The Honda Motorcycle That Makes Every Commute Something To Look Forward To
Commutes are boring. Even on motorcycles, that’s a straight fact that a majority of you, dear readers, would agree with. It’s the same set of lights, same lanes, and the same annoying fifteen-minute stretch spent inching behind the (probably the same) cars. Day after day, even the tiniest muscles memorize the commute to a point that even the ride itself stops registering in the mind. There has to be a solution, and I think it’s precisely why mini motos exist. The only way a commute can actually offer some excitement is if the machine underneath is swapped for something ridiculously tiny that it starts feeling like a part of your lower body rather than a separate entity. Hondas do that quite well.
Why Honda Motorcycles Have Always Made Great Commuters
Honda solved this exact problem with the Super Cub, which went on sale in 1958, and passed 100 million units built worldwide by 2017. It’s still the most-produced motor vehicle in history, simply because it offered all that was required of a commuter. A motorcycle small enough to squeeze through the gaps properly changes what a commute feels like.
The philosophy of the Super Cub’s intent and focus shows up in how Honda still builds a commuter motorcycle today with mini motos like the Monkey 125. Provided lane filtering is legally allowed in the area you ride, that same fifteen minutes opens up in ways that most, barring a few, traffic-friendly full-size motorcycles would never show you. Alleyways that were never an option become the quickest way through, and you hunt for shortcuts that never even existed. A boring commute can suddenly turn into its own kind of urban adventure.
But shrinking the bike doesn’t help if the engine between the two tiny wheels is, well, a bit weak. What actually flips the script is full commitment by you, the rider, out of that tiny engine at legal speeds, because you’re on a bike with a footprint narrow enough to vanish into any gap in traffic.
The Honda Grom Makes Every Commute Something To Look Forward To
Honda brought the Grom to the U.S. for the 2014 model year, spinning it off from the MSX125 sold everywhere else in the world and building an entire mini moto lineup around the same recipe since. The engine underneath is about as simple as motorcycling gets, using an air-cooled single with none of the electronics or riding modes crowding a modern middleweight’s dash. Just a throttle and a five-speed box with a rider’s willingness to wring the former wide open to get from A to B. Starting at $3,599, it costs less than most people’s phone contracts over two years, and that price is exactly why “small” never sounds like a compromise once you’re actually riding it.
The Single-Cylinder Engine Enjoys Full Throttle Every Day
The engine at the center of the Grom’s whole personality is a 124cc air-cooled single, running a 50.0mm bore and 63.1mm stroke through a 10:1 compression ratio and Honda’s PGM-FI fuel injection. A displacement this small has no reserve to lean on, so getting anywhere at a normal city pace means actually using the whole engine instead of just a fraction of it. Honda backs it up with gearing built to stretch what little output the single-cylinder makes across a usable spread of speeds.
Honda replaced the original four-speed gearbox with a five-speed unit back in 2022, adding a taller top gear specifically to stretch out highway-adjacent speeds without spinning the little single into a blur. Every acceleration run turns into a small but thoroughly exciting extravaganza. Wish you had more power? You’ll probably have to swap engines or take it to a drag strip with a massive can of NOS.
A Featherweight Chassis Built To Make Gridlock Disappear
At 224 pounds fully fueled, the Grom undercuts most small-capacity commuters by a wide margin. A 47.2-inch wheelbase keeps the package short, and a 25-degree rake with 3.3 inches of trail keeps the front end stable without slowing the steering down. Honda fits 12-inch cast wheels, wrapped in a 120/70 front and 130/70 rear tire for quick direction changes as well as good grip. Seat height sits at a comfortable 30 inches, which is ideal for most riders. Dual hydraulic disc brakes, 220mm up front and 190mm at the rear, handle stopping duties.
Fuel Economy And Running Costs That Make The Ride Feel Almost Free
Honda rates the Grom at 166.5 mpg combined, and you read that right; it’s not a typo, it is the most fuel-efficient motorcycle you can buy in the U.S. A 1.6-gallon tank paired with that kind of efficiency stretches past 250 miles between fill-ups, and that’s staggering. That translates to most commuters riding to work and back for weeks on a single tank and probably still having fuel left to spare.
A full tank will barely ruffle your wallet, and it’s not like it’ll empty out soon enough for you to remember either. Honda backs the whole package with a transferable, unlimited-mileage limited warranty for the first year. So the nearly non-existent running costs would already have freed up whatever’s left in the budget for the accessory catalog instead, and you’d definitely want to budget for that.
A Plug-And-Play Bodywork System That Turns Every Grom Into A Personal Project
The Grom’s bodywork is made up of changeable fairings, which means that swapping color schemes or grafting on genuinely different looks is a bolt-on job. This easy customization is part of why the Grom has built the kind of aftermarket following that it enjoys. Honda’s own accessory catalog will get you an under-cowl, a set of handguards, a windscreen, and even bags with attachment kits, extending the bike for genuine day-to-day use. The lineup itself has three separate trims in different colorways and finishes, making the bike feel personal, and it’s going to be the reason it gets ridden more than anything else you own.
The Honda Grom Goes Against The CFMoto Papio And Monkey 125
Now some will say that the Grom is utterly overrated, and that’s a fair call because a lot of us are just not used to unconventional bikes. Nonetheless, there’s no denying that the Grom is one of the bikes that’s perfect to hoon around on, safely and within legal limits, all the while being hilariously entertaining. However, you and your friends have a few options to spend your adult money on rather than playing matchy-matchy with Groms.
The CFMoto Papio SS undercuts the Grom by $300 at $3,299, and its 126cc, 9.4 horsepower engine is comparable as well. The Papio gets a sixth gear and standard ABS with traction control at that price too, making it excellent value for money with unheard-of tech at this price point, let alone a mini moto. The fact that it looks uber cool is just another reason to get one.
There’s also the Kawasaki Z125 Pro, starting at $3,799 with a 125cc air-cooled single making 7.1 lb-ft and running a 4-speed gearbox. At 224.8 pounds, it’s about as light as the Grom, though a taller 31.7-inch seat and one fewer gear than the Grom’s five-speed keep it a step behind on paper at least.
Honda’s own Monkey 125 runs the same 124cc engine and five-speed gearbox as the Grom but with retro styling and a taller seat, with an asking price that’s $800 more for essentially the same mechanical experience. Irrespective, the Grom is still the reference point of this segment and one that’ll turn your mundane commute into a thrilling experience you’ll always look forward to.
Source: Honda Powersports
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