The 1969 Honda Z50 A Monkey Bike was used by the Beatle from 1969 to 1971, and sold for almost double the estimated GBP 30,000 (over Rs. 25 lakh) when it went under the hammer at the National Motorcycle Museum. Lennon used the bike as a runaround in his country house in Surrey, England, and sold it off to Henry Graham in 1971, when the Beatle moved to New York. Graham in turn sold the bike to John Harrington the same year. Harrington had owned the bike for 47 years and displayed it at various shows.
An unddated photograph of John Lennon riding the bike
The bid of GBP 57,500 on March 4 is the highest price ever paid at a public auction for a Honda Monkey bike. The bike was largely unrestored and in original running condition with a mileage of just 1,460 miles (2,360 km) on the odometer. This bike is however, not the first of John Lennon's to be sold at auction. In 2008, a Honda 160Z bike, which was later owned by Ringo Starr, was auctioned for GBP 30,000 (over Rs. 25 lakh), far more than its estimated auction price of GBP 8,000 (Over Rs. 6.5 lakh).
The Honda Z50 A was the second generation of Honda's Z50 series of mini bikes. The mini bike drew its power from a 49 cc, air-cooled, four-stroke overhead cam engine with a three-speed, semi-automatic transmission. The Z50 A was renamed the Z50 J in 1973, and remained in the market in Europe and Japan till 1999. The current Honda Grom or MSX125 is said to draw design inspiration from the1970s Honda Monkey Bike.
