I wrote about a similar 1986 Honda Z50RD “Christmas Special” motorcycle exactly a year ago, or within a day. That’s quite a coincidence, but maybe they come out of the woodwork in mid/late-December given their festive name. The seller has this little gem listed here on eBay in one of the least cold and snowy places in the country: Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. The current bid is $6,600 and there’s only a day left on the auction.

The photos are mostly verticals here which is unusual given that unless a vehicle is a rocket, they’re typically horizontal. Maybe those things will all change in 2021… (crickets) (train whistle in the distance) (heels on a marble floor)… Ok, we all know that they won’t but at least you can see the details of this shiny little bike.

Certain high-volume Honda dealerships received a pair of these chrome-laden monkey bikes in 1986 and that’s why they’re so rare and valuable. It often comes up in the comments as to why they’re more expensive than a regular Honda 50. They’re typically passed around between collectors like a Fabergé egg rather than actually ridden on trails or in the mud.

The D in Z50RD = Dealer, which relates back to each of Honda’s top dealerships receiving two of these bikes. They fairly consistendly sell for more than a similar non-Christmas-Special Z50R would sell for and they often sell for as much as $10,000 or sometimes more. About two years ago, Mecum Auctions sold two still in the crate for more than $50,000. That’s a lot of dough for a pair of these tiny things.

I can’t imagine taking this bike or any other “chrome special” / Christmas Special Honda 50 out into the wild, but I would love to have one for the hoard. I mean, the collection. The clean little engine is Honda’s 49cc and as usual, they’ll top out at around 30 mph. What are your thoughts on special editions? Would you squirrel them away or would you use them?