People mover: A Honda Monkey sidecar rig with K-Speed style
K-Speed is quite possibly the world’s most prolific custom motorcycle workshop. The Thai outfit builds bikes at a blistering rate—and while they cover most motorcycle makes, models, and styles, they’re best known for their outrageous custom minibikes. Case in point, this sassy Honda Monkey sidecar rig.
K-Speed is also quick to clarify that they didn’t fabricate the sidecar that runs adjacent to this Honda Monkey bobber. But they did work their magic on the Monkey itself—and then treated the sidecar to an array of custom details to match.
The commission came from a gentleman who had seen K-Speed’s ‘Monkey Bomber’ build and wanted something similar—but with a unique twist. He requested that the shop customize a 2023-model Honda Monkey 125, which he would then take delivery of and have a sidecar fitted to by a third party. Given K-Speed’s stacked order book, the customer called them every month for four months before the shop’s enigmatic owner, Eak, agreed to take the job.
With Monkey Bomber as a blueprint, and K-Speed’s extensive parts catalog to tap into, Eak and his team could have met the client’s request with their eyes closed. But where Monkey Bomber had raked forks, a stretched swingarm, and a wide open exhaust, this Honda Monkey needed a more practical vibe. So refinements had to be made.
Eak started by grabbing a set of forks and rear shocks from K-Speed’s Diabolus collection of Honda minibike-specific parts. But this time, the forks were fitted to clamps with a more reasonable steering head angle. A custom-made swingarm does duty out back.
The OEM 12” wheels were retained and shod with a set of bulbous knobbly tires. They also wear a set of bespoke wheel covers to add more visual heft to the build. (K-Speed is planning to add them to the catalog soon.)
K-Speed kept the Monkey’s original fuel tank but ditched the stock seat and fenders. A new subframe was fabricated, matched to a slightly café racer-esque saddle. Practically-minded readers will surely bemoan the lack of fenders, but we love the raw vibe that their absence creates.
At the opposite end of the bike, the crew installed a set of mini-apes with new grips, bar-end mirrors, and vintage-style switches. The Monkey still uses its factory speedo, but it now sits to the left of the fuel tank by way of a custom-made bracket.
Other accouterments include an LED headlight on custom mounts, Diabolus turn signals, and a swingarm-mounted license plate bracket. The high-mounted exhaust is another one-off part that will likely make it into production. It’s a handsome unit too; a modernized take on the classic Monkey design.
Eak opted for a simple and impactful paint job—a timeless mash-up of gloss black with brown trim. Once that was ticked off the list, the Monkey went off to its owner to be outfitted with its sidecar.
The sidecar alone is almost bigger than the bike that drags it around—but it’s a charming unit nonetheless. The rig includes a 12” wheel that sports the only fender on the whole build, a luggage rack out back, and a side-mounted LED spotlight.
Once the sidecar was attached to the Monkey, the project soon found its way back into K-Speed’s workshop. This time, they were charged with touching up the sidecar to complement some of the Monkey’s finer details. The crew installed the same tire and wheel cover to the rig’s hoop, and re-upholstered the interior to match the bike.
It’s fair to question the sanity of anyone relying on a Honda Monkey to haul around a sidecar and a passenger—especially when you consider that its 125 cc motor pushes out no more than 9.2 hp, with a top speed of 56 mph. But if we were rolling around in a rig this stylish, we sure as heck wouldn’t be in a rush.
K-Speed website | Instagram
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Originally posted on: https://www.bikeexif.com/honda-monkey-sidecar