New 2023 Honda ST125 DAX Review: Retro Mini-Bike Fun!

mdsseducation.net – New 2023 Honda ST125 DAX Review: Retro Mini-Bike Fun!this is the brand new 2023 Honda st125 Dax and as you may have noticed it’s a very dinky little bike so does it actually make for a useful motorcycle for the city and commuting or is it just a novelty well we’ve been riding this one for the past couple of weeks and so in this video I’ll tell you absolutely everything that I’ve learned about it and then at the end I’ll give you my verdict now for me the first thing that really stands out about this bike is just how awesome it looks in fact

last year when I was a motorcycle live the biggest motorcycle show in the UK this was probably one of the most popular bikes on the entire Honda stand despite new bikes like the Hornet and the Transalp and basically this is another adaptation of Honda’s mini bike platform so previously we’ve had the Grom and the monkey bike but this is quite a different form factorÂ

that takes its inspiration from the Dax of the late 60s and 70s onwards and for me it’s just a little bit more retro and Charming than the Grom but a little bit more sleek and cool than the monkey and especially in this red paint job which I think has a really nice sort of Sheen to it in the flesh I think it’s

a great looking bike it’s a massive head turner and conversation starter and I don’t think you can always say that of bikes are this sort of price point and we’ll get onto the price in a moment now I also love that they’ve gone for some real authenticity with this bike especially with the frame slash

fuel tank you see the whole Dax name comes from dachshund or sausage dog and that’s because this unusual elongated frame design has some resemblance but it’s also actually the fuel tank as well so if you flip the seat up by putting the key in the side here the fuel Cap’s just under the seat and that’s where you can fill up this 3.8 liter cavity it feels like Honda have gone to a lot of effort to build a

chassis that does the Dax name justice as opposed to just putting like a plastic body kit on a grum or a monkey you know actually something that really does resemble the original properly and I think that makes it a little bit more cool and looks generally I’d say there’s some greatÂ

New 2023 Honda ST125 DAX Review: Retro Mini-Bike Fun!

attention to detail on this bike and the Finish is possibly of a higher level than I’d expect at this price point Everything feels really nicely put together and the paint has a bit of depth to it I like the Chrome on the bars and the grab rail and the exhaust system lots of little details like the Honda badge and the authentic Dax logos and then you’ve also got some nice modern features like the dash

and switch gear and the LED lighting all round and in in particular I really like this little tail light and indicator cluster at the back I think it’s a great-looking bike from the back end for me it just feels like a nicely designed bike with plenty of details, especially for this relatively small sum of 3749 pounds I mean sure there are plenty of other 125s and scooters that you could get for a similar price and

they’ll do the city commute stuff equally well but I think this is a bike that gives you a lot more pride of ownership than other stuff at this end of the market and look the monthly is on a PCP deal are less than most travel cards at just under 50 Quid and the other side of it is that it should be pretty cheap to run as well I mean probably some of you winced a little when I said it had a 3.8-liter fuel tank that isÂ

absolutely tiny if you sort of measure it against other motorcycles but this little 125cc single-cylinder engine is so economical that that should still be enough for about 250 kilometers or 150 miles of ride in at least according to Honda’s official consumption figures so looks clearly I think it’s is a nice looking bike and also the price is fair as well but what’s it actually like to ride a bike on little 12-inch Wheels

well as you’d expect it’s super nippy and it’s so light at 107-kilogram curb weight that you just feel so confident picking your way through traffic it’s a bike that’s never really gonna feel like you’ll accidentally lose your balance and end up on the floor it’s just so easy to ride and there’s just enough

punch to get away from the light swiftly nine horsepower from the little one two five CC single doesn’t sound like much but the gearing is nice and short so it will get a move on and this is really the perfect little tool for getting through town quickly where the ability to find your way through and around traffic matters way more than Peak power I’d also say it’s quite enjoyable to ride I mean it’s

not the most stable bike and it hasn’t got a great deal of Road presence so I think you would feel a bit vulnerable out on the open road with quicker vehicles around you but if you get a quiet bit of flowing Road it’s actually really satisfying to try and Float between the corners and keep up some momentum I will say as well despite the smallest size 775 millimeters in the seat height is actually sort of in line with a regular full-sizeÂ

motorcycle so actually it doesn’t feel all that cramped when you ride in it and if you look at the way the bars swoop up it really does give you a reasonable bar position then you’ve got plenty of room down to the pegs so you don’t feel like your legs are all squashed up and this fairly long bench style seat is actually really squishy and comfortable plenty of space for a passenger as well good passenger pegs a decent grab Rail and sure it would feel very sluggish to up but it is surprisingly spacious in

terms of the ergonomics and yet despite that relative Comfort it’s still teeny weeny to store and that’s ideal for City Riders who may not have a garage so you might have to push it down a little alley at the side of your house to get it into the back Garden or through a gate or even potentially through

the house but of course a bike like this does have of its limitations one being the top speed like I say 9 horsepower in short gearing means that it’s never going to really set land speed records and so 60-ish or just over is where it absolutely tops out and the other possible downside or it could be an upside it really depends onÂ

what sort of Rider you are is the centrifugal clutch no clutch lever just twist and go and so it does make it very easy to ride if you’re not that experienced but it does feel quite unfamiliar and it takes a little while to get the hang of if you are used to a manual clutch and so that brings me on to the

question is this the mini bike to go for in 2023 now for similar money you could get the Grom or the monkey and both of those bikes get a five-speed box so it is going to cruise a little more comfortably at higher speeds but perhaps more important for me is the manual clutch for more experienced bikers I think that’s going to feel moreÂ

natural and engaging to ride but it’s just that this one looks easily to me the best out of the bunch and so personally I’d be very torn I think the key thing is if you do want one you you’ve got to go in demo one and see if you get along with that gearbox otherwise the monkey might be the better shout

as always I’d love to know which one you’d pick though down in the comments below so do let me know and if you want to see more of the best new Hondas for 2023 then I’ll link them on the screen here give it a watch let me know what you think many thanks for watching and I’ll see you in the next one