economy in this baby is insane and it is pure fun

Im so jealous. They haven't released them in Canada. Im hoping they will, I would buy one immediately.

This bike looks super fun just cause it's the size of a toy....but in 1969 they were about $350 which is just under $2500 by today's rate....I have a speed triple but I always get attracted to goofy things like this

HONDA make it a 250cc & you got a deal worth for $4k

I still do not understand, people can barely handle the 600 and 1000 cc and they say that it is little power or a mini motorcycle when they hardly get to be able to apply driving techniques in the 125....

Dude! I’m 56 and old enough to remember what the Monkey is copied from. In the early 70’s Honda made a Trail 70. That’s it! My friend had one in 74. That Monkey looks identical to it.

The price is LUDICROUS!

Great video great shots of the bike

Honda started making 50 cc "Monkey" since 1967. My first monkey was in 1976 which had automatic clutch. It was a blast. I still own a 2003 Monkey with full clutch in my garage. Monkey, Gorilla and Dax were made by Honda back in the days and they were popular. I'd definitely add 125cc Monkey... Are they sold in US???

I really love that little bike probably going to purchase one to accompany my Grom.

Fun fact: in Australia land, (possibly just country towns) any tiny form factor bikes all the way down to the literal toy 50's etc are all publicly referred too as 'Monkey' bikes, and have been for longer than i can remember. And that includes the old Yamaha PW50's 'Peewee 50' with its own little naming convention. All due to the popularity of the original iterations of 'Monkey bikes' ;)

Dude this is just like a 1970 CT 90. It looks beautiful. But 4k. Jesus.

Great video! Love the shots of you riding. Very pro!

Spoiler. Its a more expensive Grom with worse rear suspension.

This thing is dope.

Don't forget about the Kymco Spade, it's a great Mini Bike!

״no slipper clutch, point noted" chase is such a pampered rider...

Great video as always chase, I loved it

As you mentioned the Monkey has a Grom inside of it. Man you should have seen that Monkey when he found out they were going to put a Grom inside of him. At first he vigorously protested but after a while the Monkey came to accept it. That's scary. Now if you'll excuse me I have some more trolling to do.

You really should come out to the Smokey Mountain Crawl next year. There are hundreds of custom mini bikes, events, and group rides!! It's in Townsend, TN

It looks aaaaa real fun.👌 maybe I'll try to rent one when I go on vacation in Hawaii.

Unreal how well made this is. Great content bro. How and why did you start motovlogging ? If you have a video on this already, let me know!

See premiers are weird because I was like oh sweet, I haven’t seen that bike before and I clicked to watch it, but now that I cannot I will probably just go watch someone else do a review of the bike and never touch this video again.. sadly

I'm getting close to 50 and think one car is enough, so I was looking for a scooter but now I saw this and yes it all comes clear it is meant for me to get one , i love the retro style it have the same style as the bikes back in the 70s-early 80s , and just that brings out some joy , i drive a weird-looking Honda Civic sport , soo why not match it a Honda Monkey :D

Taking a mini-bike on the highway. A little crazy.

had a honda mini bike in 80's was a 3 speed super fun wish i had one now.

Good insights on that tank space- bigger tank would be an easy plus.

You really need to do a Benelli TNT 135. It's awesome. Probably the best that people don't really know about. Seriously 5 speed, faster, and just a tiny bit better in every way.

The MSRP for the Grom is $3500, the Monkey is $4000. I've got a 2014 Grom, it was the 2nd one I saw in person (I was on a waiting list for a while, Berkeley Honda [good people]). I see 'em a lot now. The Super Cub (automatic) is $3600. I'd rather the Monkey for style and would probably pay the extra $600.

Yes preview content like this is good two 👍🏻

Your imagery is amazing breh

Next test suzuki pv!

Seriously, other than the price tag this Monkey is all I’d actually need to get to and from work. I live on the Isle of Man, we have no dual carriage ways, freeways, motorways, etc. There’s only a handful of places on island that even have two lanes of traffic to help flow. I live less than 5 miles away from work and only need a vehicle to ship me around, my partner and I could keep the car for shop runs and taking the dog out. We have the TT course obviously, but I don’t have a need for speed, I love the sensation of driving quickly rather than actually going quickly. The only other bikes I’ll even consider are the CB350F and CB500F, whilst they’re faster and cooler bikes, 120+ mpg on the Monkey is so hard to pass on. Especially when my current car rarely gets 30mpg....

That's a good looking bike! And my favorite color too! Thanks!

Two things I like ... the mix of old and new tech. The one thing I don't like ... the price.