2024 CFMoto Papio SS vs Honda Monkey - Both Look Great, But Which One Should You Buy? 

The Papio looks like something out of an old anime but in a good way. The monkey is just classic.

Up here in Canada, we get 2 models of Papio, and we pay less. We have both the SS and the CL which is built with upright handlebars, a 1 piece 2 passenger seat, lower footpegs and knobby tires. All for $3999.00 CDN, or just $2924.00 USD. So, on the road starting STARTING AT $4,674 * The price includes $3,999 MSRP and a $100 commodity surcharge, $275 freight, and a $300 preparation fee. Financing 3,99% on 36 months term. Here in Canada, the Honda starts at $6169.00 CDN ! Includes $698.00 for Freight, PDI and Fees. Exclude taxes. That's the incredible overpricing in USD of $4646.38 . Up here the Honda Grom is over $1000.00 cheaper than the Monkey.

At the end of the day I would still buy the Honda !! I've had a couple of other Hondas and I've had some Chinese bikes. I just don't seem to have problems with the Hondas!! That I do with the Chinese bikes upgrade a carburetor to make one run better you got to add a better brakes and different tires rims and chain and sprocket you got to change the air breather and exhaust sometimes it's the front forks and shock, s?? and sometimes you got to put bushings in the swing arm?? Honda's come complete and run really good unless you want to do something stupid???😢 My last Honda I've had to do nothing to it but oil changes and adjust the valves!! Thank you Honda if you're watching I ❤ your motorcycles

As journalists, it is pretty apparent that different, newer, unique and or interesting have to out weigh other considerations when making choices that a consumer with limited income would go for. IF I were to choose, it would be the Monkey. Not just because of the classic look. But because of the heritage. The Honda brand has been around far longer. You have a large community that supports that brand. Can get parts for it all over the place if need be. The riding position is more appealing to me.

In Hawaii, "papio" is usually in reference to golden trevally. More often sought after by shorefishers, papio can also be caught by spearfishers & known for it's tenacity when caught. Cooked over wood fire, it's flesh is soft, flaky & moist... similar to mahi-mahi. Can also be enjoyed steamed

MSRP on the Monkey is $4299, not $4600. I think more people buy the Grom at $3599 also. It also weighs a little less and has a slightly bigger tank.

To much fun! Both are cool bikes. I would be going with the Papio. Mainly because of that sport bike look. I would love to put the Papio on one of our beautiful canyon roads. Strait line speed is not as important. Hard to get into speeding ticket problems with either!

I have both myself. Won’t give up the Monkey ever. Wish the Papio SS will come out with more parts and a BBK. But love my Papio!

Here’s a fun fact if you have the older Honda Grom and the older Honda monkeys, you can get the 2024 transmission clutch and gear set and it is completely compatible for the older models because it’s basically the same age and the only thing they did is added as stacked extra gear

i have a papio, Ive cammed it and added a 150cc jug. they're a k157fmi engine so surprisingly there's a few things available for them. also have levers and front preload adjusters on mine from ali express. also painted the front fender and under cowl to match the white on the rest of it... I'm happy with the bike so far

I absolutely love the look of the Papio. If someone made a 900 triple that looked like that I'd but it tomorrow

The CFMOTO reminds me a little like a bigger version of the Yamaha YSR50. I love the looks but not a fan of Chinese bikes. I'd buy the Monkey for the Honda dependability. (Maybe if price was a big issue for you, perhaps consider the Grom?)

Definitely the honda as they always make great long lasting and very very reliable!

🛑🛑 Coming from a guy that was around, remembers and rode the original CT70’s (and owns one today) from the 1970’s … and currently owns a CVO Harley Ultra Limited; the Honda Monkey “hands down” is the best mini moto out there. The Monkey is great. Resale of a Monkey, will hold its value; over the Chinese Bike. The Monkey can be modified in anyway. The Monkey is the WINNER…PERIOD!💯

The Monkey will last forever with simple maintenance. The CFMoto? Not so sure.

After a few years of ownership, you can sell the Monkey for just a bit less than you paid for it. You wouldn’t even be able to give away the CF Moto.

I also thought there shift light on the PAPIO SS was a nice surprise when I test rode one. Not sure if you can increase it, but it was a cool little thing to see.

Excellent video lads.

I ❤ my 2019 Monkey and personally I prefer the 4 speed gearbox.

The Papio CL would be a better comparison to the Monkey, but performance ought to be largely similar. I do like to looks of this Papio SS over the CL. I owned a Monkey and somewhat miss it. I am hopeful we get the new Honda ST125 Dax. I love the looks of it, but wish it could be had with the 5 speed and manual clutch plus high front fender of the Monkey. Someone will probably figure out some sort mash-up of those bikes. I'd buy a Papio if I found a used one for cheap in a couple years. Resale values of Chinese bikes ought not be too strong.

It's not about price! It's about the quality of the build.............

As much as I hate most chinese brand but CFMoto really impressed me. Build quality is on par with a Japanese brand. Definitely value for money.

Does the riding position really matter on a mini-moto? It's not like either bike is going for many day-long, touring-style rides. Yes, the Monkey is more comfortable, but for an afternoon ride with a few breaks mixed in for coffee or ice cream stops? I'm pretty sure the Papio won't punish the rider too much. I wish I had the extra cash lying around to pick up one of these as just a fun toy in addition to my "big boy" motorcycles.

