Trail or Grom

[Wanderin]

Being vertically challenged, i have been looking for a short adv bike. I found a couple Grom images that peaked my curiosity and thought i would share. What do you think, good for an adventure bike?

 

[m in sc]

in my opinion no. i own both, neither are great for adventure riding IMHO, but between the 2, the trail is better if only for the high pipe, skid plate, and larger wheels. I mean, how short are you?

 

[dmonkey]

What type of adventure riding are you looking to do?

There are plenty of vertically challenged riders who ride large ADV bikes, I wouldn't limit yourself based on that alone. There are skills you can learn for riding tall motorcycles (Jocelin Snow teaches many of these on her YouTube channel), and there are equipment modification you can make to seat height and suspension to make many motorcycles more approachable. The Harley-Davidson Pan America with adaptive ride height and the low seat brings seat height down lower than the CT125 or Grom.

If there's a Honda Powersports dealer near you call and ask what they have on the floor, best to see the bikes in person and sit on them IMO. Check out the ADV160 if they have it as well. Not a trail scooter, but it's comfortable in an ADV = SUV way.

 

[Wanderin]

I was just at the dealer yesterday. I was most comfortable (flat foot on ground) on a Grom, Monkey and a CRF110. With the Trail i am ALMOST flat footed, a slightly thinner seat would make me flat footed and feel better about not having to lean the bike to the side while stopped. My last bike was a Yamaha V-Star with a 27" seat height. Being 5'5" 130lbs with a 28" inseam makes it a little more challenging to find a bike for what i want to do. I live in the Adirondack park in NY and have plenty of opportunity to go off road when i want, just need a bike i am comfortable on. I did look at the ADV 150 scooter, but then i watched a video on changing a tire. NO THANKS lol. Looks like the Trail 125 is going to be my best option, just waiting to pick it up. If i find a better option, the wife can drive the Trail. Funny vid btw lol.

 

[Wanderin]

Ohh ya. I forgot to mention i have no desire to go fast. My four wheeler has been in low range for over a decade

 

[m in sc]

ive been 1 footing bikes the past 30 years, 30" inseam. I get it, but when do you really need to put BOTH feet down? . My (ex) fathe rin law, joe, who used to flat track wayyy back, w a 26" inseam used to be almost uncatchable in the woods on his CRF150, man that guy can ride . (still does at 81 yrs old).

Enjoy the trail!

 

[dmonkey]

There are various rear shocks and seats that will lower the seat height on the CT125 to make it even more approachable for you. Here's a whole kit: https://k-speed.com/en-us/collections/ct125-parts/products/k-speed-ct43

I have a 30" inseam and my CT125 replaced a dual-sport Cagiva Tamanaco with a seat height of 34" where I only got toes down on one side at a time. Whatever scoot you buy, get some crash protection to save some tears if you lose your footing and drop it. The good thing about the CT is it's a step-through. Unless you're on a steep hill and need to hold the rear brake with your foot, you can just move forward off the seat and be standing up flat on both feet holding the bike by the handlebars with front brake applied.

 

[Wanderin]

There are various rear shocks and seats that will lower the seat height on the CT125 to make it even more approachable for you. Here's a whole kit: https://k-speed.com/en-us/collections/ct125-parts/products/k-speed-ct43

I have a 30" inseam and my CT125 replaced a dual-sport Cagiva Tamanaco with a seat height of 34" where I only got toes down on one side at a time. Whatever scoot you buy, get some crash protection to save some tears if you lose your footing and drop it. The good thing about the CT is it's a step-through. Unless you're on a steep hill and need to hold the rear brake with your foot, you can just move forward off the seat and be standing up flat on both feet holding the bike by the handlebars with front brake applied.

That's Awesome! I have been to their site and never seen that, Thank you.

 

[Kev250R]

In 2014 I bought a Grom brand-new and over the next three years put 3,000 miles on it! All on-road though I once met a guy riding a Grom with Knobby tires and some other mods flying down some off-road trails and dirt roads in the hills near me. He said the bike did pretty well for what it was and that he never went easy on it.

My Trail does decent off-road. Though I only have ~50 miles of dirt riding on mine. Most of that was on the stock tires which didn't work well for me off-road. Upgrading to Shinko's Knobbies helped, though the suspension still needs some help. For slow trail riding though it's adequate.

You may also want to look at a Yamaha TW200. I've ridden one since '08 and have been very pleased with the ones I've owned (I'm on my third one). They are slow, a little awkward to ride (but not as much as the Trail IMO) but are dirt simple and reliable (as are Trail's). A few simple Mods (mine has an aftermarket skid plate, rear rack, wider foot pegs, Seat Concepts seat, Odyssey battery and a wider front tire) and they will go just about anywhere. Bonus they are good for short riders too! Here are a couple of pics of mine:

 

[Wanderin]

Thanks for giving me another option for bike #2, and i will have to check one out. Just waiting to pick up my trail

 

[Kev250R]

Thanks for giving me another option for bike #2, and i will have to check one out. Just waiting to pick up my trail

You're welcome! For what they are, the TW's are pretty tough to beat. I have just over 11K miles on mine (an '04). They haven't had any major mechanical updates since '01; just graphic changes from year-to-year.

