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During the 70's and 80's Honda released their Z-series motorcycles which were powered by 49cc engines. If you don't know what cc's are, "cc" is the size of an engine in cubic centimeters, not to be confused with horsepower measurement. Essentially, the larger the cc number, the bigger the motorcycle. Being a 49cc engine, these motorcycles were like toys in size. Spectators would comment that these z riders looked like monkeys hence, "Honda Monkey" became its official name.

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The Monkey, also known as the Z50, was imported to the U.S. in 1968. Fast forward after years of refining, adding parts to make this bike street-legal, and discontinues in production, the Honda Grom was released in 2014 which was a more sporty version and durable modern evolution of the Monkey. It was not until recently in 2018 did Honda revive the Monkey once again with LEDs and digital instruments.

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https://www.motorcycle.com/how-to/what-the-heck-is-a-monkey-bike

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