Would be interesting to compare the CL version to the Monkey.

the monkey last 10 times longer

The extra $1000 goes towards rock solid Japanese quality. CF moto has a bad rep in the side by side market if you read online owner reviews. However I will say this CF moto are built in a KTM factory in China. I know CF is the best of Chinese offerings. I’m sure if maintained the Papio due to its simplicity would be reliable enough for most people.

The reason you see the Monkey everywhere is because it is a luxure purchase and if you end up just selling it, it is still going to hold it's value. No way to predict reliability, but if I was a gambling man, I would imagine the Monkey is going to give you a lot more years trouble free. In the end I guess it come down to your pain threshold for the initial cost. Great review guys and CFMoto is showing that it can produce "acceptable" quality and you will not be just burning money when you buy it.

I wish they come with a 250 inline 4

I think a better comparison to have been made would have been tween the Papio and Honda Grom simply for the sporty styling.

Made in 🇨🇳 vs Made in 🇯🇵

In a lot of places these days a 125cc motorcycle is the largest you can have to start with.

Love to see the monkey again

We need a papio on a 500cc or more. That style is just prime !

In cars, you typically estimate a weight penalty or benefit as 1bhp/10pounds. So, when you’re only starting with only 9 bhp, +/- 30 pounds is very significant. How would these bikes manage or look with a 5’11” 200# rider? I’d like to see that. Would I look like a clown? Um, that’s rhetorical, for the record. Fun review, thanks.

Can you guys compare this to a 2024 Lifan Kp mini 150cc RS EFI model its new for 2024 and is about 2,500$ 150cc mini bike that's supposed to compete with the grom and z125

Weird comparison. The Papio competes against the Grom, not the Monkey. Aside from the engine size they are not comparable. Even the Monkey beats the Papio in every test except price - the Grom would destroy it. Yet, somehow, the Papio gets the recommendation? Hella sus IMO CFMoto paying for some airtime, I guess

Man I haven't seen you since you played JP in Grandma's Boy! Nice to see you man!

Monkey. hands down.

Those pirelli tires are sold out everywhere!!

I can't believe you compared a Honda Monkey to this P thing! Are you serious or just in it for the money 💰?

Remember, always pick up heavy objects straight legged and using a hard jerking motion using your back. Give it all you got. Your welcome.🙃

and the Grom just sits on the sidelines?!

Gotta get that load bearing turn signal 😆

What’s the top speed of these bikes

Honda hands down, I'm pretty sure that the Honda is going to outlast the Chinese bike.

Honestly in my personal opinion which means exactly crap. I live in Vietnam and small bikes are everything here. My daily rider is a Honda Wave. Great bike. No one here rides a Chinese bike. It's all Honda and Yamaha. In reality......chinese manufactured vehicles will always be substandard. Harder to maintain and will never hold their value like a Japanese bike. But I also only paid 1300.00 US dollars for my brand new 110 cc Honda wave 4 speed semiautomatic tranny. It will last me for the rest of my life. About 8 horse power. No torque specs. Top speed around 110 km per hour due to no restrictions here in Vietnam.

My pet peeve is how Honda cheaps out on their gauges. I wanted to love and buy a newer gen rebel but the gauge looks like a $3 part and $1.50 of engineering. It’s your primary visual interface and a total let down. I don’t know how bike manufacturers get away with these achilles heals. I love my Honda SH150i which runs flawlessly and has nice features but the low end of the product line of Honda these days have really sad gauges, total turnoff. How much more would a nice gauge add to the cost? $25? $40? Please do it.

Or you can get the Papio CL mini scrambler which is more like the Monkey.

I cannot see the point in having 6 speed on a 125cc motorbike; even 5 seems too many. CF Moto is going to become the Honda of China in 10 years time. I have a few motorbikes and my favourite is the Honda Monkey; comfy seat and great looks and all metal.

All the talk about the Monkey's heritage seems like advertising hype. The reintroduced 125cc Monkey has almost nothing in common with the original Z50. Significantly physically larger, with manual gears and clutch.

Do this review after 2 years of riding them. That'll tell you which you should've spent more money on.

Good luck finding parts for the Chinese bike

Is there anyway to get pegs to make the Monkey a 2 seater?

Papio is awsome

I wouldn’t leave either one parked at a gas station for 15 minutes. Too bad the world is full of thieves.

Fun, cute, zippy, yes, but useful, not really, except for riding inside a warehouse, (a-hem!) & when I went to a bigger bike, I never looked back....

Why?

The honda will last 30 years,the chinese 2 years with luck.

126cc, so they have written off the European licence free market by 1cc. Fools. To explain in Europe we can ride up to a 125cc bike on a car licence or on a provisional licence or in some nations with just a basic one day course. However the bike may not exceed a registered capacity of 125cc so the Chinese bike is missing a market of millions of people. Oops.

Was this a review or an infomercial? How about taking them both off-road? No mention of resale value? And choosing a bike simply because “it’s new?” Really? The future will be filled with “ran when I parked it” non-running CF Motos with 700 miles on them for $500. Buy one then.

Anyways, Miata is always the answer.

Dude, I wouldn’t say. My monkey lol.

Papio is legit. Just wait until the aftermarket picks up on it

Honda vs Chinese .. "I'm not why this cost so much more". Baffling is the level of ignorance in their opinions. Sheesh.

you missed out Yamaha now owns cfmoto

Can you add your own custom emojis to the screen?

Absolutely nobody should buy these cheap chinese bikes...

The Monkey is so cool, the cf not so much

These arnt available here where I live, but arnt they awesome little machines, kinda want one as a tall rider 🤌🏻😆

I wouldn't own any Chinese bike!