The Little Adventure

THE LITTLE ADVENTURE

FINDING MOMENTS OF MOTORCYCLING BLISS ON A PAIR OF HONDA GROMS

Bradley Adams

Life as a motorcyclist is shaped by small, fleeting moments of accomplishment. The moments where you finally learn to work a clutch. Grasp balance. Or muster the courage to ride that little bit farther down a trail and, at long last, experience true, two-wheeled freedom. For many people, a Honda minibike has been the ticket to those lifechanging moments. Whatever happened after that was inconsequential; you were forever a motorcyclist because of that little bike and the places it took you. You

THE GROM WORKS ON THE SAME THEME OF LOW COST, BIG FUN, AND BULLETPROOF RELIABILITY. A POTENT COMBO.

probably even met nice people on it...

Not much has changed. Only now, instead of Z50S and Trail 70s, Honda is inspiring future generations of riders (or rekindling old flames) with its equally adorable Grom. Available in the States since 2014, the Grom works on the same theme of low cost, big fun, and bulletproof reliability. A potent combo.

Sales, and a booming aftermarket, reflect the love affair that’s developed since.

“It’s one of our top-selling Honda streetbikes in the US,” confirms American Honda’s Assistant Manager of Powersports Communication Jon Seidel, who adds, “It literally created a whirlwind of activity inside the dealerships with waiting lists, customer deposits, and it is still going strong today.”

There’s almost no discrimination either. “Sales have made it to the broadest age range of any motorcycle product Honda sells. From 16 to 80-plus years of age, the Grom has found riders of all skill levels, both beginning riders plus those who’ve been involved in motorcycling for years,” Seidel says. “Dealers also report that many buyers will come back and get a second or third Grom because family members see how much fun it is and want to join in.” People

can’t get enough of them.

Lor 2017, Honda has pumped even more life into the platform, updating the bike with a stacked LED headlight and more stylish body panels. An underslung exhaust cleans up the bike’s lines at the back, the passenger seat is higher, the handlebar has a “sportier” bend, and the bike comes with a new flip key—you know, the kind that would’ve been an actual selling point in the automobile industry a few years back. Lancy things.

You could go as far as to say Honda’s attempted to make the Grom appear

BECAUSE RIDING SOMETHING LIKE THE GROM HAS ALWAYS BEENAND WILL ALWAYS BE-ABOUTTHE CHILDLIKE FUN YOU HAVE WHEN YOU’RE ON IT.

grown-up. Or more sophisticated. Even if, in reality, it never needed to. Because riding something like the Grom has always been—and will always be—about the childlike fun you have when you’re on it. It’s about getting out with friends and enjoying two wheels in the purest of ways. You’re always going to look a little goofy on a Grom, but you’re also always going to be having more fun than the guy in the car next to you. A fair trade.

As a reminder of how much fun these bikes can be, and as a way of getting reacquainted with Honda’s little bike that could, we devised a plan involving Kenda’s K761 dual-sport tires, a pair of showroom-stock Groms, and the exceedingly picturesque soil of the nearby Alabama Hills. We were going adventuring on these little 12-inch wheels. In dirt. In snow. In everything that the quaint town of Lone Pine, California, could throw at us.

It is a foolish plan, if not a completely inappropriate means for testing the Grom. Then again, if the point of this bike—and those that have come in its wake—is to take some of the seriousness out of our increasingly complex lives, maybe it wasn’t so irrational after all.

I tried re-convincing myself of this as bikes rolled out of our transport vehicle, but the surrounding area began to appear more intimidating with every glimpse back at those idling little ants. The White Knight and Little Red, as they’d come to be named, looked about as ready for this adventure as a Smart car in Baja. Lor the first time, Sean and our photographer started to secondguess our decision.

Making matters worse, those dualsport tires only had an armpit’s hair more tread than the stock rubber, while the bike’s exhaust was looking more vulnerable than it ever did on pave-

ment—perspective is a screwy thing. Sean, shaking from the cold, started with, “Why in the hell did we decide to do this again?” Our photographer wasn’t far behind with a look that said, “Better you than me, idiots.”

That apprehension lasted for about 30 seconds, replaced first by laughter and then a feeling of shock. These things didn’t actually feel bad on a trail. They protested at the mere sight of rocks or

pits in the desert floor, and those tiny front wheels slid and pushed in anything resembling sand, but the Groms were otherwise quite willing to tackle anything off the beaten path, “launch” off little hip jumps, and spin donuts in fresh, rain-soaked dirt. By midday, we felt something like the inspired, free-spirited Steve McQueen in On Any Sunday. It was just us and our (small) motorcycles.

Sean and I did both get stuck midway up our first attempted hill climb, but dog-paddling and some fancy clutch work got us to the top. A real accomplishment—however small. After that, we relegated ourselves to smaller areas, turning rock piles into playgrounds and balance tests. Sand washes were tackled with as much finesse as a one-legged ballerina and the snow with even less precision, but we never stopped having fun. Better yet, we were never struck by that gut-sinking feeling of, “Okay, we’ve gone too far.” The places we were able to go and things we were able to do on these Groms was amazing, overcoming whatever we subjected them to with competence beyond their displacement.

The best part? The bikes made it home in one piece, with nothing but a few brush-drawn scratches on the exhausts. Suspension wasn’t puking oil. Wheels weren’t bent. Nothing. A quick wash and the Groms were ready to do it again. Bulletproof-ish.

Were we as willing for a return trip? Honestly, yes. Because, yeah, while a proper dual-sport or off-road bike would’ve been serious fun, there was something very special about getting to experience motorcycling in one of the purest, simplest ways possible.

In a world as high-strung as ours, we could all benefit from a little lightheartedness. And in the end, that’s what Honda’s Grom is all about. What Honda minibikes have always been about. Sean and I have almost never laughed as hard as we did on those two little 9-hp bikes. And all the Groms did was laugh back.

These really and truly are the days, the bikes, and the experiences that embody motorcycling—the simple, fleeting moments we live for.