[PensacolaMonkey]

I know people who would gladly pay more than normal for a yellow Monkey. They are a unicorn right now. I don't think there is a single one for sale in the whole US. If I had one I'd be asking around $5500...and someone would buy it.

 

[parillamilt]

There's one for sale north of Bakersfield, CA

2019 Honda monkey - antiques - by owner - collectibles sale

2019 Clean collector Honda monkey So much fun. Low miles only 75 miles. Hard to find yellow! Tags are good for a year. $4800

visalia.craigslist.org

The ad has been up for almost a month though.
A dealer in NC has a new one for $4,400

2019 Honda Monkey in Hendersonville, North Carolina

CAN'T FIND A YELLOW MONKEY?? DON'T MISS IT! ONLY ONE UNIT LEFT IN STOCK! CALL TODAY FOR COMPLETE PURCHASE DETAILS. 828-693-4101. Let’s take a look back at our family tree: One of the best-loved Hondas of all time, the original Monkey was a 1960’s hit, and it’s easy to see why. That little...

schroaders.com

 

[PensacolaMonkey]

There's one for sale north of Bakersfield, CA

2019 Honda monkey - antiques - by owner - collectibles sale

2019 Clean collector Honda monkey So much fun. Low miles only 75 miles. Hard to find yellow! Tags are good for a year. $4800

visalia.craigslist.org

The ad has been up for almost a month though.
A dealer in NC has a new one for $4,400

2019 Honda Monkey in Hendersonville, North Carolina

CAN'T FIND A YELLOW MONKEY?? DON'T MISS IT! ONLY ONE UNIT LEFT IN STOCK! CALL TODAY FOR COMPLETE PURCHASE DETAILS. 828-693-4101. Let’s take a look back at our family tree: One of the best-loved Hondas of all time, the original Monkey was a 1960’s hit, and it’s easy to see why. That little...

schroaders.com

That one in NC is gone. My friend was ready to drive up there from Pensacola, but it sold. I'll have to tell him about that one in California. Thanks.

 

[the monkeyman]

I know people who would gladly pay more than normal for a yellow Monkey. They are a unicorn right now. I don't think there is a single one for sale in the whole US. If I had one I'd be asking around $5500...and someone would buy it.

OK, I'LL part with mine for that price.

I know people who would gladly pay more than normal for a yellow Monkey. They are a unicorn right now. I don't think there is a single one for sale in the whole US. If I had one I'd be asking around $5500...and someone would buy it.

OK,I will part with my yellow for $5500. Western NY 780 miles like new with rack, spools and stand. Stored in my living room.

 

[Uneasy Rider]

$5,500 is nuts, if anyone actually pays that. I know these are bikes are desirable—I held out for a yellow one myself.

But as a reality check: I paid $4,500 for a mint, low-miles bike late last year, with Öhlins on both ends and a bunch of other tasteful mods—in California where things are supposedly ungodly-expensive all the time (or so I've been told by plenty of people outside the state). For comparison, I also bought a zero-miles red ABS one about a month later for $4,300.

It's not impossible to find one. Set up Craigslist alerts and be first in line when one pops up.

 

[PensacolaMonkey]

$5,500 is nuts, if anyone actually pays that. I know these are bikes are desirable—I held out for a yellow one myself.

But as a reality check: I paid $4,500 for a mint, low-miles bike late last year, with Öhlins on both ends and a bunch of other tasteful mods—in California where things are supposedly ungodly-expensive all the time (or so I've been told by plenty of people outside the state). For comparison, I also bought a zero-miles red ABS one about a month later for $4,300.

It's not impossible to find one. Set up Craigslist alerts and be first in line when one pops up.

I know two guys here who would pay quite a bit for a yellow Monkey. Monkeys in general are very rare around here. Dealerships are sold out. It's crazy. The rarity of the yellow will increase the value. Hopefully newer models will introduce new colors.

 

[Uneasy Rider]

I know two guys here who would pay quite a bit for a yellow Monkey. Monkeys in general are very rare around here. Dealerships are sold out. It's crazy. The rarity of the yellow will increase the value. Hopefully newer models will introduce new colors.

Yep, understood. I spoke with a contact at Honda USA in early 2020 before giving up on finding a new one. There were no yellow ones left at that time in California. The yellow one is a 2019 model, and it's 2021. Not unheard of to still be a few at dealers, but extremely rare for a desirable model as opposed to say, a VFR1200X.

