# Skyteam SkyMax 125 monkey bike



## fatbuddha (Aug 7, 2006)

Having done a fair amount of research on what motorbike/scooter will fit in our rear garage, and having done all the axle load calculations, it would seem that I need to look at as light a bike as possible - sub 100Kg

the Skyteam SkyMax 125 has taken Mrs FB's fancy partly due to it's size (will fit easily with it's drop down bars) and comes in at 78Kg dry weight. I've been in touch with the importer who says it will take the combined weight of 2 of us but best uprated with rear gas shocks to do so.

http://www.skyteammotorcycles.com/motorcycle-range/skymax125/

I realise it has certain limitations but it's not going to get massive use so should suit.

anyone any experience of this monkey bike that they can pass on??


----------



## Mike48 (May 1, 2005)

I'm assuminhg this is partly a joke. But to be serious when I was researching scooters the lightest most practical model was the Honda Innova at around 85kgs. It's a 125cc and you will not look so daft two up as you would on a monkey bike.


----------



## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

> For More Infomation on the SkyMax Accessories see the Accessory Page


There is no accessory page - that I can see.

Is it hidden?


----------



## fatbuddha (Aug 7, 2006)

Mike48 said:


> I'm assuminhg this is partly a joke. But to be serious when I was researching scooters the lightest most practical model was the Honda Innova at around 85kgs. It's a 125cc and you will not look so daft two up as you would on a monkey bike.


not a joke at all - it's a little different! and why shouldn't we look daft??

the Innova is no longer made and it's successor the Wave 110i is now coming in at 99Kg


----------



## fatbuddha (Aug 7, 2006)

Stanner said:


> > For More Infomation on the SkyMax Accessories see the Accessory Page
> 
> 
> There is no accessory page - that I can see.
> ...


errm - probably not - there are no accessories as far as I can establish for this bike but there are for some of the others they offer.


----------



## jeffro (Jan 13, 2009)

*skyteam*

splendid little bike i bought one off ebay about six years ago it was two years old then .Has been all over the place in the garage of my autotrail and has been very reliable .The gearing was a little low so i fitted a larger engine sprocket .it carries my wife and myself genraly to the nearest town.the only prob we have had was the rear shocks were a little weak and one did eventualy break .Think the prices have risen since i purchased mine


----------



## fatbuddha (Aug 7, 2006)

thanks for that feedback Jeffro - very useful. hopefully fitting rear gas shocks should help beef the backend up a bit


----------



## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Well Your Mrs should be ok on it Fats but your going to knacker it if you get on it! 

Actually I bet they are very sturdy. 

Would a Honda Vision 110 not fit in your garage? 103KG

Or what about our Peugeot Speedfight II? 2 stroke 100cc and 95KG. Goes well and was originally designed to compete with 125's. Problem is finding a good second hand one.

If you get the Monkey bike you must make sure you post some photos on here or "another forum". We could all do with a laugh!


----------



## Mike48 (May 1, 2005)

fatbuddha said:


> Mike48 said:
> 
> 
> > I'm assuminhg this is partly a joke. But to be serious when I was researching scooters the lightest most practical model was the Honda Innova at around 85kgs. It's a 125cc and you will not look so daft two up as you would on a monkey bike.
> ...


Thought this was a "fruitcake" post and you posted here in error. Apologies.


----------



## fatbuddha (Aug 7, 2006)

barryd said:


> Well Your Mrs should be ok on it Fats but your going to knacker it if you get on it!
> 
> Actually I bet they are very sturdy.
> 
> ...


I bet we look like right tits on it but what the hell - if it does the job I don't give a hoot!

I think the Vision or Wave will fit but it will be tight height wise and I'd need to take the mirrors off each time. with the Skymax, you can just fold the bars down which is dead easy. and 20kg lighter.

there is also the Lintex Jet scooter which comes in at 95kg - looks of interest but again, a tight fit height wise.


----------



## Hawcara (Jun 1, 2009)

How tall are you? If you look on Youtube, then even a standard size bloke may struggle with it, let alone two up.
I'm not being critical, but interested. Our next van would have to take a scooter and it looks like whatever we get will have to hang off the back, the same as Barry's. The garage height is the problem as much as the weight.
I was thinking of a Hymer exis-i, the coachbuilt one.
Anyway be interested to hear how you get on.


----------



## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

I bought a second hand one a couple of years ago and although it worked well the small wheels made me sell it again after only a few months.
Plenty of spares and add ons in France.

Ray.


