Forget thoughts of Easy Rider, though. The model used by John Lennon to get around his 72-acre Tittenhurst Park estate in Berkshire, where he lived from 1969-71 is a rather smaller beast – with 8in wheels.
H&H Classics hope to sell the Honda Monkey-Trail bike XUC 91H for at least £30,000 at its auction taking place at the National Motorcycle Museum in Solihull, near Birmingham, on March 4.
The motorbike was acquired by John Harington from Henry Graham, of Hook, Hampshire, who at the time was owner of a business in nearby Farnborough: Motor Cycle City, in around 1971.
Graham said that he had bought the motorbike from Lennon, who was living at the time at Tittenhurst Park in Sunningdale, near Ascot.
H&H says Harington, the current vendor, has kept the bike for the past 47 years, since buying it from Graham and has displayed it at various events and shows throughout that time.
Mini power
The Honda Z50A was introduced into the UK market in 1969 where it was also known as the Mini Trail. Mini Trail had the same basic frame as the earlier model, but with front suspension and 8in wheels.
In performance the engine and gearing offered a top speed of something approaching 25mph in top, and singular climbing ability in first gear.
As with any other mini trail, the Z50 A could be lifted over boulders, paddled through sand and turned in a 50in circle, by the simple expedient of grabbing hold of the bike and hefting it around.
