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Rusty Stitches commission – Honda Monkey Z50 by Moto Adonis

Adnane Bensalah — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 11:51:15 +0000

The Monkey and the Ape

By now you should have a pretty good idea about who Rusty Stitches are and what they are all about. They are the David to the motorcycle riding gear industry’s Goliath. And they’ve been growing recently…fast! Although their mascot is a big hairy ape, the Rusty Stitches management team thought it would be a good idea if the giant ape had its own ride. And what better bike to start with than a Honda Monkey!

If you want to get technical about the difference between a monkey and an ape; a monkey has a tail and is relatively small by size, and an ape has no tail and can grow much larger than a monkey. This is the story of the ape and the monkey!

The Honda Monkey was first introduced to the public in 1961, after increasing popularity as a children’s ride at a Japanese amusements park. Originally it was a 100cc minibike called the Z100 but quickly gained popularity amongst people in its 50cc trim as the Z50 a.k.a. “the Monkey”. Not a bad name considering it is one of Honda’s longest produced models in the company’s history. We’re not going to bore you with performance specs. What we can say is that people who owned them, loved them! It was an ideal vehicle to take on a trailer or on a camper. It’s lightweight, small, frugal with fuel, and easy to work on.

Cult status

The Honda Monkey has gained something of a cult status. In 2018 the late Beatles singer John Lennon’s old Honda Monkey Z50 was auction for a whopping $80,000! Not bad for a bike that initially cost about $250. What also increased the popularity of the Monkey is the availability of aftermarket parts. You can turn a standard 50cc Monkey into a fire-breathing, tire smoking, little ripper, capable of serious speeds.

Moto Adonis

This is where part 2 of the story begins. Enter: Moto Adonis. The Dutch based team consisting of Arthur Renkema and Job Leussink have been dabbling in the world of customization for some time now. As far as Rusty Stitches were concerned, Moto Adonis the go-to guys to get their custom Honda Monkey built. It was clear from the beginning which direction they wanted to go with this little bike. It had to look a lot meaner than the original Monkey, and they knew exactly how they were going to do that.

The little Honda got stripped of all its parts and received a complete rebuild from the ground up. One thing that wasn’t changed was the engine displacement. The reason for this was that the Honda will serve a promotional purpose only, travelling around to various Rusty Stitches dealerships and motorcycle shows. Besides, increasing the displacement would also mean going through a series of mandatory tests and complete re-registration; quite pointless for what is intended. What the engine did receive was a dry-ice vapor blast treatment, and a complete respray in black and white. Other than that, very little was kept of the original Monkey.

The original wheels were removed and saved for later. Instead, a pair of 12” oversized wheels were added with Maxxis NSR knobbly tires. To accommodate for the wheels, the front shocks were replaced as well as the triple clamps for wider units. Both front and rear shocks now have an increased travel. A round LED headlight was mounted using a unique set of custom brackets. Using an LED light was made possible by upgrading the original 6 Volts system to a more modern 12V power supply. A black aluminium handlebar is now in place, coupled with a beautiful set of white Biltwell grips to stay with the black & white theme. The front brake has been beefed up with a 2-piston caliper and bigger disk brake.

More than just a few parts…

Moving to the rear we can see an extended and widened aluminium swing arm. The little drum brake from the rear has also been replaced with a 2-piston disk brake conversion kit. The final drive was changed to a bigger rear sprocket. The subframe has been custom built and houses a café racer style hump seat. The seat has been custom made by Miller Kustom Upholstery. Look closely and you will notice the white stitching and lettering. We love such craftsmanship! It is worth mentioning that the entire rear seat was built from scratch.

There are 2 other real eye-catchers on this little Monkey: the tank and the exhaust. Let’s start with the tank. It is the original Honda tank but it received a fresh coat of black paint. What makes it special though, is the pin-striping that was applied by hand; an art form we don’t see much anymore. It was done by Huid & Staal’s very own Frank Bouwmeester. The other eye-catcher is the exhaust system, which was built from the ground up by MAD Exhausts. We have heard this Monkey in real life, and it sounds more like a Gorilla than a Monkey!

