Honda Grom First Ride Review

Relaxstations

Twelve-inch wheels and a 124cc engine aren’t considered exciting things in the world of motorcycles. Fortunately, nobody ever told Honda that. And so in 2013, it introduced the Grom. The 2025 Grom is not significantly different from that iconic first model and even less so from the third-generation Grom that replaces it. Actually, the 2025 Grom is identical to the previous model in terms of running equipment and only differs in tweaks certain body panel.  Check out the story at https://www.cycleworld.com/motorcycle-reviews/honda-grom-first-ride-review-and-race/  Subscribe to Cycle World Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/c/cycleworld?sub_confirmation=1 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6CLI74xvMBFLDOC1tQaCOQ Read more from Cycle World: https://www.cycleworld.com/ Buy Cycle World Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/cycleworld

Transcript

00:00Hey everyone, welcome to the beautiful Barber Motorsports Park. Today we are here for the

00:05Barber Smallbore event hosted by Man in the Box. We are here with Honda and the 2025 Grom,

00:12a very lightly updated version of what is actually Honda's most successful street bike.

00:18Believe it or not, yes, they sell more Groms than any other street bike in their lineup. How cool

00:23is that? Now, this bike for 2025, again, it's very lightly updated. It's got an all-new look,

00:28new body panels and things like that, but the hardware underneath is all the same.

00:33It's what we've come to know from this Grom platform. So, what we're going to do is we're

00:38going to throw our helmets on and go for a little bit of a ride, talk a little bit about the bike,

00:43about this experience, and what makes Minimotos so much fun. If you are interested in Minimotos at

00:49all, stick around because we're going to tell you what makes this such a blast. Let's do this.

00:54All right, folks, here we are, ready to go for a ride. 2025 Honda Grom. It's a little bit wet and

01:02rainy, but that ain't going to stop us from having a good time. Everyone else is still enjoying the

01:07Minimotos, and yeah, this is, it is what it is. We can have fun at any time on a Grom.

01:15So, as I mentioned, not a lot to talk about in terms of, you know, technical updates. Really,

01:22actually nothing to talk about in terms of technical updates. This is the carryover engine

01:26and chassis. No new hardware for 2025. If you remember, the 2022 Honda Grom was updated.

01:37It got a five-speed transmission, so that's cool to have here. As you can see, I'm already in top gear.

01:43It gives this bike a little bit more flexibility, a little bit, feel a little bit better at top

01:48speed, you know, higher pace, higher speed roads. Other than that, this bike, the discussion points,

01:58all the talking points are about the new body work, the new body panels for 2025. It's interesting

02:04because, at first, I'll admit, I was a little frustrated to not see any technical updates for

02:09the new model year. We're out here to ride the bike. It's like, oh, it'd be nice to see, you know,

02:13maybe some upgrades somewhere. But I want to make some really good points. The big thing being that

02:18this bike, this bike is all about style, and I almost forgot that for a little bit. I forgot that

02:22this bike is just so much about the look and feel and just having fun, right? And what Honda said,

02:28which I thought was very interesting, was that what they want to do is give people options. So,

02:34maybe if you didn't like the new look, there was a really bold new look for 2022. Maybe if you weren't

02:41a big fan of that, then you've got something right here where it's a little bit different.

02:45Same thing, if you're not a fan of this new look, you're like, well, hey, I'll go back to what was the

02:502022 to 2024 model and go that direction because, yeah, all the body panels were quite a bit different.

02:58Again, you've got all these new shrouds here around the fuel tank. All the headlight shroud

03:05is different. I think the only thing on the list that didn't mention that it was different was like

03:10the tail section, I guess we'll call it. Basically, just a little shroud over the taillight. So,

03:17that is a very quick run-through of your updates for 2025.

03:24I will say that in 2022 with the new design that they had there, one of the big talking points was

03:32about easy customization. I think Honda really leaned into that for that model year and recognizing

03:38that that is such a big part of the Grom culture is being able to customize the bike and make it your

03:47own. I think that's why so many people gravitate towards these bikes. It's inexpensive and then

03:55it's also inexpensive to make it your own and build something that you like. We are out here,

04:03out at Barber Smallbore, and someone made a good point that there's almost zero stock motorcycles

04:12there. I mean, you've got everything from mild to wild. Maybe people have got just a shock or a

04:19couple little small accessories on it, but almost zero bone stock motorcycles. And I think that says

04:26a lot about the scene and what these bikes are to people where it's this kind of tool for expressing

04:32themselves outside of just being able to get out and ride with friends and, you know, have inexpensive

04:37transportation, things like that. Things that Honda is doing new for this year, they've got three

04:44collections, accessory collections is what they call them. So there's a Hyper Adventure and a SCAD

04:52collection, which is basically just a handful of accessories that are packaged as a kit that are

05:00supposed to be available through dealers that give the Grom a little bit of a unique look. I'm not going

05:07to try to remember what's in each of those kits. Obviously, the Adventure, let's give you an example.

