The Honda Z50A was the second generation of Honda

Honda

is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...

's Z50 Series

Honda Z series

The Honda Z-Series refers to the lineage of mini bikes manufactured by Honda Motorcycles. Though Honda's official model designations are typically Z50A, Z50J, Z50M, Z50R and ZB50, they are more commonly referred to as the "Monkey" or "Gorilla" because of the way people are said to look when riding...

 of mini bikes. Though its predecessor, the Z50M

Honda Z50M

The Honda Z50M was the first Z50 Series of mini bikes produced by Honda. It was released in 1967 to the European, Japanese and Canadian markets, becoming one of Honda's first practical mini bikes. Although the Z50M was theoretically road worthy, it did not have various safety components and was...

, was available in Europe and Japan a few years previous, in 1968 the Z50A-KO "Hard Tail", sometimes referred to as the "High Bar" or the "Slantguard", was the first of the Z50 series to be released to the American market. Upon its release this bike was considered to be a significant leap in technology

Technology

Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...

 in comparison to other mini bikes on the market at the time. This was partly because of its efficient 49 cc four-stroke over head cam engine with semi-automatic transmission

Semi-automatic transmission

A semi-automatic transmission is an automobile transmission that does not change gears automatically, but rather facilitates manual gear changes by dispensing with the need to press...

. Street legal lighting and lowered bars were added on the 1969/70 K1 "Short Tail", the 1970/71 K2 "Long Tail", and in 1972, after frame cracking became a growing issue, Honda incorporated rear suspension on the bike. The Z50A "Soft Tail" remained on the American market until 1978, when it was replaced by the Z50R

Honda Z50R

The Honda Z50R refers to a motorcycle produced by Honda Motorcycles belonging to its Z Series family of mini bikes. It began production in 1979 as Honda's answer to the increasing demand for mini dirt bikes to be used on the track, as opposed to their traditional trail bike used more for leisure,...

. In Europe and Japan, the Z50A was renamed the Z50J

Honda Z50J

The Honda Z50J refers to a popular motorcycle produced by Honda Motorcycles belonging to its Z Series family of mini bikes. It began production in 1973 for the European and Japanese markets. In its first few years of production, it was the same as its American counterpart, the Honda Z50A...

in 1973, and remained on the market until 1999. The Z50JP is still available in Japan and through exporters in the United Kingdom.