----------



## fatbuddha (Aug 7, 2006)

Hawcara - I'm 5'10" so normal height I guess. yes - I will look odd sat on it but so what - practicality rules.

I've looked at putting a standard scooter on a rear mounted rack but my m/h already has a large overhang due to the big garage, and I have been advised that putting any extra length on the vehicle, plus having the scooter weight hanging off it (plus towbar and rack) would give me problems with rear axle loading and would make my m/h illegal.

I'm looking for the best small size, small weight solution for a scooter/motorcycle to go in the garage that's bigger than 50cc so we can carry 2 people at times. the SkyMax is the closest solution but I'm open to other suggestions.


----------



## barryd (May 9, 2008)

I think you should get it Fats. It looks really cool. I bet you could pull wheelies on it an all! 

In a moment of madness a few months ago (you might remember) I almost went for an Armitage side loading trailer and a 600cc Fazer. Could be an option as the trailer is basically our rack on wheels and a superb bit of kit but I bet they are a right arse on on this kind of trip.

Get the Monkey bike and we could all get together for a scooter rally. You, us, Tuggers on his Vision and Alrda,, Albert and Shadow. Would make a good photo!


----------



## fatbuddha (Aug 7, 2006)

> I think you should get it Fats. It looks really cool. I bet you could pull wheelies on it an all! Very Happy
> 
> In a moment of madness a few months ago (you might remember) I almost went for an Armitage side loading trailer and a 600cc Fazer. Could be an option as the trailer is basically our rack on wheels and a superb bit of kit but I bet they are a right arse on on this kind of trip.
> 
> Get the Monkey bike and we could all get together for a scooter rally. You, us, Tuggers on his Vision and Alrda,, Albert and Shadow. Would make a good photo!


I'm leaning towards the monkey bike but the main thing that puts me off is the lack of twist and go gears. if it had that then it would be a no-brainer but I guess then it no longer is a monkey bike but some bastardised version of one which the purists won't like.

I've looked at trailer options but I really don't want the hassle of towing, plus you need storage space for a trailer which at the moment we don't have.

we're unlikely to come to a decision before we bugger off to Spain for a month in October.


----------



## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Well the twist and goes are great for sure but ours is a pain in the arse on big long steep hills. There is virtually no engine braking and I have lost the brakes on 2 or 3 occasions on this trip. Maybe its a two stroke thing I dunno.

Luckily I havent lost both at the same time although that did happen in the Dolomites one year.

If that thing has gears it could work in your favour coming down the Col de Troumelet or something equally as daft.


----------



## tugboat (Sep 14, 2013)

With a CVT, if you close the throttle completely the belt goes slack and the centrifugal clutch disengages, ergo no engine braking. I find that if I keep a little throttle on I do get some worthwhile braking, but I haven't tried it on the North face of the Eiger yet.


----------



## GEMMY (Jun 19, 2006)

With my auto scooter, coming down Alpine passes I alternate between front brake and back brake even though I have discs front and rear :wink: 

tony


----------



## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Yeah I know all about the pumping the brakes and alternitating them. I think the Speedfight is discs rear and front but they problem is just the length and steepness of a lot of the passes we do. Most people do them on 1000cc bmws or Ducatis. 

ITs worth it though when you get to the top of a pass where there are loads of bikers gathered congratulating themselves on a super ride when we come round the corner on the Pig in flip flops. 

Maybe I should get some ceramic brakes eh? Is that even possible?

Never thought of keeping the throttle just going tuggers to engage the engine! Your not just a pretty face! 8O I think Karl mentioned his PCX had good engine braking in a thread but I couldnt establish if he was winding me up or not. He never replied to my questions so maybe he was talking ******** and fell of an Alp.

Worst one ever was the dolomites. Tiny goat track but up really high and steep. You had no choice but to be on the brakes all the way down as it was also graveley. Both went eventually and Mrs D ended up walking down. 

I guess we will be near the payload limit as well. 16 stone and 8 stone. Always two up.

Bike turned 20000km this week. had just 1800km when we got it. I have to say despite odd little things falling off or going wrong its been a superb machine.


----------



## tugboat (Sep 14, 2013)

quote]Never thought of keeping the throttle just going tuggers to engage the engine![unquote


It works on the hills of Devon but I dare say less effective on the side of a mountain. Torque and engine braking tend to go together and are the result of big pistons whanging to and fro, so small capacity machines which rely on revs for their power will never produce much of either.

