2022 Honda Z125ABS Monkey
Why a Monkey?
My friend, Barry, is always there to influence me to do things and buy motorcycles. During winter 2021/2022, he talked me into buying a Honda Monkey 125. Of course, he had to buy a new bike too and he bought a Honda Grom 125. Fair is fair and I talked him into riding our minis to Baja in spring 2023 and he better not back out on me because I know where he lives.
Fall of 2021 I was out riding my Harley and decided to leave it at Barry’s house in TX, fly home and return spring 2022 to finish my ride. Like all the other plans that Barry has come up for me, this one worked great. The Monkey was bought in Texas and Barry picked it up for me. It was at his house when I flew back in the spring to get the Harley.
We got the bikes set up and joined some of his friends in Louisiana for a two day 300 mile ride. It was half pavement and half gravel road. I didn’t realize how much fun it would be and I thought I would be fine leaving the bike there until spring and our Baja ride. Once I did that ride I regretted that I was leaving it there but I had my Harley to ride home.
After I got home a friend invited me to attend the Overland Expo in Redmond, OR. We attended a presentation by Chad Warner, with BMWMOA, telling about his adventure riding 10 Backcountry Discovery Routes in a year. RideBDR.com has the information on what the routes are all about.
When I got home from the Expo I started watching the BDR videos on YouTube. and now I want to do them all, even the NE one, and use the Monkey for the sandy states and maybe all of them.
I discovered the Monkey is a blast to ride and it would be so much fun to ride all the BDRs on it. All my dreams don’t come true but most do and as long as I continue to dream and work toward making those dreams come true, it makes life what I want it to be.
My friend, Barry, is always there to influence me to do things and buy motorcycles. During winter 2021/2022, he talked me into buying a Honda Monkey 125. Of course, he had to buy a new bike too and he bought a Honda Grom 125. Fair is fair and I talked him into riding our minis to Baja in spring 2023 and he better not back out on me because I know where he lives.
Fall of 2021 I was out riding my Harley and decided to leave it at Barry’s house in TX, fly home and return spring 2022 to finish my ride. Like all the other plans that Barry has come up for me, this one worked great. The Monkey was bought in Texas and Barry picked it up for me. It was at his house when I flew back in the spring to get the Harley.
We got the bikes set up and joined some of his friends in Louisiana for a two day 300 mile ride. It was half pavement and half gravel road. I didn’t realize how much fun it would be and I thought I would be fine leaving the bike there until spring and our Baja ride. Once I did that ride I regretted that I was leaving it there but I had my Harley to ride home.
After I got home a friend invited me to attend the Overland Expo in Redmond, OR. We attended a presentation by Chad Warner, with BMWMOA, telling about his adventure riding 10 Backcountry Discovery Routes in a year. RideBDR.com has the information on what the routes are all about.
When I got home from the Expo I started watching the BDR videos on YouTube. and now I want to do them all, even the NE one, and use the Monkey for the sandy states and maybe all of them.
I discovered the Monkey is a blast to ride and it would be so much fun to ride all the BDRs on it. All my dreams don’t come true but most do and as long as I continue to dream and work toward making those dreams come true, it makes life what I want it to be.
About the bike
The Monkey has a 125cc, air cooled, single cylinder, fuel Injected engine, wide ratio 5 Speed transmission, 12” Wheels, Round LED Headlight & Tailight, Inverted Forks, Twin rear shocks, Fat tires, and ABS. With it being a small bike it comes with only 4” of suspension travel and a “super-low” seat height of 30.5 inches but it only weighs 231 pounds so me being on my tippy toes isn’t too bad.
This bike is has a retro appearance, an upright seating position with standard handle bars and is designed to be ridden solo and has no passenger pegs. The little chunky tires are high-aspect-ratio tire providing tons of grip and absorbs bumps. Best of all is the gas mileage, 150 – 155 mpg and with a 1.5-gallon fuel tank, that’s over 200 miles of range.
This is what powersports.Honda.com wrote about the bike:
START MONKEYING AROUND
Here’s a lesson in primate evolution: Back in the caveman days (the 1960s) the first Honda Monkey showed the world how much fun Homo Sapiens could have on a motorcycle. Then a couple of years back, we introduced the new Monkey, and the riding world went ape again. Now it’s getting even better, because for 2022 the Honda Monkey gets a new engine (the same as our newest Grom), with a higher 10:1 compression ratio that increases power and adds to the bike’s zippy performance. Plus, an extra gear in the transmission (it’s a five-speed now) means it’s even more versatile. It’s the perfect way to get around town, or just have some fun monkeying around. Complete with ABS and available in Pearl Black and Banana Yellow, it’s more fun than, well, you know the rest.
Sure, the Monkey is cute, but its new five-speed transmission gives you all the durability, control, and efficiency of a conventional motorcycle. Plus, the extra gear this year increases top speed for highway cruising.
There isn’t a lot of aftermarket gear for this bike yet but I suspect more will show up in the next few years. All I need for this bike now is a banana-yellow modular helmet.
