The Monkey's values more likely appeal to old folk reconnecting with their youth but for me its CFMOTO that gets my coin, undeniably fresh and cool and will appeal to a new generation of riders who probably don't really care about Honda's heritage.
I think these little bikes are near Perfection for their price points and the smiles per mile that they deliver. I'm almost 60 years old, and I don't ride to actually get from point A to point B. I ride for the sake of sightseeing and enjoyment, these little bikes accomplish that perfectly. You can throw them in the back of the pickup truck and hitch up a travel trailer, and use them to explore areas while camping. Just great little unintimidating yet capable Fun Machines.
The big thing for me is I know i can buy a Monkey and pass it on to my kids in 30 years. CFMoto still hasnt been out there long enough to know if they can be trusted on the long term. I know people with 5-6 year old CFMoto's that already need a fair amount of repairs that is just wear and tear. They are getting much better and quite fast to be fair.
@@tominglis9690 Not so at all! I ride my 125 as a commuter with a rack. Put 1500 miles on it in 4 months, as opposed to my old 919 that amassed about 100 miles. I use this bike to get to work, get groceries, go offroad...it is truly my favorite thing to drive (and I've had a WRX and the above sportbike). Expensive, and maybe a bit TOO much so, but you get piece of mind with this bike.
Also I think the difference between a 4-speed and 5-speed transmission on the Honda does make a difference. I have both the grom and the monkey. The grom has less roll resistance with the tires is a little lighter and a little less wind resistance and is about 5 mph faster on the top end than the monkey. Honda is legendary for reliability.
Only if u unlock the grom ecu will it be slightly be quicker but too close to call don't the grom top out gov limiter at 73mph? On my monkey i was able to hit 75mph? Both were almost stock with just only intake upgrade @wstoneburgh
I'm curious if they'll eventually release a 6 gear Grom if CFMoto SL and SS Papio get popular. One thing that seems great about that 6th gear on the Papio is that it's not really a "fastest speed gear" but more like an optimal RPM gear, so it's not being near redlined on full open throttle. It likes to be around 7500 to 8500 RPM for power. 5tth gear open throttle puts it past 9000rpm. The rev light on the Papio blinks around 6,000rpm; so it's a bit off. There's a Malaysian or Singaporean rider that goes into more detail about it.
It is a funny comparison. I know the Monkey will last based upon Honda's history. But, reality is these types of bikes are temporary in garages or treated somewhat as disposable. Both options are great. If you fall into the long term owner, choice is obvious. If you are in the temporary owner bucket, the CFMoto is def. an intriguing option. Great time to be a rider.
I think they should have mentioned also that that Honda monkey has $4,000 in upgrades with an aftermarket exhaust and ECU flash. They had another video where they compared a new Honda monkey 5-speed transmission to that one and the red one easily beat it in a drag race.
I'm curious if they'll eventually release a 6 gear Honda Grom if CFMoto SL and SS Papio get popular. One thing that seems great about that 6th gear on the Papio is that it's not really a "fastest speed gear" but more like an optimal RPM gear for consistent power more than the 5th gear, so it's not being near redlined on full open throttle. It likes to be around 7500 to 8500 RPM for power. 5tth gear open throttle puts it past 9000rpm for what I heard. The rev light on the Papio blinks around 6,000rpm to get you to switch to the next gear; so it's a bit off. There's a Malaysian or Singaporean rider that goes into more detail about it. I don't know what the power bands on the Honda Grom are but I think a 6th gear would keep it in a better RPM range when cruising at 50mph-60mph.
I think you somewhat missed the point at the end of your video when you talk about the looks of the Honda being stale. You guys are both way too young to remember the Honda Z50 Mini Trail. The Monkey is meant to evoke the looks of that classic minibike, and it does that brilliantly. If you want a spruced up and modernized Monkey, ride the Grom.
It's not because it came out before you were born that it wasn't part of your life... I'm 33 and had plenty of older bikes than me around my whole life. Shit, I ride a Kawasaki W800 which is arguably the most old school bike you can still buy brand new.
For the top speed, I hope you weren't relying on the factory speedos or did you use a radar gun or something like Dragy? It would be interesting to know as I am currently shopping both these bikes.
I like the form factor but here in alabama things are just so far away i don't think it would be very enjoyable to ride/own one. I know people are swapping larger engines in their mini motos and that would be an interesting thing to be explored.
I got a trade offer for a brand new papio ss, I ride a 2009 klx 250sf and I’m debating if it’s worth it. My sf has 12k miles on it and I just don’t know if I trust cf motos reputation yet.
It just depends on what you're planning to do. The papio is built for the street so it's going to have a higher top speed. The monkey is made to be more of a dual sport, so it's going to have more torque and acceleration to handle off-roading. It seems very narrow minded not to point this out in the video.
There’s nothing practical about these bikes. There good around toys so aesthetics are everything in the monkey looks like a retro POS. The CFMoto kills it in design
@@rebellucy6200 oh so you’re cheap. All the bikes in his category are financially disposable. If a CF Moto doesn’t run in 10 or 20 years I could probably scrap enough pennies to buy a new one. If you like the pretentious retro styling of the monkey, that’s totally up to you, but trying to suggest any sort of practicality with aesthetics and designs for this category is ridiculous.
@@Captndarty 'pretencious' retro styling? That seems odd. Sounds like you have some type of anger towards classic styling. Honda also has the Grom with a more modern design. My point was quality and long term reliability in my personal experience. No disprespect was meant by my comment.
