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.This—the 2025 Grom—is not significantly different from that iconic first model and even less so from the third-generation Grom that it’ll replace. Actually, the 2025 Grom is identical to the previous model in terms of running equipment and only differs in tweaks to the following body panels:That, folks, is called sticking with a proven recipe.

New Look and More, Kind Of…There’s a reason for the changes to the 2025 Grom however; Honda says its goal is to reach customers who might not have been drawn to last year’s look and the oversized “washers” that called attention to its easy-to-replace panels. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. But also, if you think you can do better and reach more people, might as well try. This is Honda trying, despite the Grom already being its bestselling streetbike.There are other small attempts at attracting new customers, the first being a lower cowl that comes standard on the Grom SP but is available as an accessory for the base-model Grom and Grom ABS.Related: 2024 Barber Small Bore Photo Gallery

The third and final shift in Honda’s approach is a new, more expansive lineup of accessories that can be purchased as part of its Hyper, Adventure, and Scads collections. Accessories include a windscreen, hand guards, side bags, and a seat bag, which should add a little versatility for anyone who uses the Grom as their errand runner.The rest of the bike is, again, unchanged, which leaves you with a 124cc fuel-injected engine, 31mm inverted fork, and LCD dash. Big changes made in 2022 include a five-speed transmission, larger 1.6-gallon tank, thicker seat, and replaceable oil filter—things that are just as nice to have now as they were then, regardless of how you plan to use the Grom.

Honda Grom, on the StreetFew people leave a Grom stock for any amount of time based on what we’ve seen around town and especially at the 2024 Barber Small Bore event, where Honda tossed us the keys to a 2025 Grom and said, “Have fun.” Or maybe it was “Please don’t do anything stupid.” We mostly succeeded in that and were able to get some street miles in to remind ourselves what makes the bike work for so many people, even in stock trim.New riders will appreciate the manageable seat height, light clutch pull, and the crisp throttle that makes it easy to wrap your head around riding a motorcycle. Taller riders will appreciate the surprisingly accommodating rider triangle and the fact that there’s enough room on the flat seat to move around. Riders over 6 feet tall sit closer to the passenger seat than the tank, but their knees fit nicely in the tank cutouts and arms settle in at a neutral bend. This is not as cramped a bike as you might think.

The Grom can be willed to an indicated 66-ish mph when in a tuck and drafting your friend down a slight decline, but it runs a more comfortable 60 mph with anyone over 200 pounds riding normally on flat ground. Leep in mind: You don’t buy a minimoto for top speed, you buy it for getting comfy on two wheels, having fun, or for around-town convenience.More specifically, you buy a Grom because it’s a Honda and because the platform has proven bulletproof since rolling onto the scene in 2014. With those Honda badges you’re also getting a bike with great fit and finish and components that would be at home on a full-size machine; switch gear, levers, and various hardware don’t come off as cheap or as afterthoughts. The only negative, perhaps, is that we’d love for the Grom to have been outfitted with sleeker turn signals and a small TFT display. Crazy request? Maybe, but other manufacturers have started putting beautiful displays on small, inexpensive bikes, proving that it’s a manageable task. A svelte-looking TFT would help modernize the Grom while still focusing on style and presence. Plus, there’s the cool factor…

Honda Grom, on the TrackSpeaking of cool factor, Honda race-prepped a handful of Groms for a semi-official, three-hour endurance race at Barber Motorsports Park’s Barber Proving Grounds. Actually, there were lap timers, trophies, and champagne bottles, so maybe semi-official isn’t the right word. Let’s call it the most serious, multi-team minimoto endurance race we’ve run this year. Even if it was our only.The bikes were equally as serious, Honda having tasked the infectious folks at MNNTHBX with building tasty-looking—and well performing—racebikes. Upgrades included everything from an Öhlins front fork cartridge kit and rear shock to triple clamps and clip-on handlebars. A Yoshmiura exhaust and Woodcraft rearsets added performance and cornering clearance, while Kenda tires offered the grip needed to throw the bike up the inside of your buddy with confidence that it’d stick. Nine times out of 10 it did, but there was definitely some shoulder rubbing too.Related: 2021 Honda Trail 125 Review

The hilarity and battling were nonstop, making the three hours of racing (split between three teammates, per team) absolutely fly by. There were muscle aches and moments when we asked, “Should I have promised to do this long of a stint?” But none of that took away from the pure enjoyment that came from pushing these sub-10-hp bikes to their limits.As for those limits, they were a lot higher with the up-spec hardware we were rolling on, which helped us be more comfortable in “race mode” and kept the bike settled when hard on the brakes, or even harder on the throttle. The bike moved around in all the ways you’d expect a machine to when you’re squeezing the most out of it, but learning how to ride around the bike’s intricacies is what makes racing a minimoto so much fun.The takeaway? It doesn’t require much to have a devilishly good time on a Grom. You can cruise around in stock trim, or throw a handful of parts at it and have an entirely different kind of fun at the kart track with friends. All this, of course, through a very low barrier of entry in terms of cost and commitment.

Final ThoughtsWe’ve been saying that since the birth of the Grom back in 2013 and not a lot has changed since then, hold for a few manufacturers trying to kick Honda off its minimoto pedestal. Those attempts have been largely unsuccessful—and without Honda having to completely reengineer the Grom. That continues to be the case here.So no, the 2025 Grom is not a bigger, more technologically advanced remake of last year’s bike. But it continues to be fun, stylish, and begs to be modified in whichever way works best for you. Whether that’s as a racebike, stunt bike, showbike, or anything else that you can dream up. And it’s hard to not be excited by that.

2025 Honda Grom Specs