2025 Honda Grom Reviewed at the Barber Small Bore Festival

The Barber Small Bore is a three-day small-displacement bike event hosted by Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Alabama. This event attracts all types of minimotos, both modern and vintage, customized and accessorized, to participate in a three-day craze of stunt shows, drag racing, GP racing, hill climbs, off-road racing, and a custom bike show. We were invited to this year’s festival to ride the 2025 Honda Grom. Miss this spring’s event? Read and watch the Top 5 Reasons to Attend the Barber Vintage Motorcycle Festival later this fall. Also read the The 10 Best Minibikes We Saw at the 2024 Barber Small Bore article.

Editor’s note: We test rode the previous version of Honda’s Grom during the 2022 Honda Grom ABS MC Commute Review and 2022 Honda Grom ABS Review. Also check out the 2019 Honda Super Cub C125 MC Commute Review, 2021 Honda Trail 125 ABS MC Commute Review, and 2019 Honda Monkey First Ride Review for more Mini Bike content.

The Grom is American Honda’s highest-selling streetbike. For 2025, the Grom received styling updates, including a new headlight cover, front cowl, shrouds, fuel tank cover, tank cap cover, and side covers. The chassis and engine remain unchanged from 2024. Honda’s Grom is powered by a 124cc air-cooled single with a five-speed transmission. The chassis is comprised of a 31mm inverted fork, a shock with preload adjustment, 12-inch wheels, dual disc brakes, a 1.6-gallon fuel tank, and a 30-inch seat height.

Honda offers the 2025 Grom in three trim levels starting at $3,599 for the base model, $3,699 for the SP, and $3,799 for the ABS-equipped model. The SP model is equipped with special graphics and a belly fairing, which can be purchased separately as a Honda accessory for riders wanting to add the fairing to their base-model Grom.

Our experience at the Barber Small Bore festival kicked off with the Honda Grom Prix. For this three-hour team endurance race we were on 2025 Honda Groms built track-ready by Man in the Box, a leading supplier in aftermarket minimoto parts. Our race Groms were equipped with MNNTHBX rearsets, clip-on bars, controls, a full Yoshimura exhaust system, Öhlins suspension, and grippy Kenda KD2 Kwick tires.

Teams were selected at random, then an hour of practice was allotted to learn the go-kart style track and become acquainted with the 2025 Grom. After our session ended we spent some time touring the Barber Motorcycle Museum before the race began. A guided tour of the museum was a small glimpse into the impressive and expansive collection of motorcycles, cars, and memorabilia of the world’s largest motorcycle museum.

Racing began at 5 p.m. with a Le Mans-style start and would conclude just before dark at 8 p.m. Our team, The Grom Reapers, strategized to have each rider race 30-minute stints before switching. In a stacked field of fast journalists and former and current racers, we had our work cut out for us. Heading out for my first laps an hour into the race, getting up to race pace took a few laps. After finding my rhythm, I was able to chase down and pass the four other racers on the track.

Having clocked the third fastest lap time of the race at 39.112 seconds, our chances of a podium were improved. Banging shifts, hitting the rev limiter, and narrowly missing the curbs lining the track eventually led to a mistake. In an attempt to dive toward an oncoming apex, I added too much rider input leading to a close encounter with the curb resulting in an off-track excursion and a lowside crash.

Quickly picking the bike up and getting back on track, our beautiful race Grom now scraped up and missing half a footpeg, we were still in the race. As the race continued our team gradually clawed back into the fight for a podium after falling seven laps down from the lead.

By the end of the race, The Grom Reapers were on the same lap as the third-place team, but making up time on a Grom was a game of attrition, and the checkered flag was thrown before we could solidify a spot on the box. The race was over and the Grom Prix podium was announced. A cheerful celebration of champagne and podium speeches concluded our first day at the Barber Small Bore festival. Tomorrow we would be spectators as we watched others compete in drag races, mini GP races, hill climbs, and pitbike racing.

Gray skies and rain met us on the second morning of the Barber Small Bore festival, but that didn’t stop anyone from enjoying the minimoto madness. Happily we were granted a 2025 Honda Grom to ride around the compound and attend the day’s events. We explored the compound, ventured outside the gates, and attempted a few stunts of our own before cheering on the pitbike races. The water-soaked track added to the thrills and spills as contestants put down their fastest laps.

Next, we attended the drag races hosted by Yoshimura. Everything from stock Groms and pitbikes to fully stretched, lowered, and nitrous-fed minimotos lined up to set the fastest time. At the start line riders ripped burnouts and banged gears as they attempted to edge out the competition. Simultaneously, the racing types headed out on the adjacent kart track to spin laps in the MiniGP.

After lunch, most of the attendees migrated to the compound’s muddy trail system to watch the most anticipated spectacle, the Mini-Moto Hillclimb. The rules were simple. The fastest rider to complete the muddy, greasy, obstacle-invested hill climb would be the winner. Only a few riders completed the entire hill climb, some more elegantly than others. The rest incited salutes as they looped out, slid out, and crashed before cresting the top.

Immediately after the Mini-Moto Hillclimb, the Creek Bottom Classic was set to start. The spectators and competitors all gathered around to gawk at the enduro-style race. Like all of the day’s festivities, the fun came from the thrills and spills of talented and not-so-talented riders racing in the mud.

Our final event would be a parade lap around the main track. Countless riders lined up in pit row for an escorted lap around Barber Motorsports’ premier racetrack. Spirited riding in a group of a hundred minimotos was exhilarating and terrifying. Completing the parade lap unscathed was an achievement of its own. Our day was done and dusted. We worked our way to the Vintage Bike Show to cast our votes and eat a pizza dinner before heading home. Sitting around the table telling stories of the weekend’s festivities provided endless laughs and big smiles.

The quote on the official T-shirt of the Barber Small Bore summed up the weekend best: “In my defense, I was left unsupervised.” If I wasn’t convinced minimotos are the most fun you can have on two wheels, I am now. Attending the Barber Small Bore is an absolute must for every motorcyclist.