Never mind ceramic discs, just invest in some decent flipflops with titanium soles. The sparks would be awesome. :lol:


----------



## salomon (Apr 20, 2011)

We have one in NY cab colours  
We look like a right pair of idiots whizzing about on Freddie, as hes known. We are 85ish and 62ish KG and he does fine. The mirrors fold in / come off easily so storage in the garage us a breeze. We bought ours new last year, cant remember the price though.
If you want something for occasional use thats light and cheap and is fun ( plus you dont mind lookinglike a wally) then go for it.

I crashed a moped in Turkey many years ago. Brakes not good enough with 2 up. I would not trust too much on the sky team either so make sure you test them properly before doing anything silly. But that goes for all bikes.
We both rode Honda HRT machines so were rather spoiled. If we can cooe with a skyteam then it cannot be that bad....


----------



## fatbuddha (Aug 7, 2006)

thanks for that positive feedback salomon


----------



## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Tuggers. I tried your theory yesterday on the little Cols around the coast near Biarittz / San Sabastian. Doesnt work. However what I will say is that after 6 weeks of being between 2000 and 7500 ft up the little bike is like a rocket. A new lease of life. The biggest Col here up to the Spanish border is only just over 1000ft from sea level but there are some superb roads. Did about 70 miles yesterday just flying about.


----------



## tugboat (Sep 14, 2013)

That's a bummer.

Well, you'll have to use airbrakes then. You'll need a couple of baseball mitts, the larger the better. Michelle will have to deploy them to slow down from warp speed. Using one at a time could assist with downhill cornering as well.

MotoGP riders use their legs, but you have the advantage of a passenger so workload can be shared.

Don't hesitate to ask for more handling advice, I'm happy to share this sort of information. 8)


----------



## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Doesn't matter tuggers stuff the brakes. Who needs them anyway?

Parked up on the col d'iberdon or sumfink like that which I think is actually in Spain. Some super twist little hills on the Spanish and French side as well as dozens of stores at the top of the col flogging cheap booze and ****. Might stay a week!


----------



## boyze (Jul 8, 2014)

I have a skyteam bike for sale 2012 with 38mls on the clock. I purchased the bike along with my motorhome. I intend to tow a car behind the motorhome.


----------



## Emilian (Aug 3, 2019)

Hey ! I have a SKYMAX ST 125-6 and often I get engine stops like the gasoline is exhausted; now malfunction indicator lights up more.
Grateful if anyone can give me a tip where to search


----------



## tugboat (Sep 14, 2013)

Probably the carb needs cleaning, but worth checking the breather hole in the fuel cap is clear first. Try running the engine with the cap off and see if you still get the problem.

Next stage would be to remove the float bowl to check for water or dirt.


----------



## powerplus (Oct 6, 2014)

yes they are good you do see lots buzzing around the algarve 2 up but generally lighter people

i have my monkeybike in the algarve but is a smaller bike and just for 1 rider 110cc and does around 55mph which for the wheelbarrow size wheels is plenty fast enough

they are great to ride on the smaller roads and up into the hills where i have been known to do 100mls in a day

barry


----------



## Tony Benimar (Dec 7, 2019)

fatbuddha said:


> Having done a fair amount of research on what motorbike/scooter will fit in our rear garage, and having done all the axle load calculations, it would seem that I need to look at as light a bike as possible - sub 100Kg
> 
> the Skyteam SkyMax 125 has taken Mrs FB's fancy partly due to it's size (will fit easily with it's drop down bars) and comes in at 78Kg dry weight. I've been in touch with the importer who says it will take the combined weight of 2 of us but best uprated with rear gas shocks to do so.
> 
> ...


Please don't forget the handlebars fold down, nothing else fits like this one. So like us if you have a bed in the rear and garage below that, you can easily get the skymax in. Ours is Benimar 243.
We are going to tow a larger bike nex year so if any one is interested ours is up for sale. Regarding weight ours easily carries 2 adults at aroud 21 stone. Love that little monkey. Interested call 07533 439 491 Tony


----------



## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

The website is down at present but IF it's what I know as a "Monkey bike" and is a very small bike then, having been a motorcycle cop, and having once ridden one, my view is that they are VERY unstable, ESPECIALLY two up!

I would suggest (if I AM right about the size of one) that you take one for a *decent* test ride, two up, before parting with your hard earned.

Andy

I assume you have a full motorcycle licence as without one you cannot carry a passenger.


----------



## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

I had a SkyTeam bike and although lively the small wheels did make me feel a little unstable and bumpy. I sold it quite soon after buying and always said I would look at larger wheels. Great for local shopping and journeys.

Ray.


----------