05:14The Adventure has like hand guards, carrier racks, I believe, things like that, that again, just kind of

05:22shape the look and feel of the motorcycle. So that's something new for this year. It's kind of

05:29interesting because Honda has never really leaned into the accessory side on their end. They've

05:37always kind of let the aftermarket companies kind of take the reins there. You've got companies like

05:45the company that's hosting Barber Smallbore, which is the event that we're at again, Man in the Box,

05:50you know, companies like that, companies like Steady Garage and the countless other companies that make

05:56parts and accessories, anything from carbon fiber wheels to all the suspension companies that are making

06:04shocks and shocks and forks and things like that. And they've kind of let that grow and never really

06:12had an expansive accessories options, never had expansive accessory options through Honda. If I

06:19didn't mention it yet, which I don't think I have, the Grom, the 2025 is available in three flavors.

06:24You've got the standard Grom, you've got a Grom SP and you've got the Grom ABS. The SP is the one

06:34thing that I've already seen some people comment on that they are absolutely loving as it's got a

06:38little belly pan. And so that comes stock on the SP model. It will also be available as an accessory,

06:44which you can purchase and amount up to a standard Grom or the ABS model. Pricing the standard model is

06:53going to start at $3,600. The SP is going to go for $3,700 and the ABS is $3,800. So that is pricing

07:04on availability is basically now. That was June. June is when they're supposed to hit dealers.

07:10One of the things that allows Ford's Honda to sell so many of these things, so many of their

07:14mini motos is that they're super flexible. I mean, there's so many things to so many different people.

07:18So maybe for some people, it's something that they put on the back of their RV and they go

07:24use it as a little campground jumper, right? And just cruise around the campground or run over to

07:30the store when they need something. For other people, they go mini moto racing, right? So they

07:37go road racing, which we actually did get to do. Maybe we'll get to drop a clip in here. We actually

07:43got to Honda race prepped some of these 2025 Groms and we actually got to ride them on the little

07:49car track at Barber Motorsports Park. And that was a lot of fun. Actually, I got to, let me talk more

07:55about that because it was super unique. Actually, it was a three hour endurance race that we got to do.

08:00The bikes had basically clip-on handlebars. They had cartridge kits in the front fork. They had

08:06adjustable Olean shock out back. It had some kind of grippier Kenda tires on it. And yeah, it was just,

08:15oh, and rear sets actually. So yeah, that was, that was really cool. It was a way for Honda to kind of

08:20show one of the ways that, that people are using, using Groms. And I don't know, maybe that's not for

08:27you, but I will say that everyone that participated in that was just laughing and having an absolute blast the

08:36entire time. And that was, that was really cool to see. To help understand if you haven't got to

08:41experience Grom before or Minimoto as a whole, um, is, is, is what it's about is just smiles and fun.

08:51And yeah, there's, there's other things. It's, it's great transportation and we can make arguments

08:56for that. It's affordable transportation, but it's, it's really just about the look and the feel

09:01and the enjoyment of it. And I think it's best enjoyed with friends. Uh, now getting back to the

09:06motorcycle itself, this, this Grom here, a couple of things again, it's, it's the same, uh, riding

09:12position and ergonomics and all that, uh, that essentially has been the case since about 2017.

09:19Now in 20, uh, well, no, I'm sorry. Uh, since 2022, I believe, uh, at one point, and the reason I'm

09:27confused, I guess, in the years, they did an update in 2017. One of the updates that they did,

09:32they went to like a stepped seat. So it was a little bit higher in the back. They said something

09:36like it was going to help passengers, uh, be, uh, up above, sit up above the rider. Um, I think they

09:42quickly realized that you don't get too many passengers on Groms and, uh, it kind of locked

09:47you in place. They went back to a flat seat and that, that is stuck. Um, I'm six foot three. I fit on the

09:55bike, uh, incredibly well. It's, it's a small bike, yes, but it's, it's super, uh, accommodating

10:01for a wide range of riders. So, um, yeah, no issues if you're like, ah, there's no way I'm going to fit

10:07on that. Um, it's not the case. You, I almost guarantee that you will. Uh, one of the nice things

10:13I've noticed is that these little side cutouts here in the tank, those little pockets, uh, actually,

10:18yeah, fit pretty well with my knees right there. So that's good. Nice, relaxed bend in my arms, a little

10:24comfortable, uh, just comfortable, natural, neutral seating position. So, uh, no real issues from

10:32that. And, uh, yeah, not a lot in terms of, like I said, performance, the, it's a Honda. So you feel

10:40some quality and in all of the touch points, you know, it's got traditional Honda switch gear and

10:46all the levers are tight and nice. It's a, it's a quality machine. It's, um, yeah, I think it's,

10:51it's well built and it's a Honda. And I think they've proven to be dead reliable. Uh, the one

10:56thing I did want to mention that I, I'm going to call a, a negative, um, is the display. No,

11:03it's not a negative in that it, it doesn't work well or anything like that. I just, I would love to

11:09see like a little TFT on this thing. We've seen other manufacturers be able to do that on inexpensive,

11:14uh, small displacement machines. And I think we're to a point, uh, where, where you can do that,

11:20where manufacturers should be able to introduce that stuff for relatively cheap. I think that

11:23would be a really cool feature. It would be a really cool upgrade and it would help

11:26set apart any of the new models versus the, uh, previous generation Groms. I would love to see

11:31a little TFT display and heck while they're at it, make some like a phone connectivity or something.

