Honda Grom

[AZRedhawk44]

No, I don't want one.

However, I'm not the demographic they're angling for.

http://powersports.honda.com/2014/grom.aspx

Honda’s 2014 Gromâ„¢ is a fresh, new way to add some fun, practicality, independence and style to your life. Fun: This new machine is a blast to ride, offering all the excitement of a full-sized motorcycle but in a package that just about anyone old enough to have a license can handle. Practical: The Grom's thrifty Honda engine means you can run it on pocket change, and you can park it just about anywhere too.

Independence: With your own wheels, you can bag the bus and forget about having to beg for rides from your friends or—shudder—your Mom. Stylish: Check out the Grom  for yourself. And then think of it as a blank canvas, waiting for you to customize it.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=grom

Going after those 16-25 year old folks that don't have cars, particularly skater subculture, that we discuss every now and then here.  In particular, urban dwellers (see parking concerns).  Lots of shots of it inside of industrial buildings and such.



I giggle at these shots, though:





Yes, urban dweller with no wheels... buy one of these and the coed hotties will start ogling you as you roll by.

At 125cc's it is too small for my taste.  Add the 12" wheels and some tall guy like me or Jocassee is going to look like a giraffe on a bicycle, riding one of these.

But, it's good to see a fairly cheap street legal motorcycle out there. 

[Jocassee]

Yikes.

Like you said, you'd have to be a skinny city rat to ride one. I don't know if 125cc's would even budge my fat ass.

I wish they'd make a vintage-style ride with that motor. Then they could appeal to the left coast hipster crowd. I still wouldn't be able to ride it, but at least I could enjoy looking at it.

Also, LULZ at the girls.

[AZRedhawk44]

Look closely at the chihuahua:

I think it's debarked.  Permanently.

[Brad Johnson]

Dude, pit bike with attitude!  I bet it's a blast to ride.  Some knobbies and it would make a heck of a camp bike, too.

Brad

[Jocassee]

The dog appears CG which is weirding me out a little.

[Brad Johnson]

The dog appears CG which is weirding me out a little.

Plastic or resin statue.

Brad

[Jocassee]

from advertising blurb

The new Grom feels even lower than its 29.7-inch seat height, thanks to the bike’s light weight, low center of gravity, and narrow seat/tank junction

Why the emphasis on low?

[Brad Johnson]

from advertising blurb

Why the emphasis on low?

Smaller riders?  Less intimidating?  A bike for people fed up with the only choice being monster cruisers, twitchy and unforgiving uber sportbikes, or mile high dirt bikes?

Brad

[SADShooter]

from advertising blurb

Why the emphasis on low?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro4yhp9L6Ok

[AZRedhawk44]

I dunno.  It's not exactly a trick bike, with that exposed exhaust pipe under the engine.  I wouldn't want to be riding it on a 1/4 or 1/2 pipe, or jumping curbs with it or anything.

[AZRedhawk44]

Smaller riders?  Less intimidating?  A bike for people fed up with the only choice being monster cruisers, twitchy and unforgiving uber sportbikes, or mile high dirt bikes?

Brad

That's why God made this:

[mtnbkr]

That's why God made this:

The anti-Stig? 

Chris

[Brad Johnson]

That's why God made this:

Still too tall , heavy, and expensive for many riders.  Think Honda Cub or Trail 50, but modernized and with a fair bit more power and visual attitude.

Brad

[Gewehr98]

Grom = short for Grommet?  

As in the surfer/skateboarder term?

Noun

grommet (plural grommets)

 1.   A reinforced eyelet, or a small metal or plastic ring used to reinforce an eyelet.
 2.  (surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding) A young or inexperienced surfer, skateboarder or snowboarder.
 3.   A circle formed of three-stranded rope.

[tokugawa]

Grom- sounds like the name of some Northern Barbarian.

 I kind of like the bike- looks like blast to wring out.

[Levant]

Look at the chicks you could pick up if you had one.  I guess I'll take two.

[Gewehr98]

Buell Blast wannabe?

[Tallpine]

Look at the chicks you could pick up if you had one.  I guess I'll take two.

I'll take the redhead in the short-shorts, fringed top, and unlaced boots.

Or without them, for that matter.

[Harold Tuttle]

the dog is an extra in the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2FNtbgXgPA

Tallpine will like moment 1:36-37
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=I2FNtbgXgPA#t=95

[Scout26]

I've got a couple of Cousins that have these for tooling around their small south-central Illinois town.  

I've been  thinking about getting one simply because it might be cheaper to run to the library and other errands around here with out firing the the car.   If I can find a really cheap used one in good condition (yes, I know those are mutually exclusive), I might grab one.

Seems that that's what's the Grom is.  Scooter that looks like a mini-motorcycle.  However, I don't see hot chicks instantly falling into bed with those that own/ride them.

Maybe they should hawk these. Anyone else remember the old Honda 50?
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=honda+50+mini+bikes

[AZRedhawk44]

In the last year or so, I've been seeing a LOT more young 20-something women on scooters than in the past.  Not sure if that's a byproduct of me becoming a motorcyclist and just noticing other riders more often, or if 20-somethings are actually buying more fuel efficient vehicles including scooters and bikes.

But you might be on to something, Scout.  Guys typically don't ride Vespas, so this is Honda making a more masculine version of the neighborhood errand-runner.

[Harold Tuttle]

[Harold Tuttle]

[AZRedhawk44]

HT, I think that's just before the pointing and laughing stage.   

[Brad Johnson]

Interesting use for a Honda Trail 50 engine.  Not bad looking, either.

Brad