The point is, it's essentially a used bike search at this point. The fate of many Monkeys is an exuberant purchase followed by very little riding, thus the low mileage of bikes that come up for sale. Yellow ones will show up this way, and yes, they're rare, but is that rarity worth $1,500 (at your $5,500 number) or more on top of what one would pay for a red one? The "rarity" does increase the value to some buyers, sure, but as we can see in this very thread, mid-$5k numbers are largely scoffed at, even if your bros claim they'd pay "quite a bit," whatever that is in dollars. We're not going to see near-$6k standard pricing on yellow Monkeys, especially as more of the folks who bought out of nostalgia get tired of paying registration and insurance on a machine that doesn't move that often, if at all.

Update: I found two on CycleTrader without even looking that hard (without using the structured search). One is listed for $3,498, the other for $4,000.

 

[parillamilt]

I got the impression that the guy "selling" his yellow at $5,500 was just his price to walk away from it. I didn't think he was actively trying to sell it.

 

[PensacolaMonkey]

Yep, understood. I spoke with a contact at Honda USA in early 2020 before giving up on finding a new one. There were no yellow ones left at that time in California. The yellow one is a 2019 model, and it's 2021. Not unheard of to still be a few at dealers, but extremely rare for a desirable model as opposed to say, a VFR1200X.

The point is, it's essentially a used bike search at this point. The fate of many Monkeys is an exuberant purchase followed by very little riding, thus the low mileage of bikes that come up for sale. Yellow ones will show up this way, and yes, they're rare, but is that rarity worth $1,500 (at your $5,500 number) or more on top of what one would pay for a red one? The "rarity" does increase the value to some buyers, sure, but as we can see in this very thread, mid-$5k numbers are largely scoffed at, even if your bros claim they'd pay "quite a bit," whatever that is in dollars. We're not going to see near-$6k standard pricing on yellow Monkeys, especially as more of the folks who bought out of nostalgia get tired of paying registration and insurance on a machine that doesn't move that often, if at all.

Update: I found two on CycleTrader without even looking that hard (without using the structured search). One is listed for $3,498, the other for $4,000.

View attachment 89375
View attachment 89376

All good points, but for an enthusiast who absolutely must have a yellow one, the extra cost is negligible. Most people who buy motorcycles hardly ever ride them anyway. Here in the Florida panhandle, it is hard to find a Monkey to start with. The dealerships are sold out and very few on the market used (I had to drive two hours north into Alabama to get my used blue one). Is it a sensible purchase to pay way over normal market value for what is essentially an expensive toy? No. But enthusiasts are known for doing irrational things to get what they want.

My other hobby is collecting watches. I have about 30 in my collection ranging from $125 to $1800. Some of those dudes I associate with in the watch groups think nothing of dropping $10,000+ on a particular watch simply because it has the rare red blip on the end of the hour hand or the 25 jewel movement instead of the regular 17. Crazy stuff, but enthusiasts do crazy things.

 

[Uneasy Rider]

All good points, but for an enthusiast who absolutely must have a yellow one, the extra cost is negligible. Most people who buy motorcycles hardly ever ride them anyway. Here in the Florida panhandle, it is hard to find a Monkey to start with. The dealerships are sold out and very few on the market used (I had to drive two hours north into Alabama to get my used blue one). Is it a sensible purchase to pay way over normal market value for what is essentially an expensive toy? No. But enthusiasts are known for doing irrational things to get what they want.

My other hobby is collecting watches. I have about 30 in my collection ranging from $125 to $1800. Some of those dudes I associate with in the watch groups think nothing of dropping $10,000+ on a particular watch simply because it has the rare red blip on the end of the hour hand or the 25 jewel movement instead of the regular 17. Crazy stuff, but enthusiasts do crazy things.

Dude, you don't need to keep man-to-mansplaining the same point. 😁 I'm a former industry guy and understand pricing, demand, and enthusiasts' questionable decision-making quite well.

My point, again, is that the occasional stupid-high purchase price from someone who just has to have a yellow bike doesn't mean yellow Monkeys prices sustaining at those stupid-high levels as you have suggested. This is supported by the bikes I posted above, one of which is in Florida where your pals are supposedly willing to pay dearly for the privilege of a yellow Monkey.

