The Rebirth of the Z50?
Honda has the new Monkey, which is a fun and silly-looking bike based on the Honda Grom, but apparently that isn’t enough. The company looks like it’s thinking of an even smaller Mini Moto model. MoreBikes revealed some new patent drawings that show a smaller bike than the current Monkey and that has us wondering what Honda has up its sleeve.
According to MoreBike’s report, the new mini bike design is clearly smaller than the Monkey. The publication calls this “quite an achievement” to which I say, hell yes. I’m an unabashed fan of minibikes, and I’d love to see Honda put out another bike with a tiny frame. I wonder what engine they would put in this one.
Looking at the patent drawings it appears to be a single-cylinder, horizontally oriented, air-cooled engine. The bike also appears to have styled it a lot like the old school mini bikes, with a small gas tank located between the handlebars and seat but lower than the seat. This little motorcycle looks like it will get relatively large tires, which suggest to me that it will be a mini trail-hopper. I really dig that idea. There’s what looks like two shocks in the back and regular front fork setup.
I’d love to see Honda sell one of these little bikes for the same price as a Metropolitan ($2,499). I assume the bike will get a semi-auto gearbox like the Super Cub or the upcoming CT-125, but there’s always a chance they could put a traditional clutch on this, or heck, they could even stick a CVT, though that would make it a real oddity.
The author says, ”they could even stick a CVT, though that would make it a real oddity.”
Well, to me it looks like that the patent drawings already show that it’s a CVT. The final drive leaving the engine to the rear wheel is concentric with the engine crankshaft, suggesting there is no conventional transmission behind the engine. There is a covered final drive housing, where the variator, belt, rear pully, and centrifugal clutch would be. There is no sprocket attached to the rear wheel, rather a housing where the enclosed final drive gearbox resides. Even more obvious is that the engine and transmission are integral to the swing arm. This looks like classic CVT scooter design.
Hey Greg, you definitely could be right. I think a CVT would be a little odd here, but I’m certainly not opposed to it!
Well, to me it looks like that the patent drawings already show that it is a CVT. The final drive leaving the engine to the rear wheel is concentric with the engine crankshaft, suggesting there is no conventional transmission behind the engine. There is a covered final drive housing, where the variator, belt, rear pully, and centrifugal clutch would be. There is no sprocket attached to the rear wheel, rather a housing where the enclosed final drive gearbox resides. Even more obvious is that the engine and transmission are integral to the swing arm, instead of being frame mounted. This is all classic CVT scooter design.