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Watch Captain Slow reassemble the oddly charming Honda Monkey Z50

17 January, 2017

 

He may be an old bloke from the UK, but James May is a much-loved former automotive presenter of Top Gear, and current presenter of Grand Tour, characterized by doing loud things with powerful cars.

Although often found inside something luxuriously European, ‘Captain Slow’ — as he is referred to by his long-time co-stars Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond — has an unwavering love for Honda motorbikes. Who would have guessed?

This is brought out on The Reassembler, where May trades fast cars and crazy adventures for a backyard shed-esque workspace and the slow slog of putting back together a series of components. 

In the episode below, the vehicle in question is a Honda Z50 Monkey — oddly satisfying to watch if you ask us. There’s something rather charming about watching May transform 303 pieces of Honda engineering to form a well-rounded machine.

Originally created as a kids ride at Honda’s Tama Tech amusement park near Tokyo, it quickly became an unexpected hit with adults, too. The name Monkey stemmed from the resemblance to circus monkeys when perched atop the small bike.

Honda utilized the sales opportunity and developed them for public use. From then on, the Monkey has always had a surprisingly strong following in the UK, and with a host that is equally as fond of such creations, this odd little piece of internet video is pure viewing goodness.

The Great River Road

4 July, 2025

A few years ago my family, knowing my fondness for driving, gave me the book Unforgettable Road Trips: Thirty-Six Drives of a Lifetime by Martin Derrick. Most of the road trips listed take less than a day in places like Scotland, Monaco, and Australia, plus one in New Zealand. Most of these places were too far to go just for a short drive but four of them would take several days. My interest was piqued, and those four drives were added to the bucket list. To date, I have done three of them: ‘Route 66’ (USA 21 days), ‘State Highway 6’ (NZ 10 days) and ‘The Great River Road’ (USA 22 days). You can drive all of them in less time, but you could also fly over them. We wanted a decent immersion in their charms.
The great river referred to is the Mississippi. While the name conjures the deep south, the river actually starts at the bottom of the great lakes, before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico about 3800km later. The great road is more of a concept than a specific strip of tarmac, as you can drive down either side of the river on various routes. Regardless of which side you drive, time should be kept aside for detours to places such as Nashville, which is famous for something or other.

A diamond in the rough

24 June, 2025

Two years ago, Lew finished a thorough restoration and the impressive ute has taken on a new life and colour. Lew plays down the amount of effort required but, despite his protestations, I suspect he put a lot of time into the project. A few unwanted tenants were evicted along the way.
“It didn’t take me long. There had been mice living in the firewall, which had caused a bit of damage. It apparently broke down and was pushed into a shed. It was 20 years to the day when I pulled it out and it sat in my other shed for 3 years before I started on it. That’s why it’s in such good order — it’s been kept in a shed for so long and still is.”