Trailer

That’s it then, right? Wrong. Remember the original wheels that were saved for later? They were repurposed to be used on a custom-made trailer. Built to resemble a giant banana box, the trailer was completely built from nothing to serve as a prop. That also means that the Monkey has a trailer hitch, and we think that it’s the cutest thing we have ever seen. The little engine that could…

Photo credits: Rob Willemsen

Builder details:
Moto Adonis
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BMW R80 “BIG dude” by Moto Adonis

Adnane Bensalah — Thu, 23 Dec 2021 08:00:23 +0000

Moto Adonis
We have seen a couple of incredible builds from the workshop of Moto Adonis. The Dutch builders, which consists out of Arthur Renkema and Job Leussink, have been busy the last couple of years. Who remembers the menacing Harley Davidson LiveWire? Or the BMW RnineT Girder? Only a few months later, they’ve already announced the culmination of 2 more projects. One of which is the BMW R80 dubbed “BIG Dude”, the bike we will be discussing further below.

Popular Bike
In all honesty, we can list the factory bike specs here again, but that would be pointless at this stage. Yes, the BMW R80 is probably the most popular motorcycle to use as a base bike for a myriad of projects. Be it a café racer, scrambler, tracker or even a resto-mod; there is something about the simplicity of the airheads that inspires creativity. But there is more to it than that. The overall build quality and availability of new parts, considering the fact that these aren’t new motorcycles, inspires confidence.

Project “BIG Dude”
It was no different with this build. A customer called the workshop and asked a simple question: “Can you build me a BMW R80 Scrambler?”. The answer Arthur and Job had for him was “Sure!”. All seemed fine, until the customer paid them a visit. It became clear that they needed to take a few things into consideration. The “biggest” one being the customer’s size. The dude was bigger than most BMW riders, measuring in at 2 meters, the builders knew that they had o make some serious modifications to allow for a bigger rider to enjoy the ride. Hence the name “BIG Dude”

A few ground rules were set before the project started. The most important one being the motorcycle had to be comfortable to ride, without making it look like he was riding a kid’s bicycle. This is a problem many riders face, and of the reasons why big guys ride big bikes. And let’s be honest, most café racers, scramblers and trackers look quite petit.

Taller is Better
The modification was made to the rear subframe. It got chopped away, and a new subframe was fabricated with 2 things in mind: it had to be minimalistic, and it had to raise the rear a bit higher. It goes without saying that the complete subframe had to be very strong to deal with the weight of the rider under all conditions. A taller rear shock was added, as well as a taller front suspension, only to increase the overall height of the BMW. One of the benefits of adding the taller front forks, which are upside down, is that they can accommodate for double disc brakes. Not a luxury considering the projects aim.

Modifications
On the subframe sits a new custom-made seat, courtesy of Miller Kustom Upholstery, with built-in taillight, finished in a beautiful brown leather. Moto Adonis has collaborated with MAD Exhausts before, and they have yet again provided the crew with a one-off custom exhaust. A bunch of off-the-shelve gear has been used to enhance the riding experience. A Motogadget m.unit has been adopted to simply electrics. An Acewell speedo provides all the critical info, while we also spotted a set of mo.blaze bar-end indicators on the handlebar together with a set of bar-end mirrors. The original BMW cookie-cutter wheels got a new layer of black glossy paint, and are now wrapped in Continental TKC80 rubber to add function to the form. The matt black color with white stripes brings everything together.

Happy owner
Like all custom-built motorcycles, they are built in the image of its creator. This particular R80 was built with a very specific goal in mind. Its new owner is very pleased with his scrambler, and we can clearly see why. The BMW looks great; the Moto Adonis team can be proud of how this turned out.

