RUGGED DEEP WOODS ADVENTURE WITH THE HONDA MONKEY 125! How well does it handle the heavy stuff?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ย. 2024
- #hondamonkey #monkey125 #motorcycle
I'll be the first to tell you, then Honda Monkey 125 is not an ideal adventure bike. So why do I keep taking it on adventures?! I guess I'm just drawn to the challenge of taking bikes that are too small for me, not built for the terrain, and not meant for the type of riding I'm doing out to do these exact things...
I guess it's the Miata racer in me that is attracted to the spirit of taking something undersized and essentially and underdog, to do great things. We all love a great underdog story, right?
The Miata is such an overachiever that it gave me false hope that other machines small in stature will overachieve in the same way the Miata does. This has led me to purchase the Honda Monkey, Honda Grom, and Honda Trail 125 with the mindset that they are going to be worthy steeds anywhere I take them. I mean, they are Hondas, right? The reality is that these are "novelty bikes", and are meant for "monkeying around" the neighborhood or racetrack paddock. They're "just for fun" and not meant to excel or specialize in any one discipline. I do suppose if you live in a small city or town and your commute is possible on a scooter, then this would also be an applicable use for the Honda Mini-Moto line of bikes, and be MUCH more fun than a scooter.
Point is, Honda did NOT make these bikes to go offroad, go through creeks, attack pit bike motocross tracks, tackle deep mud, climb steep rocky trails, and carry passengers, BUT, I insisted on doing all of those things with the Monkey! I just can't shake the dirt bike rider in me when I get a motorcycle. Eventually I end up taking anything I'm riding off road, "just to see how it does". What this led to with the Monkey was me outfitting the bike with the necessary parts to make off-roading a little easier, however, you can add the knobby tires, suspension, handlebars, gearing, and power all you want, but does it really make the bike "good" at something it's totally not designed for? Short answer: no.
So what does this all have to do with this video? Well, on my annual trip to upstate NY this year, I wanted 2022 to be the "make or break" final test for the Monkey to help me decide if this was something I was going to keep doing with the bike and the direction I'd keep heading, OR, would this be the swan song for the Monkey and just help me decide even easier what my next bike was going to be...
I hope this epic ride-along was fun for you, and gave you a glimpse of what the Monkey can do with the proper mods and experienced rider. I'm not advocating that your Honda Monkey should be outfitted like mine and this should be your choice for your next adventure bike (quite the contrary actually), but more of less showing you my plight with making a bike do stuff it's completely not made to do. Enjoy!
I'd argue that the monkey is totally MADE for That riding!! Who would you say it isn't? It's a bigger form of the minitrail 50 and look at all the things those tiny bikes did for all those years! Bikes are made for anything you Do with them in my opinion.
Agreed
It's a shame that John feels his Monkey doesn't tick all the boxes anymore, I was thinking that the other day, these new mini bikes must be more capable than the old ones, but maybe the bigger size takes away the old charm? But I feel that part of the reason is because the have the nostalgia, but there comes a certain point when you realise, the nostalgia is not real and not as good as it would be transport back in time and taste the real thing again! 🤷♂️🙌
I just subscribed .I am 69 and been waiting a year for my monkey. Your a great dad and your son is awesome too.he rides great.
Thank you so much for this comment! In an online world of people who want to tell me what I’m doing wrong, you are a beam of positive light! Enjoy your Monkey, it’s an excellent bike and worth the wait 😁
@@John5XR thank you!
Enjoy your videos! My new 2024 Monkey with 175 miles on it now is just sitting in the garage, wait for winter to be over and I can take it to the hills! (Riding trials since 1969 and now 71, Sold all my other bikes and got the monkey just to slow down and sit and still enjoy the hills) anyway, may find that I will want to gear it down but it may be fine for just east to moderate trails. It’s a down right classic bike if nothing else…Hope to enjoy lots of miles and smiles in the Sierra Navada here in Calif this year !
Mine has 14miles. Just got it yesterday. Is a fun little thing.
So awsome to see the younger/next gen getting into riding! John, it looks like you have some running lights/fogs on the monkey? If so….what are you running? Great video!
He’s getting to the point to where he keeps pace with me, so this stuff has gotten more and more fun every year. He’s been riding since he was 3, so this tough terrain wasn’t too bad for him. I added led rock crawling lights to the Monkey for this trip and they’re awesome! I’ll be releasing the video for that install in the future, and explain what I used. Basically it’s your choice of led lights, and a handlebar mounted on/off switch. I connect the power and ground wires to the “hot with key on” circuit within the headlight housing and tap into the ground wire for the side marker lights
Awesome, soon he’ll be smoking you on a bike! Yeah please do put out a video on that install. Cool upgrade for the monkey. Thanks!