 

[Little_Thumper_Boy]

Just another interesting idea to consider...
These two guys demonstrate worthy extensions to the concept of the "adventure bike" off road! I like their style

 

[AZ7000']

 

[m in sc]

i mean anything can be off-roaded. the difference is living with it year after year.

 

[Wisco125]

ive been 1 footing bikes the past 30 years, 30" inseam. I get it, but when do you really need to put BOTH feet down? . My (ex) fathe rin law, joe, who used to flat track wayyy back, w a 26" inseam used to be almost uncatchable in the woods on his CRF150, man that guy can ride . (still does at 81 yrs old).

Enjoy the trail!

This. First two sentences. I agree completely. All anybody needs to know. Actually, I don't even know why I am leaving a comment about flatfooting a Grom vs leaning a Trail because it's 100% gotta be a spoof or conversation starter for forum traffic. If the OP is worried about the horribly dangerous possibility of having to lean a Honda Trail 125 to the side verses double flatfooting when offroad and upon stopping then I am going to recommend neither bike is appropriate. OP needs more time on the Hobbs meter in the Walmart parking lot before making this big of a jump. Peace, I'm out.

 

[Wanderin]

If the OP is worried about the horribly dangerous possibility of having to lean a Honda Trail 125 to the side verses double flatfooting when offroad and upon stopping then I am going to recommend neither bike is appropriate.

It's about comfort FOR ME. I'm getting older with health issues and I FEEL more comfortable with both feet on the ground when i stop. As stated before I have no desire to go fast off-road, just put around and explore new places and then get back on the road and go home. Some day you might understand.

 

[Kev250R]

It's about comfort FOR ME. I'm getting older with health issues and I FEEL more comfortable with both feet on the ground when i stop. As stated before I have no desire to go fast off-road, just put around and explore new places and then get back on the road and go home. Some day you might understand.

I agree with you; you need to do what makes sense for you and for the way you plan on using the bike. The most boring MC in the world is the one which has never been modded to match it's owners tastes/riding styles.

As a quick aside, a few years ago I inherited a KTM 990 Adventure from a deceased family member. The bike was too tall for me, so I had a local bike shop lower it ~2 inches. Only I never told them it was for me, rather I told them my GF intended to ride the bike and she was shorter then me.

I drop the bike off, a couple or weeks go by (the same shop did some other mods and repairs to the bike for me at the same time) they call and tell me the suspension mods are complete and want to know if I want to stop-by to try it out. As it happened I was five minutes from their shop when they called so I told them I'd be right over. I got there, sat on the bike and while they still had other work to do I could tell right away that the bike felt better; more secure to me. The two owners/mechanics at the shop were talking to me as I was getting a feel for the bike when one of them said, "It's funny, we both thought you'd bring your girlfriend to see how the bike fits, you know since you said she was the reason you wanted the suspension modded." Busted! We all shared a laugh. And that bike feels way better to me having had the suspension (and seat) modded.

 

[dmonkey]

There's definitely some stigma to lowering motorcycles. There's also stigma to riding small displacement bikes though, yet here we are with 125cc Honda mini motos
If you don't need the ground clearance and could benefit from lowering it, and there are parts available to do so, then seems like a dandy option.

JROD Dunstan put together an informative article and video on lowering motorcycles here:

Should you lower your motorcycle? - RevZilla

Some riders strongly criticize the idea of lowering your motorcycle, but you might be surprised who's doing it. Jen talks to some experts about the modifications.

www.revzilla.com

If you lower the suspension consider that you might want to remove some length from the sidestand or buy an adjustable sidestand, and if you mount knobby trail tires they'll add some height back.

 

[NMCoyote]

All motorcycles are the same height, once you get you feet on the pegs!

 

[m in sc]

so if you need to plant 2 feet at a stop, what's going to happen if you hit uneven terrain? that happens even on pavement. learn to use only 1 foot, and practice on each one. I saw my ex wife drop an Aprilia Falco hard at a stop sign because she was stubborn and used to say the same thing, landed right on her. she practiced after that and was fine. I mean if my short ass can manage a CR500 or an SM950, anybody can do it. Lowering a bike isn't nec a bad idea either, I lowered a '14 gladius ~3" in the back, 2 up front) to teach my (current) wife angie to ride, and shes 4'10". she has a supercub now and handles it just fine and its stock.