Photos: Lennart Stolte

Builder details:
Moto Adonis
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BMW R NineT ‘The Girder’ by Moto Adonis

Adnane Bensalah — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 16:43:38 +0000

Moto Adonis
This is a story about a motorcycle we saw some time ago when we last visited the workshop of Moto Adonis in the Netherlands. Back then we were covering their immaculate Harley-Davidson LiveWire project. What Arthur Renkema (owner) told us back then, was that the same customer who had commissioned the HD LiveWire build, also ordered the build of a unique BMW R NineT. We feel that the R NineT needs no further introduction. The men of Moto Adonis, which also includes Job Leussink and Daan Borsje, were given a “carte blanche” to build something after their imagination. And oh boy did they deliver! We weren’t allowed to film or take photographs of the bike back then, however, we are proud to share this build with you now that it has been received by its owner. Artistic freedom
The wildest thing you can do to a custom bike builder is to do what they want. For the bike builder it can be great having all the artistic freedom in the world. At the same time, it could be that the results might be different than what the customer was expecting. Like a knife that cuts on both ends. Tricky, but not impossible. The only real wish from the owner was that it needed to be capable of being ridden hard. That’s it. Lean and mean
The idea to build something that looked mean and futuristic came to mind, kind of like with the HD LiveWire they built for the same customer. So, the team designed a custom girder fork, in-house. With some help from fellow builders and friends at Wimoto, the geometry got sorted. The fork got a Wilbers treatment, as did the rear shock, to make the R NineT handle like a dream. An interesting fact is that the new girder fork weighs a whopping 10 kilograms less than the stock forks! Not only that, there’s also the added bonus of seeing the insane set-up “work” while riding, very satisfying indeed. Cardboard and tape
The fuel tank and body panels are all handmade from aluminium. But before that was made, a lot of cardboard, tape, and buckets full of coffee were consumed before the final design was made. A neat and not so uncommon method to model parts before the bending of metal takes place. As a matter of fact, a number of tank designs were made before a permanent decision was made. This ties into the company’s motto: If it could be better, you should make it better! Head to tail
Once the overall lines were set, the next step was taken, which involved a lot of metal working: bending, welding, and grinding. A Motogadget speedo take residence in the fuel tank, to keep the triple clamp clean and free of distractions. Another neat feature that immediately caught our eyes is that beautifully sculpted tail section. Completely handmade, obviously, but when you look closer, the details are actually quite impressive. From the custom leather seat, made by Miller Kustom Upholstery, to the one-off, clear LED tail lights. This would be the right time to mention that ‘The Girder’ as the bike is called, had LED lights all around. Box exhaust for the boxer
Right underneath the modified subframe, a custom, stainless steel exhaust system is neatly seated, with a pair of very rectangular mufflers, curtesy of MAD exhausts. We’re heard this BMW run in real-life and were surprised the learn that the R NineT actually sounds really modest. The exhaust was made with ride-ability in mind, which explains the docile sound. You don’t want the ‘popo’ stopping you every minute. However, exhaust does come with a pair of removable db-killers, for when you really want a big smile on your face. Any color, as long as it is black!
Henry Ford, the founder of Ford automobiles once said that you could buy a Ford in any colour, as long as it was black. There’s a reason for that, one of them was that it makes anything look impressive. What Henry probably didn’t think of, was how challenging it is to pick the right kind of black! Gloss, semi-gloss, matt, metallic; the choices are overwhelming sometimes. It doesn’t help that the body has some very sharp edges. We think they chose the perfect color for this mean looking bike. The results of this project speak for themselves: this is one futuristic looking scrambler, unlike anything we have ever seen before, and that says a lot! Moto Adonis are really proud of how this BMW R NineT turned out, and rightfully so. They have been building custom motorcycles since 2012, but with this one, they just upped their game.

Photos: Mark Meisner
Video: Deep bold studio

Builder details:
Moto Adonis
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