Minibikes in the 60's

In contrary to getting fame with their fast racing bikes, Honda also invested money in creating little motorbikes for their own park. It was back in 1961 that a curious mini-motorcycle was seen "putting" around Honda's "Tama Tech" amusement park in Japan and as the vehicle for leisure at the Suzuka circuit.

One of the most popular rides in the park was the Z100, a cute little minibike which was loved by many kids. The Z100 sported a red frame under a white gas tank, tiny 5-inch tires and a peppy 50cc engine. Riders were said to appear, of all things, simian, and henceforth the motorcycle came to be known as the Honda Monkey. Looking more like a toy than a motorcycle, the compactness and fresh appearance of the Monkey scored high with fans of all ages.

Due to its succes, Honda revamped the Z100 park version for use on public roads, and brought out the CZ100 model, which began to be exported, just in small series, in 1963. The engine was from the SuperCub C100, the tank and the seat were taken from the sport Cub C111.
Until 1966 there were just some minor modifications to this bike. In 1967 the CZ100 got a mayor change. Later that year its name changed into Honda Z50M. The Z50M was the first model to be marketed in Japan. the Monkey could be easily stowed on a car, truck or mobile home, or even aboard a boat. Complete portability and attractive finish came with the Monkey Z50M, which featured fold-down handlebars and a retracting seat. This version was also the first one equipped with the newer Cub engine with the camshaft placed in the cilinderhead instead of beneath the crankshaft.

Later on in 1969 Honda launched the Honda Z50Z, the Japanese version of the common A series, which were sold to the US and Europe. This Z version was only sold in Japan, had a removable frontfork for easier transportation and lighting for street use.

The A series also launched in 1969 was called "Mini Trail" in the US and "Monkey" in the rest of the world. The first US serie, also calles K0, was produced for the off-road market only. It was therefore not equipped with a lighting system. There were some slight differences between the up following series between the Us and European versions like a bigger headlight and turn signal indicators on the "Monkey" version. Every changed version was marked with a K. they did this almost every year with the monkey and mini trail. The K0 was followed up by the K1, K2, K3 etc.

In the US they kept on calling the minitrail the Z50A and build this version until the K6, while the monkey was changed from Z50A K3 into Z50J in 1973.
Almost every year Honda launched a new series of the Z50J with 3 different models, mostly different in colour scheme and decals. Besides the Monkey versions Z50J-I and Z50J-II, Honda also launched the Z50J-III with a larger fuel tank and 4 speed manual clutch, also called the Gorilla. Honda produced the monkey with minor modifications untill 1999 in large numbers and at this moment the Monkey is still produced every year in small numbers for special editions to keep up tradition for collectors and monkey maniacs.

Because the Z50A series for the US market in 1970 were street legal, Honda also produced the QA50. This lightbuild model was specially designed for off-road use because of the lack of lighting. The QA50 was only build for 5 years untill the K3 version in 1975.