ESR Definitive List: The 10 Best Honda Grom Customs Of All Time

The Grom is Honda’s most customized model. Here are the absolute ten best examples ever built.

First released back in 2014, the Honda Grom was an instant classic. The small-displacement runner drew on many of the elements that made the brand’s iconic Monkey range so successful back in the ‘60s and ‘70s, albeit dressed up in a sleek, modern package. The Grom — or “MSX125” as it's known in most of the world — is powered by a punchy little air-cooled, 125cc, SOHC, single married to a four-speed transmission.

The Grom is by far one of Honda’s best-selling models, with the small-wheeled single consistently landing in the top-ten highest-selling bikes list each year since its debut. It’s common for dealerships to sell out of Groms entirely, and backorders are pretty standard. The fact the Grom sells for around $3K brand new undeniably plays a role in this. Between the relatively low price-point, and the enormous array of aftermarket parts available, the Grom is now Honda’s most customized model, by a long shot. So let’s dive into the definitive list of the top ten custom Honda Groms ever created.

10. The Grobber

Aside from the chopper aesthetic, the bobber is probably the last style of bike you’d expect to see employed on the Grom, but nonetheless, that’s exactly what we’ve got here. Built by John Ward of ComposiMo Fabrication — a North Carolina-based shop specializing in the customization of Groms, Z125s, K-Pipes, TNT135s, etc — this thoroughly transformed Grom boasts a surprising amount of performance-oriented hardware (…for a bobber), including Brembo calipers, a Brocks Performance pipe, carbon fiber BST wheels, a smattering of CNC’d bits, and an Ohlins shock paired with a stretched swing-arm.

With the up-specced rolling chassis all sorted, Ward moved onto the build’s aesthetic parts. This included binning all the stock bodywork, lighting, and seat to open up space for the array of new parts. A steel teardrop tank (plucked off a minibike of all things) now feeds into a CNC’d aluminum subframe that culminates in a sliver of a bobber-style saddle. Guiding the way is a high-end LED headlight, and the eighth-liter thumper is now shrouded in carbon fiber engine cases. This Grom was created for the 2015 Handbuilt Moto Show, and the fact it looked right at home alongside full-size builds with markedly higher budgets is a testament to the quality of ComposiMo’s work — not to mention a reason to earn it a spot on this list.

9. "MRFX”

This custom Grom is the product of dropping the powertrain from a full-size electric motorcycle into the body and frame of the Honda Grom. Built by Cole Mishler, a designer at Zero Motorcycles, the MRX is fitted with the 3.6kWh motor, batteries, and controller from the Zero’s FX model. While the top-speed has been capped at just under 70mph, the thing will get there damn quick, with an insane 66-ft-lbs of torque on tap (that’s more than most supersports!).

Awesomely dubbed, “The Grom Reaper” by Mishler, this one-off EV also got an Ohlins fork, upgraded brakes, and custom housing and brackets to accommodate the Zero components. In what couldn’t have possibly come as a surprise to Mishler, the bike is completely ridiculous to ride, with all that torque instantly lofting the front-wheel upon seemingly even breathing on the throttle. If the Grom was already the world’s smallest hooligan bike, I don’t even know what you’d call this — though we’d say it more than earns its place on the list.

8. Gromaha Two-Stroke

Built by Jesse Davis, a Texas-based moto enthusiast who works for Roland Sands Design, this “Gromaha” gets its name from its engine; a two-stroke Yamaha YZ250 mill. But Davis didn’t stop there, giving the engine a Tyga Performance expansion chamber exhaust, bumping power from around 9hp to over 50! To help compensate for the extra speed, Davis added EBC brakes, and sourced a JRi monoshock along with the front-end off Aprilia’s RS125 GP mount. For those not in the know, race forks for small-displacement bikes don’t come any more trick than the unit on the RS125.

Though this Grom’s factory bodywork remains, Davis opted to coat the plastics in Yamaha’s classic speed-block livery in white and blue. All in all, the Grom sports a remarkably clean look considering the unusual nature of the engine swap, albeit the fat expansion chamber looks pretty ace nestled in front of the oil-burner. We’ve actually had the chance to checkout this bike in person at the first-ever Moto Beach Classic, and it looks just as boss in the flesh as it does in photos, if not more. Gromaha; onto the list you go!

7. It’s Not The Size Of The Dog In The Fight…

This heavily customized Grom is the product of a collaborative effort between North Carolina’s ComposiMo Fabrication and California’s Mangum Automotive Design (MAD) Industries who together cooked up little street-fighter. In place of the stock chassis is a bespoke tubular twin-spar frame that supports a modern, custom, knee-dented tank and a sleek matching race-style tail-section.

The 125cc engine has received carbon engine casings that match the build’s carbon fender, rear-set bracket, and belly-pan. Wider sport rubber, waved rotors and upgraded calipers, a Brocks Performance exhaust, custom triples, upgraded front and rear suspension, and an LED headlight cube held via a custom bracket all constitute the rest of the bike’s minor details. Though the Grom is arguably of the street-fighter genre in its stock form, it’s definitely more “cute” than “intimidating”, unlike this “Grom Fighter” — which is probably why we love it so much.

6. Squeezing Classics Together

While this one may look more like a Honda CT-70 on the surface than it does a Grom, it is powered by a Grom engine and is legally registered and identified as one. Built by Pfaff Designs, a seasoned hot-rod making outfit, this epic little runner uses the backbone off a vintage Dax that hides beneath the unusually-placed rear-shock — an arrangement that gave the build its name, of “Squeeze Box”.

