Hey, hey we’re on Monkeys... eleven-day minibike adventure in the name of men’s health

Most normal folk choose something like a BMW GS for 2500-mile tours of the UK spread across the best part of two weeks… but not Dean Lambert and his merry band of Honda Monkey enthusiasts. 

Dean, from Leigh in Greater Manchester, set up The Monkey Revolution Facebook page in early 2022 for fans of the Honda Monkey bike and it now has more than 1300 members. Sadly, they won’t all be going on the trip but he will be setting off alongside three others to visit locations across England and Scotland – pitching his tent in the gardens of online group members.

“I bought a Monkey four years ago and it’s rekindled my love for biking,” Dean told MCN. “I wanted to do something for men’s mental health because we don’t talk enough as men. We don’t open up. 

“I had issues in December. It was the first time that’d happened, and it knocked me for six. I found that talking to people really helped – especially in this small biking community that I’d built up.”

With Dean riding his CT125 on the trip alongside two Monkeys and a Honda Grom, the quartet will leave the Manchester area and ride down to the Isle of Wight. From there, it’s onto Stonehenge and then Land’s End in Cornwall. Then it’s a ride up the UK to John O’Groats, before a lap of the North Coast 500, and then back down again via Edinburgh and Northumbria.

“The bikes will cope with the trip, no problem,” Dean added. “I used to have a BMW R1200GS Adventure and I maybe went to Starbucks a few times, and Matlock, but that was about it. But these are really robust little bikes.”

The group will be joined for sections by a number of riders and aim to use the trip to encourage guys to open up about their mental health. They will also be raising funds for charity Andy’s Man Club, who offer free-to-attend support groups across the UK and online.

You can donate via The Monkey Revolution Just Giving page.