The suspension is cantilevered front and rear, and the engine is DOHC. What is this gorilla?! [17th Monkey Meeting in Tama]

Being a representative machine known as the 4MINI, there are as many ways to enjoy the Monkey as there are owners. One of its features is that, due to its long history, a wide variety of tuning parts have been released by various companies. In response to requests from users who wanted to compete in speed not only in races but also on the street, bore-up kits and big carburetors were developed. Among these, the most powerful is probably the bore-up kit that gives the car a DOHC head.

The owner of the Gorilla we are introducing this time, Hokugen no Saru-san, is currently 62 years old. He is of the generation that experienced the first Monkey boom from the late 1970s to the 1980s, and he himself has long enjoyed customizing and tuning Monkeys. The “Monkey Meeting in Tama” has always been held at Tokyo Summerland in western Tokyo, and he rushes to the venue from his home in Aomori City, which shows just how much of a Monkey fan he is.

Naturally, Monkey-loving owners came to the event with their machines loaded onto transporters. Several Monkeys were on display at the venue, one of which was a Gorilla with an OV-36A frame. The reason they decided on the OV-36A was because of their experience tuning horizontal engines to their limits. When you apply advanced tuning to an engine, it reaches a level that the original frame cannot handle. So, just as they were thinking about starting from a new frame, they heard that Over Racing was going to release the OV-36A.

The OV-36A is sold as a kit in the state shown in the photo above. In addition to the main frame, it consists of front and rear mono arms and 12-inch wheels. The front has an NSF100 rear shock absorber set within the frame, and the rear is designed to be compatible with the NSF100’s 216mm rear shock absorber. This means that you can choose an aftermarket shock for the NSF100. Furthermore, the brakes are designed to be compatible with NS-1 or Lead 50 disc rotors, and if the size is suitable, you can also choose aftermarket calipers. Users can choose and assemble the various parts themselves to create their own unique OV-36A.

The owner decided to install an SP Takegawa Desmodromic Twin Cam 24V 124cc kit, a 124cc engine that he had previously assembled and had undergone repeated trial and error, on the OV-36A. Desmodromic is a valve drive system that is famous for Ducati, and unlike conventional engines, there are no valve springs to drive the valves. A specially shaped camshaft directly drives the rocker arm, forcing the valves to open and close. This means that there is no valve surging at high rpm, making it excellent at high rpm.

This kit with a desmo head uses forged materials for the ceramic-plated cylinders, forged pistons, X-section connecting rods, and stroke-up crankshaft to ensure the strength required for high power. However, as tuning progresses, the genuine Monkey frame naturally lacks rigidity. Previously, the genuine frame had been modified, but after changing to the OV-36A frame, the high-power engine can now be enjoyed to the fullest.

One of the features of the OV-36A is the use of pillow ball joints in the suspension arms and rods. Not only does this provide a very direct and rigid ride, but by adjusting the rods and pillow ball joints, the vehicle height, offset, and caster angle can be freely changed. This means that the settings can be changed depending on the rider’s physique, riding style, and course, making it possible to achieve the ride flavor you want.

The frame kit recommends suspension parts from the NSR50 and NSF100. The owner primarily chooses Over Racing parts, but has Brembo calipers on both the front and rear brakes. The master cylinders for the brakes and clutch are made by Aerotech, so the owner has chosen products that he is satisfied with for the build.

This was a frame kit I chose to fully enjoy the highly tuned engine, but surprisingly, the frame on Sako’s bike had the frame number 1 engraved on it. This means that I was also the first user of the OV-36A. Since then, the OV-36A seems to have continued to be sold, but perhaps because of its 990,000 yen price tag, it’s rarely seen. In fact, I’ve never seen it anywhere other than this one. It’s a truly valuable machine.

By the way, there was a reason why I chose the Gorilla exterior. With such a large engine and frame, there are times when I feel that the Monkey exterior is dangerous when I’m enjoying riding. The Monkey is characterized by its deer-drop shaped tank, but when braking hard, the rider’s body slides onto the tank. To solve this problem, the Gorilla tank, which has a shape that rises vertically, is ideal. That’s why I chose the Gorilla exterior instead of the Monkey.