It’s not surprising that over 50,000 are sold each year in Thailand (where the Grom is made), but when Colin told us US Honda dealers roll “eight to ten thousand” of these annually (making the US the number-two market), it got the journalists gathered in a conference room at Barber Motorsports Park to rouse themselves from their pulled-pork comas and even gasp a bit. Since 2014, Honda has sold 750,000 Groms worldwide. And why not? At just $850 for the cartridge kit and shock, it’s a little hint into why this pudgy little critter, with its 12-inch wheels and 10 horsepower, Kennedy-era engine, is so popular. And I believed him, because at the remarkably well-attended Barber Small Bore bike show in Leeds, Alabama, it seemed like every Grom there was outfitted with ümlautty, gold-anodized goodness. It’s the lowly Honda Grom 125, according to an off-the-cuff and unverified comment made by Honda’s Colin Miller. Based on that, what model do you think Öhlins suspension, the high-end, race-focused Swedish company, likely sell the most cartridge kits and shocks for? The GSX-R? Ninjas? Ducati Superbikes? If you believe the conventional wisdom of our forum moto-trolls, a motorcycle must be full-sized, fast AF, have the range of a WWII Dornier 217 medium bomber and price tag of a 1980 Suzuki GS850 to have any hope of success, much less being a sales leader. Photos by: Jay McNally and Gabe Ets-Hokin
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