insured

From its inception, the
Madass always promised
a heady mix of BMX
and real motorcycle.
The potential for the
design looked both
promising and exciting
in equal measures.
The trouble is, despite
looking aggressive and
quite the crazy thing,
the Madass in standard
form is about as exciting
to ride as a clapped
out, end of season,
Skegness donkey.
Some pretty drastic
measures are called
for – especially if
you have recently
turned 17 and the
Madass is your only
form of transport.
Luckily the owner of this particular
Madass, apprentice electrician Ashley
Smith, lives just outside Leamington Spa,
a picturesque town that is also the
unlikely home of Monkeybikes UK. This
shop is a real haven for all things small
and Honda powered. They have
impressive stocks of the parts required to
pep up anything that uses the ubiquitous
single overhead cam Honda C50/70/90
based unit and considerable knowledge
on exactly how to do it. Looking around
the comprehensively stocked shop
Ashley soon became inspired enough to
begin work on his machine.
Originally sticking with the basic
Madass engine, first of all a larger carb
MADASS120
SACHS
was bolted in place giving an extra
10mph to the top end speed. But this
soon became the norm and Ashley
hungered for more. Thankfully the
motorcycle revolution currently
expanding in far off China has provided
a cheap supply of complete well-made
engines. By fitting the one of these, a
Zongshen 120cc power plant, the
Madass can be transformed from its
subdued and almost pathetic
performance into a real eye opener.
Thankfully this is the route that Ashley
finally chose to follow. OK, it still won’t
wheelie off the throttle, the chassis is
too front end biased to ever allow any
decent sustained front wheel lofting
(even with the increase in power
currently experienced), but the
acceleration and top speed are totally
transformed.
Easily reaching 60mph-plus with the
correct gearing, the newly transplanted
Sachs is a real flyer, easily chasing the
camera car down a twisty B road in a
way only dreamt of by the original 50cc
Madass. Unlike the small diameter highrise
system seen on the standard
Madass, the exhaust is a fully liberated
and chest throbbing system from Japan.
Originally intended for a full power
Words: CP
Pics: Stevie P
monkey bike this fully chromed and
aluminium end canned ‘zorst’ is easily
adapted to the larger frame of the
Madass (just requiring a single
supporting piece running from under the
seat to the silencer for extra strength).
This creates sounds far louder than
such a machine should produce, making
a very musical sound with every thump
of the big bore engine.
A freer revving CDI unit has also been
fitted to bypass the restrictive ignition
fitted as standard to the Madass. This in
turn allows the engine to spin up and
produce around four times the output of
the standard machine. Torque is way
higher too, making gear shifts less of an
issue and providing a good strong
32 NOVEMBER 05