Further, despite you having posted about the lack of Monkeys in Florida and your bros' desires for yellow ones several times now, a teensy bit of investigation shows plenty of Monkeys in your state. Monkeys aren't really that rare in Florida: a search on Cycle Trader for Monkeys within 250 miles of Tampa returns 79 results, many at the supposedly-sold-out dealers. A quick skim of these results reveals a handful of yellow ones, including a pretty sweet-looking private party one with Öhlins shocks and a Yosh pipe listed at $4,000. Yes, dealers sometimes list bikes with the wrong color or that aren't actually in the shop yet, but certainly at least some of these bikes actually exist in Florida.

So if your bros are feeling froggy, there are bikes to jump on for just $4k. Unless, of course, they're just talking, which in addition to not actually riding, is another thing so-called enthusiasts love to do.

 

[PensacolaMonkey]

Dude, you don't need to keep man-to-mansplaining the same point. 😁 I'm a former industry guy and understand pricing, demand, and enthusiasts' questionable decision-making quite well.

My point, again, is that the occasional stupid-high purchase price from someone who just has to have a yellow bike doesn't mean yellow Monkeys prices sustaining at those stupid-high levels as you have suggested. This is supported by the bikes I posted above, one of which is in Florida where your pals are supposedly willing to pay dearly for the privilege of a yellow Monkey.

Further, despite you having posted about the lack of Monkeys in Florida and your bros' desires for yellow ones several times now, a teensy bit of investigation shows plenty of Monkeys in your state. Monkeys aren't really that rare in Florida: a search on Cycle Trader for Monkeys within 250 miles of Tampa returns 79 results, many at the supposedly-sold-out dealers. A quick skim of these results reveals a handful of yellow ones, including a pretty sweet-looking private party one with Öhlins shocks and a Yosh pipe listed at $4,000. Yes, dealers sometimes list bikes with the wrong color or that aren't actually in the shop yet, but certainly at least some of these bikes actually exist in Florida.

So if your bros are feeling froggy, there are bikes to jump on for just $4k. Unless, of course, they're just talking, which in addition to not actually riding, is another thing so-called enthusiasts love to do.

View attachment 89377

Those ones you posted earlier are gone. Gone weeks ago. My buddy already called the dealership in St. Pete and they laughed. Just because you see an add on Cycle trader doesn't mean it's actually available. No need to get bitter and upset about anything. My point is where I live they are difficult to find. The dealerships are sold out, and when they get a couple in stock they sell almost immediately. Not sure why you take offense to any of this or feel like you have to try to prove me wrong.

 

[Uneasy Rider]

Who's bitter and upset? Not me, amigo.

I'm not trying to prove you wrong—I commented about the ridiculous pricing being discussed here with some additional, factual background. You took an I'm-so-authoritative tone, I responded with some more facts and sources. Sorry if that bums you out, but your conspicuous humble-bragging about your friends' yellow Monkey budgets and your repetitive pseudo-analysis of Monkey market pricing trends doesn't trump actual listed prices and purchases.

By the way, the yellow one with the Ohlins and Yosh that I posted earlier? The CycleTrader listing is a day old, so I'm not sure how it could be "gone weeks ago." Also, you may not realize this but you can gauge demand by the view and save counts on those listings. It's a helpful tool in better understanding how hard it'll be to compete for a bike. That one has been viewed just seven times even after being linked from here, and has zero saves. It's $4,000. To nicely bring this back to my original statement, paying $5,500 for a bike that can be bought for $4,000 is silly, no matter what your friends say.

 

[PensacolaMonkey]

Update - after calling every single yellow monkey ad in the entire south east for the last three weeks only to be told that it sold immediately, my buddy finally found one in South Carolina late Tuesday afternoon. I found the ad on Cycletrader that had just popped up and forwarded it to my buddy. He called immediately and told the guy we would be there tomorrow to get it. The next morning at 6am he and I were on the road. Its about 520 miles from Pensacola to Beaufort, SC. Got there around 2pm, picked up the bike for an absurdly low price (he was selling it and his new Goldwing and Yamaha VMax to buy an airplane, I don't think he did much research on Monkey values). He thought we were a bit crazy to come all that way just for this little motorcycle. A few hours later on our way home he texted my friend and said we were lucky we came when we did because he had received 11 offers just since we picked it up. We didn't get home till 11pm. It was a long day, but worth it. The bike is absolutely mint. You could put it in a dealership and sell for new and nobody would know other than the 300 miles on the odometer. My friend is giddy like a child over his new yellow Monkey. I guess the moral of the story is if you are seriously looking for a yellow one, you need to be prepared to travel immediately.

 

[Ninelives17]

Congratulations, memories made. Hopefully many more Monkey memories to come!