HONDA MONKEY BIKE - Full Restoration and Transformation Z50 J1

A complete restoration of a classic 1976 Honda Z50 J1 Monkey Bike from beginning to end. See the transformation of this iconic little motorbike from an old tired rust bucket to a time warp rolling off the production line beauty. The bike was originally made in Japan but was a French import model. From France the bike was imported in the early 80's to the U.K. where it was used for many years by a family in Cornwall. After the grandkids grew up the bike was retired to the back of a shed to get rusty and collect dust. After some back and forth with the previous owner I finally took ownership of the bike in 2016 and went about giving it the care and attention it sorely deserved. After the bike was completely stripped and everything that could be kept and restored was sorted out I went about sourcing every possible NOS or new Honda parts or if it wasn't available using the best quality OEM parts. The frame was media blasted and powder coated to its original black. For longevity I decided to powder coat the tank and forks so the powder coaters sourced the correct yellow and that was the route I went with that. The engine casings and any other alloy parts were vapour blasted by OLIMAT vapour blasting in Glasgow Scotland, hence the reason they all look brand new. The head was powder coated in high temperature matte black. The engine clutch cover and side cover were both meticulously sanded through all the grits up to the point of using the bench polisher to get them to a mirror finish. There is so much more involved in getting the bike to its final finished state so if you have any questions or would like to know where I get my parts etc please leave a comment.