At the age of 80 was looking for a bike that I could easily handle and bought a 2023 Honda Monkey here in KIngman Az at the HD dealer Mother Road, they even took a picture to post, I am the guy with the USAF veteran T-shirt. Had been ridding a 2012 Kymco Like 200i which I kept. Honda is way more fun and capable. Will most likely sell the Kymco soon and just ride the Honda. Beautiful mini moto, will keep it bone stock and enjoy life, so easy to ride and more confident on it than the scooter. Sweet ride.
Great story! Enjoy the Monkey!!
This is exactly the sort of stuff I love to see. Of course the real hero of the video was that EE5!
You ain’t kidding bud! That bike is amazing
I'm always searching for cool Monkey and Dax 125 video's, and I'm happy to have found this one, I love this type of riding and I love hearing little engines pottering along like this, I know you're into racing and probably love screaming engines, but it's great you also seem to like plodding along at a leisurely pace, even if it's because you're riding with your lad! I'll have to check out your trail video now, I did like your grom one with the other groms slipping on that slimey bridge course, nice one, I'm hoping to downsize from a zx9r to a monkey or dax and give up the big sports bike life, I may regret it but some others say they didn't so.well see!..
Reminds me of bilbo on a pony….never wanted to spend 2-4 k so bad
What a great dad!!
I placed a deposit on my Honda Monkey at a SF Bay Area US dealership 6 months ago. They told me they had no clue what color would arrive. I picked it up 12/22/2022 and it is perfectly Pearl Nebula Red. The dealership has received only one Monkey in 6 months and I was fortunate enough to get it.
Good Stuff ,now Upstate NY is Buried under 4,5 ft of Snow ❄️ 🌬❄️🌬❄️🌬❄️
I know! This trail might be ready for the snowmobiles now!
I'm north of the Adirondacks and love exploring NYS. Hafta get down that way one of these days, looks like enjoyable riding. 👍
Awesome adventure day 😂😊
Yes it was!
It did well considering the bike isn't designed for off road.
The monkey was never intended for hard off road. Its not geared for it, the suspension it too light. The trail 125 is more robust. Now, when i was a kid, i took a honda 110 off road, i did it but, looked silly doing it.
I have a stock Monkey. I want more power but I am no mechanic.
The Dade City motorbikes have been going all weekend at the Track from the sound of it. Specially Friday.
Do you carry any Folding Saws on Deep Wood Rides ? Hatchets/tomahawks ??
Amazon sells a mini chainsaw for smaller stuff.
That trail needs some TLC by riders to make it more fun for everyone.
How sharp are the rocks up there ?
Ah, I love Dade City! We’ll be back there soon and I’d like to hit Day in the Dirt there in March. I don’t carry a saw on the monkey, but I fixed a gerber machete to my Trail 125 in case I needed to clear a small branch or something.
@@John5XR ... Great Chopper machete/Knife to carry, Kershaw Camp 10. It's great for chopping thigh thick logs if needed. But a Cold Steel machete are great too. The CS-Heavy Machete. It's shorter but a great Chopper & clearer. They even have a Two-handed version with a huge handle for reach.
If you like tomahawks, the Cold Steel Trailhawk is great for everything except vines/bush cutting.
Cold Steel machetes & tomahawks are in value.
What setup are you using for recording the voice audio?
Hey like what ur doing with the monkey !!
Just a quick question, what are the handle bars on the monkey?
Im actually trying to go to trails with my ape 100 but the handle bars aren't really suitable.
If you have any information, please let me know cause Im literally dying without those kinds of handle bars.
Glad you like it! They are ODI KLX110 pit bike bars and are fantastic for the Monkey and more aggressive riding.
Great performance for a machine that was not designed for that. Great versatility in design.
hello, can I ask what brand and possibly the model of the backpack you attached to the back bar? thanks you
Absolutely! It’s this one:
amzn.to/3YMdPnA
...no skid plate? Big chance!
no cameras show the perspective of steepness!! That's why all these millions of pov videos are just silly.
Do you think mud and trail riding will wear out the Monkey?
Oh definitely, but most of the wear items have been upgraded on my bike such as shocks, forks, tires, and I even have a waterproof filter cover on the air filter
hope some jack A** save the environment person don't see this brother. they'll be trying to get motorcycles banned from riding that where you guys were riding that creek back and forth. happened down here in the south. some boys made a video posted it online and well you probably guessed it shut that area down for riding. now I didn't hear you say if that was a designated bike area so if it is my apologies for this whole comment lol. nice content, makes me want a monkey even more
I’ll never say where it is exactly because of your reasons, but this trail is very seldomly visited by anyone outside of local residents, all on atv’s or snowmobiles in winter.
@@John5XR got ya! it's a beautiful area brother!! keep it that way as long as possible
Which did better?
Wrong bike for that in my opinion.
Your driving on the wrong side of the road! 😂