Motorcycles BS Thread 2.0

Nope. Too much nostalgia tax.

 

Yeah, pricing is a bit weird on their mini moto line, I would expect Grom to be more in line with the others.

All ABS for apples to apples..
Grom: 3799
C125: 3899
Trail 125: 4099
Dax: 4199
Monkey: 4349

 

Those prices make sense, Grom sells much more, the rest are niche products, and the Monkey is ICONIC so they can charge a price premium.


Dax is interesting as its "clutch leverless" (semi auto trans where the clutch is activated with the shift lever at the foot) like some of the smaller honda off road bikes and like the CT70 of the past.


Its neat its cool, but nope not a chance, I did the MiniMOTO route with my grom, it was fun, but it was never more than a novelty toy. Youd be way better off buying an XR150L for $1100 less MSRP that will be better in every way over any of the MiniMOTO's other than looks. If one wanted fuel injection KLX230's are 4k msrp for leftover 2023 models.

I literally havent truly missed my grom one bit since selling it, I hop on the lil XT225 and its so much better.

 

Nothing wrong with wanting and owning a toy, I thoroughly enjoy my Grom. If I want to do non-toy things I take another bike.

AFAIK, the CT125 and Super CUB have the same transmission, it's nothing new, same centrifugal clutch they've been running since the 60's, basically.

 

You sure do love that XT225! I don’t miss mine at all, I replaced it with a Grom. Would much rather have something like a klx300 if I wanted another dual sport.

 

I wouldn't mind another grom for commuting. Don't need anything more at this point and kids would probably like rides on the grom

 

Ya know I never paid attention on the CT125/SC as far as a clutch.

Nothing wrong with the semi auto setup! It works well for sure.

See and this is why they make all kinds of bikes! Because we all have different use cases and different desires. I think if I had a Honda Monkey I probably wouldn't of sold it as I MUCH prefer the styling over the Grom (nostalgic reasons... And why Honda charges the most lol)

I have my street legal conversion WR450 for off road duties, with tons of high end suspension and buku power, but it doesn't make for a great "round towner".

The Grom was super fun don't get me wrong but having the extra fuel range, ease of use (not a slightly quirky starting / cold blooded due to being modded etc like the Grom) more stable are things I prefer for the bike in my around town use case. Stock form it was a get on and go bike, but even then you had tiny tires, little suspension and not much power. Perfect for 45 and under, but where I live sometimes it's nice to just have a light grab an go bike that can do the 65-75 of 2 highway off ramps to run an errand. Again use case and desiers. Had the Grom for 8ish years and enjoyed it. But it was time to move on.

Size and the "kid on a small dirtbike on the street" fun factor of the Grom. Unmatched BY FAR. I rode a new 2024 z125 and was like ewww.... No.

 

Honestly pretty neat but wouldn't pay that price tbh lol

 

Yeah, my engine is practically untouched (intake, exhaust, tune, no cams or BBK) and my city has a 45mph top speed on ONE road, the rest is all 25/35mph. Grom is perfect shits and gigs bike. I took it to coffee with my boss today (my paternity leave ends next week ) and it was perfect. Even more so now that I put the saddle bags on, thing is a small grocery run champ. You fucked yours up by modding it killed the gas mileage, range, and reliability. Mods are fun though, so I get it.

Semi-autos are fun. My CT90 with the YX140 has it, just roll off the throttle, kick it, and roll back on and you're in a different gear. Ease of use of a scooter where you can practically put anyone on it and not have a clutch to worry about but you still get to "do" something while riding and changing gears. Although the YX140 is an oversquare engine with a silly amount of torque for its size, with a way too short 1st gear, I almost always start in second on it even with a 17t front and 4th will still hit 60+. I haven't done a top speed on it yet because terrified of skinny wheels from 1967 exploding from under me.

 

Bring on the winter riding boys

 

I guess I put the wind liner back in my textile breathing jacket.

 

The biggest hurdle for me on deciding to pick up my monkey was the price. Not because I didn’t have the money, but more because I could buy a larger displacement full sized bike for less. The only reason I finally pulled the trigger was that I got a hookup on the price that I felt made it worth it. I don’t regret it at all and it’s a blast to ride but I still know I definitely paid the nostalgia tax. That Dax does look like fun though. I’ll see if I can get a buddy to buy one so I can hoon around with someone on the monkey. Haha.

In other news, I had a buddy drop off his Africa Twin at my place for some electrical work. (I’ll try to get a picture of the temporary fleet once I’m back in town.) Jeebus I forgot how tall these are. Squished my grapes trying to get it off the center stand-while on my tip toes.

 

Few pics from the FJR forum meet last weekend in Maggie Valley, NC








Easy to see why they're called the Smokies. Beautiful riding area and some awesome roads. We steered clear of the most popular ones like Tail of the Dragon although we heard it wasn't bad on Friday. Too often heavy traffic and slow packs of cruisers that can't do corners.

Did this one on the way home though in VA.



Our last 200 miles Monday morning was in rain on the interstate.



odo mileage



GPS mileage. Max speed was obtained on a closed course obviously......... I mean, we were 2-up and loaded for travel.....

 

We visited the Wheels Through Time Museum on Saturday afternoon. Well worth the admission price and these are just some highlights.




You know that's got to be a good tire!












Almost with few exceptions every bike in the museum runs and they fire various bikes up throughout the day so visitors can hear them run. Staff is incredibly outgoing and friendly and in fact the current owner, Matt Walksler introduced himself to us as we were walking around. Chatted with him about various bike events and not surprisingly he knows a friend of mine who helped me out when I was getting my Honda CB400F back on the road.

 

will have to check these out after work! cant see any pics sadly lol

 

Great place to go, just give yourself plenty of time. A couple hours isn't enough!

 

That Traub is a pretty wild story, never heard of it before, thanks for sharing! Glad you had a good trip and got back safely.

 

Thanks.

Sadly there was a rider killed on the Blue Ridge Parkway that weekend. Not one from our group but a 50 something man on a ZX-10 went off the road in a corner and there are no guard rails or anything and the drop offs can be hundreds of feet in spots. I love riding in that area but I'm mature enough at this point to understand the risks of being stupid on those roads.

 

Yeah, we had a 67 year old take a turn too fast over a railroad here this weekend and go over the guardrail, pretty much instant. It's a 35mph corner, who knows how fast he was actually going, I ride that area often. Sad stories but grim reminders of the risks.

 

Sucks.

This guy was reported missing so all of the photographers at Tail of the Dragon, Cherohala Skyway, etc. posted up their time stamped photos of the missing rider to try to help police and first responders narrow their search fields. There were even drone pilots assisting and the offer of local dog handlers to help. He was found sometime Sunday, still alive, but as I understand died at the hospital form his injuries.