11:36I don't know. I know, I know that's always a hot topic because people are like, I don't want to be

11:41on my phone when I'm riding, but, uh, yeah, I think just building some tech into this thing. I

11:46think Honda could, should be able to do that for, um, relatively reasonable amount, um, and not

11:54totally up the price of the bike. So, uh, if Honda is listening, would love to see that in the near

12:00future. Uh, maybe some like, you know, upgraded turn signals and things like that. Just, uh, those are

12:05some of the things that I would like to see a Honda, Honda do. But, uh, other than that, I think,

12:11again, they're going to leave so much of it, uh, up to people to customize the bike and, uh,

12:17accessorize it and build it to build it to their own. Um, yeah. Okay. We'll talk about things like

12:25brakes and transmission and, and, and whatnot. It's, um, again, that's not, that's not the big

12:31talking points for a bike like this, but just, just so you're aware, I mean, the brakes are, are

12:35plenty firm enough to get the things slowed down. Well, you're not going too fast in the first place,

12:40but, um, yeah, it's, uh, the brakes are good, solid. Uh, transmission actually is really smooth.

12:45Uh, no clunkiness or getting it into false neutrals or things like that. Uh, seat's pretty

12:51comfortable. The seat's wide, actually. The seat's not like really narrow, so it's, it's very supportive

12:56and nice. So, um, happy about that. Uh, 1.6 gallon fuel tank. So you've got, uh, yeah, plenty of range.

13:05I mean, it gets exceptional fuel mileage. I'm sorry. I don't actually have the fuel mileage. I,

13:09uh, it would probably take me quite a while to burn through an entire tank here, but, uh, yeah,

13:141.6 mile, or sorry, 1.6 gallon tank and, uh, yeah, really, really good fuel range. So, um,

13:23top speed. You probably do want to know that. We did get to do a little bit of a ride earlier. I got

13:28to do a ride with some buddies. Uh, we were able to get kind of tucked in and do a ride and got up to,

13:33I was like in the draft. I was able to hit about 65 miles per hour. Um, when I got out of the draft,

13:39I had to drop down to about 60, uh, 60 is about the top speed in fifth gear. So just so you know,

13:46um, yeah, that's, that's kind of what you got. It's, um, it's, you're not screaming past cars.

13:52I got to, uh, run back here. I got, okay, he's got me show him a little wristband, but, uh, yeah,

13:57so that's top speed. Um, I will say when you're, when you're doing that all wide open throttle,

14:02you probably will be hurting your fuel mileage, but, uh, yeah, you'll, uh, you'll be having some

14:07fun. Um, maybe some new meters. These are just like, I don't know. You don't need them. They

14:12work, but, uh, yeah, they just look old school Honda. Honda's, Honda's always been really good

14:16about, uh, carrying over parts from one muddle to the next. And I think that's a thing that helps

14:21them. Uh, it, well, it helps them keep price down, but it's also kind of cool because if you

14:25need new parts, you could just, uh, yeah, generally they've, they got them on hand. Cause it's like,

14:29fits a bunch of different bikes. So they just dealerships are going to keep them in stock and

14:34things like that. So that is, uh, that's basically, I wish I could keep talking to you guys because I

14:40could, I could ramble on about mini motos all day, but, uh, yeah, there's, there's in terms of

14:44the Grom, if that's what you came here to learn about and see, there's, there's not so much to

14:49talk about. Um, yeah, just it's, it's part, it's part about the culture and all that, right? It's,

14:56it's so much about the feel. And unfortunately you kind of almost have to be on one. You kind

15:01of got to experience it to, to understand and appreciate that. So, um, yeah, if you do get a

15:07chance to jump on one and try it out, you really should, if you haven't yet. I mean, the bike's been

15:12around since 2014. So hopefully maybe, maybe you have already, but, um, you absolutely should if you,

15:18if you haven't, I think, uh, once you, once you throw a leg over one and go rip around for a little

15:22bit, you'll realize why the things are so popular and so successful. Um, it is, it is Honda's most

15:29successful street bike for a little bit. The, uh, the Navi was, uh, was taken over on that, but, uh,

15:38yeah, the, uh, the Grom took it back, took back that number one spot. So we're just rolling back

15:44into the paddock here at Barber. I'm going to cruise up to the Honda truck. It is still raining,

15:48so I'm going to try to dry off. But, uh, yeah, hey, thanks for coming along for the ride for this,

15:53uh, little 2025 Honda Grom. It's nice to get to, uh, go for a little loop outside of the, uh,

15:59outside of Barber Motorsports Park and experience Alabama, uh, albeit a very wet Alabama right now,

16:05park this thing. And, uh, yeah, appreciate you guys tuning in to the video. There will be a review

16:12and some stories on the 2025 Grom at cycleworld.com. So be sure to check that out. And, uh, yeah,

16:18we appreciate you guys tuning in. All right, we'll see ya.

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