If you’re a Honda Monkey lover, then chances are good that even from afar, you’ll appreciate the vast array of custom Honda Monkeys that showed up to Monkey Meeting 2023. The event was held in Tokyo in April, and as you’ll see in Monkey Heaven’s video, the span of Monkeys in attendance is quite large.
From Monkey Davidsons to Monkey Baja Africa builds to café racers, there’s just about every kind of Monkey you could ever want to see, all in one place. There are also all the things that you’d reasonably expect from a decent moto gathering, including at least one good live band, plenty of merch, food options, and plenty of seating for those attending.
The weather was nice, and everyone there appeared to be in hoodies, light jackets, or shirt sleeves. According to Monkey Heaven, the weather wasn’t nearly as nice last year—and if you’re having an outdoor show, that can make all the difference in the world. (On the other hand, if you get spectacularly terrible weather, then you have the handful of folks who brave the storm gaining bragging rights—I've been to more than one show like that, though sadly not comprised of a vast selection of Monkeys.)
Overall, it seemed like a chill crowd, just Monkey enthusiasts vibing with other Monkey enthusiasts, all enjoying a nice time with each other’s bikes on display. When it came time to hand out the awards, to Monkey Heaven’s surprise, it turned out that his very lightly modified bike (basically just with some high-mount scrambler pipes installed) had won an SP Takegawa prize pack. He received a baseball cap with questionably useful drop-down sunglasses, a T-shirt, and a mystery shopping bag with a Honda logo on it.
The turnout seemed better than last year, but that’s probably to be expected. As different places bounce back from the global pandemic, outdoor events like this one seem to be showing greater attendance than they might have done in recent time, even just prior to the pandemic. Do you have any fantastic bike gatherings that you’re looking forward to attending in the coming months? Let us know in the comments!