The stock swing-arm is now fixed to a supplementary pivot system that hugs either side of the bike. The stock Grom seat was binned and replaced with a humped café tail, which actually serves as the bike’s fuel-cell. Other highlights include EBC brakes, a round LED headlight, hooped subframe with integrated taillight, hand-formed rear-fender, Brocks Performance exhaust, custom printed “Pfaff Designs” Michelin rubber, and a professional paint job that includes gloss black frame, framework, and engine cases, and a blue, and orange livery with white pin-striping and real gold leafing accents. Think of it as a modern CT-70 with a bit of a café’d twist.

5. GUS

The Grom may be one of the worst choices for an off-road bike. The wheels are tiny, there’s zero crash protection and lots of delicate plastic bodywork, the fuel-cell is tiny, and the suspension travel is limited at best. Still, these reasons weren’t enough to stop Industrial Moto from creating the “GUS”— short for “Grom Utility Sidecar”. The structure is comprised of stainless steel tubing, steel plate panel flooring, and a third-wheel — matching the 2018 stocker’s rim to a tee —with its own independent suspension.

Gus is essentially a Grommed version of a sidecar cross mount, complete with race-style passenger grab handle and seat, dual LED lighting, custom chopped tail, one-off exhaust, a mesh-esque custom paint job, and D-rings, clamps, and cargo-netting for securing luggage and whatnot. One of the coolest aspects of Gus is that its creator — Tyler Haynes of Industrial Moto — is now selling the sidecar as a (bolt-on) kit. How cool is that? Gus my friend; welcome to the list.

4. Fighting Stance

Thailand’s K-Speed is a high-end customs shop that regularly sees its work featured on elite platforms like Pipeburn and BikeExif. Though the outfit primarily deals in full-size builds, it does tackle the occasional small-displacement build like this aggressive-looking little Grom here. And aside from the engine and main chassis, there’s not a single stock component left in sight, and despite the Grom’s almost comically small stature, K-Speed managed to deliver a seriously mean-looking machine.

The stock tank cover has been replaced with a one-off shell with knee-dents that sees its folds/creases/lines pouring into the rest of the custom bodywork; an awesome little belly-pan and a beefy pair of fork guards — similar to the units on the famous “Ronin 47” Magpul bikes — that wildly transform the build’s silhouette, giving it an unmistakably aggressive stance. A custom upswept and stepped tubular subframe supports a bespoke seat, with just enough space for the rider and not an inch more — further helping to bring the build’s shape forward. Rounding out the project is an aftermarket swing-arm, rear-sets, clip-ons, a Motive exhaust, spoked rims, Ohlins suspension, disc brakes front and back, and a gunmetal gray paint job.

3. The 205hp Gromigale

There are countless aftermarket options when it comes to upping the Grom’s 9hp stock power output. Big-bore kits, ECU’s, and exhausts are great places to start, but if you want your Grom to put down more than 200hp, few mills will do the job. Constructed by Thailand-based engineer and mad-moto-scientist, Mario Kleff, this MSX is now powered by the liquid-cooled L-Twin from Ducati’s 1199 Panigale R homologation special. Yeah…you read that right; it’s an R-spec Panigale engine shoehorned into a Grom.

The 2,245% power increase only came at a cost of an additional 77lbs — now tipping the scales at 302lbs in total — though the Grom is now capable of supposedly breaking the 200mph barrier. The result is what is almost certainly the most powerful Grom in the world. Almost as surprising as the engine swap itself is how Kleff opted to keep the Grom mostly stock aside from the addition of Brembo brakes and a new exhaust for the Ducati lump. I don’t think we need to explain why this one’s on the list.

2. Baby Sport Classic

From a Honda Grom powered by a Ducati engine, we pivot to a Ducati (of sorts…kinda) powered by a Grom mill. Considered to be the machine that sparked the explosion of “modern-retro” models, the Ducati Sport Classic is simply a gorgeous machine, combining elements of classic café racer style with modern componentry. This little “Gromcati” wonderfully recreates the Italian modern-retro, albeit in a scaled-down size.

The 125cc Honda engine has been upgraded, re-tuned, and now spits burnt fumes via a one-off one-into-two GP-style Akrapovic exhaust. The suspension has also been up-specced fore and aft, as have the brakes, which are now Brembo units. The whole thing now rolls along on a set of adorable five-arm rims — the rear of which is a single-sided unit, just like the full-size Sport Classic. Other noteworthy additions of this build include scaled-down replica Sport Classic tank, tail, and side-covers, LED lighting, an array of CNC’d parts, aftermarket rear-sets and bars, Rizoma-style canisters, and a sporty little fender, just to name a few.

1. Half-Sized & Full-Faired

This little supersport wears a pint-sized version of the mid-2000s GSX-R600/750 fairing, what looks a lot like a scaled-down Ducati 1098 tank (cover), and a modern monoposto superbike tail suspended high above the 12” rim. Poking out of the belly-pan is a turbocharger that has its plumbing hidden beneath the bodywork before exiting through a shorty-style can. As if the forced induction wasn’t enough, the builder also opted to give the thing nitrous.

The sported-up MSX is brimming with subtle yet noteworthy features and upgrades. The stock braking hardware was jettisoned for a set of Brembo calipers, connected via steel-braided lines, and biting waved rotors. There’s also a liberal amount of gold anodized (and/or CNC’d) parts including the rear-spools, grips, engine protection, and rear-sets. The icing on the cake is undoubtedly the beautiful Gulf Oil paint scheme, which looks just as fly on this supersport Grom as it did on the Ford GT’s and Porsche 917’s that inspired the iconic livery.

(Editor’s Note: For anyone interested in owning their own full-faired Grom, Tyga Performance actually makes full, bolt-on bodywork for the MSX125.)

So, those are our picks for the very best Honda Grom builds, but what say you? Did we leave anything off this list? What’s your favorite Grom? Sound off in the comments below, and as always, keep two-wheels down and the shiny side up.