Let’s say you’ve got a Honda Monkey, and let’s say you love riding it (but I repeat myself). Even if you absolutely adore it, would you want to ride it all the way around the U.K.? Most likely, some people would, and some people wouldn’t--but in any case, if you want to see someone else do it, YouTuber Helmet Head recently undertook this journey on his little yellow Monkey in 2022.
He set his official starting point in the beachside town of Hunstanton in Norfolk, and then started riding up north, rain or shine. In fact, the first day of his journey was absolutely pouring down rain nearly the entire time, which left him totally soaked and was interfering with his ability to charge his phone. That was a definite problem, since he was also using that phone for navigation—but despite the setbacks, he did eventually get it sorted out well enough to continue.
Along the way, he’s been posting on all his social media channels—and this video goes to show one of the most amazing things about the moto community. Now, Helmet Head is traveling with a support vehicle—but he still has a whole lot of equipment that he needs in the hard Givi top case he has mounted to a rear rack on his Monkey. Also, that case serves as a nice impromptu backrest when he needs it, which comes in handy. So, the fact that the rack started to bend under the additional strain from road vibrations was worrying for some very obvious reasons.
That’s where the local moto community in Scotland (where he was riding at the time) came to the rescue, though. See, he’d posted a request for help on his Facebook page, where there’s an active community following his journey. A local man named Rory roped a friend with welding skills and equipment into helping Helmet Head out with some reinforcements while the man himself took a wee break and took a tour of the Davidson Legacy Cottage.
As it turned out, Rory’s married to one of the Davidson Legacy Preservation Group members, who participated in giving the tour—so it’s a family affair. Unfortunately, bad weather recently has caused some water damage to the Davidson Cottage, and they’re currently looking for help from local construction firms to fix things up before it gets any worse. (We’ll include a link to their Facebook page, where they’ve made this request, in our Sources if you can help out.)
It’s an epic journey, made even more epic by the fact that bike people can be so incredibly kind and helpful to a fellow rider traveling through their area. If you want to follow Helmet Head’s journey, he’s posting videos regularly from this adventure on his YouTube channel.
Gallery: 2023 Honda Monkey - Europe
