Moto blog

Battle of the 125cc Ankle Biters, Part 1

Honda Grom takes on the Kawasaki Z125, Kymco K-Pipe 125, and SSR Motorsports Razkull 125 Credit: Photos by Evans Brasfield You can thank Honda for reigniting the mini bike craze with the release of the Honda Grom back in 2014. The little 125cc runabout is a refreshing throwback to the days you could grab your board, ride out to the ocean, hit the waves, then jet around town in search of the best carne asada burrito – while maybe sneaking into a skate park for a quick blast. In short, the Grom inspires fun rides at a slower pace.

Battle Of The 125cc Ankle Biters, Part 2

Now the real fun begins Credit: Photos by Evans Brasfield | Videos by James Lee Martinec By now, we’ll assume you’ve read the Part 1 of the Ankle Biters test, wherein we asked some newer riders to ride the Honda Grom, Kawasaki Z125 Pro, Kymco K-Pipe 125, and SSR Motorsports Razkull 125. Their job was to give us feedback as to which bike makes the best learner for the absolute noob because it’s been awhile since any of the MO staff could call themselves one. Our riders had a lot of fun with the test, but as for us MOrons, we wanted a bit more excitement once we got a chance to throw a leg over the quartet.

2018 Kymco Xciting 400i Review - First Ride

My fling with a thing Credit: Photos by Michael Spain-Smith We were snuggled into a conference room in the upscale Aloft hotel in Asheville, North Carolina, when PR man Peter Jones kicked off Kymco’s 2018 new-product launch by telling us that scooters in the U.S. market are “such a small thing, they’re not even really a thing… scooters and soccer, they’re just not a part of our culture.” But the lack of scooter culture has made Taiwanese manufacturer Kymco itself a thing. After staying doggedly in the American scooter market for the better part of two decades, Kymco has a coast-to-coast dealer network, a good reputation for reliability and value, and is basically the only purveyor of value-priced, high-performance maxi-scooters.