I'm not mad about Honda's new Monkey bike, due to its styling being a lazy mining of history to try tap into residual fondness for the original. Is retro ever going to run out of steam? I'm far more interested in the 21st century Honda Monkey, the Grom, aka MSX125. But, but, but... I love what French custom company VIBA have done with the new Monkey, and the more I read about it the more I liked it. The core of the bike is stock Honda, but what isn't standard is revolutionary

The world famous Motor Bike Expo (MBE) in Verona is coming up fast. One of the top custom shows in the world, over the years, as styles have changed, its star guests have turned from those of a fat tyre persuasion to those more in step with a Sideburn outlook. For 2019, MBE have announced gentleman alchemist Shinya Kimura will be in attendance. The show takes place from 17-19 January. Describing their special guest, the MBE press release says... 'Kimura’s motorcycles are scul