The bike, not the surfer...
Real World Handling
'Quirkiness', the quality of being slightly eccentric or unconventional is something that abounds in the world of smaller bikes. Because of this machines like the iconic 1960s monkey bike from Honda entered the US market in an unobtrusive way that didn’t threaten the domestic manufacturers. Rather, the Japanese brand would appear to have used them, by design or default to get their foot in the door of the worlds largest two wheeled market.
Move forward to today and the Japanese giant have three mini bikes; the Monkey Bike, the very cool looking retro Dax and the Grom.
A Grom is a term used by surfers and skaters to identify each other on the west coast of America. It’s almost certainly used in conjunction with the word ‘dude’. Grom is pronounced as it’s written, dude is dragged out in the middle for as long or as little as is necessary depending of the magnitude of any given situation. ‘Yo, Grom dude, cool, ride duuuude!’ type of thing.
Styled to Appeal
Meanwhile the Grom, that’s the bike and not the person, was launched here in Europe over a decade ago. Powered by a 125cc, SOHC 2-valve air-cooled engine with a five speed gearbox. The chassis is a simple affair with the bike rolling on a set of 12” wheels. The front end even has a set of upside down forks. As a result they handle a whole lot better than something that looks like this should.
The tech is also quite impressive. The ‘clocks’ are actually a simple LCD instrument panel. The bikes speed, is displayed clearly alongside a fuel gauge, a trip metre and a clock.
Big Bike Tech
For 2024 the Grom has been tweaked, all be it on the styling side only. As it has always been, the panels are easy to detach. This has allowed the ‘Groms’ to personalise their Groms with paint and /or decals. Now the collective area of these panels is bigger allowing for more artistic expression. There’s even an undercowl!
A simple, hard to break engine!
The new tank does make a difference. Thanks to a set of decent knee cut outs it allows the rider to sit that little bit more forward and by association put the bikes mass forward that little bit more. This ensures a machine that handles a little better than the older ’23 model.
If that’s not enough, and when is anything enough, there’s a whole range of aftermarket accessories available. These include luggage pieces with a pillion seat bag, panniers, and a rear carrier. Who says you need a new Africa Twin to take on the world? There’s also a shade for the LCD screen so the rider can see it clearly in the sunshine and a set of handguards.
European Groms. Ridden by European Groms
They’re available now in dealerships across the country for €4499 and in a choice of colours; Candy Blue or Pearl White. If you need any inspiration to customise, take a look at these…