Small-displacement motorcycles are going through a renaissance in America right now. Baby-sized bikes offer practically unlimited levels of fun while being light not just in weight but in maintenance and price, too. Now, America is about to get one of the coolest tiny motorcycles that until now had been forbidden fruit.
The Honda Dax 125 brings a historic trail bike back from the dead and packages it into tons of fun you can afford for $4,199, plus a destination charge. This announcement is something we’ve seen coming, but we’re happy it’s now official. The rumor mill had been turning about the Honda Dax 125 for months until Honda submitted documents with the California Air Resources Board in June. Now, Honda’s finally going public with the announcement that you’ll be able to buy one of these cuties starting next month.
The new Dax 125 is a nod to the old Honda Trail 70, a small motorcycle that America fell in love with 55 years ago. If you pay attention, you can still see old Trail 70s serving as pit bikes, motorhome tenders, and butch city bikes. Now, if you have $4,199 burning a hole in your pocket, you can get a brand new one with modern power, modern tech, and fantastic vintage looks.
A National Sensation
Honda says the original Dax was something of a national sensation. Back in 1960, American Honda Motor Co. was just a year old and was riding on a wave of success from the Honda 50 step-through motorbike. However, Honda noticed something weird. Sales of the Honda 50 were great in the urban centers they were designed for, but also specifically in Boise, Idaho. Honda was surprised because Boise was known for its rugged terrain, not a tight city core.
As it turned out, Boise Honda dealer Herb Uhl found a clever way to sell the city bike. Uhl changed out the rear sprocket, slapped some knobby tires on the wheels, and then sold the Honda 50 as a trail bike. Sales went off of the charts. As it turned out, the little 50 was a great off-road bike. The sprocket change allowed the 5 HP 49cc engine to get the bike over obstacles and the motorbike’s automatic clutch plus super light weight meant that you could enjoy off-roading without tons of experience.
American Honda loved it so much that the company made a call to its Japanese parent and put in the request for a production version of Uhl’s creation. In 1961, the CA100T Trail 50 was born and Americans couldn’t get enough. Honda would sell some form of CT series trail bike in America for the next three decades, selling 725,000 examples in the process. It helped that the price was just $275 ($2,905 today) and the bike was just about infinitely customizable.
Now, you’ll probably be quick to notice that the 1969 CT70 Trail 70 looks nothing like the other CT series bikes. While Honda considers the CT70 Trail 70 – sold as the Dax in Japan and Europe – as a CT series bike, it comes from the ST series of Honda minibikes.
These bikes were introduced in 1969 and were similar to the Monkey in that they were hilariously fun and maneuverable tiny bikes that were (just barely) road-legal and could be tossed into the hatch of a van.
Once again, these were super popular, especially with people who wanted something as a pit bike, a small off-road bike, a motorcycle to hang off of the back of a motorhome, or for just a plain fun toy. Honda sold the CT70 from 1969 to 1982, killed it, then brought it back in 1991 just to kill it again in 1994.
A Minibike For The Modern Day
So, Honda’s timing is great. It’s been three decades since America last officially had a Dax.
The Dax made its return in 2023, but only in markets outside of the United States. Then Honda released the Dax e, a cheap and cheerful electric Dax-inspired eBike that also didn’t come to America. But the calls of American Honda motorcycle fans are finally being answered.
This bike really is a modern classic. The frame is a T-shaped pressed steel backbone just like the old motorcycle, but with modern construction techniques. This time around, Honda also scaled it up enough that two adults can comfortably ride two-up. Well, at least as comfortable as you can be on a minibike.
The new Dax is 5.7 feet long with a 47.2-inch wheelbase, a 30.6-inch seat height, and a height of 40.1 inches (measured from the ground to the grips). These are almost the exact dimensions of the current Honda Grom, right down to the 25-degree rake. That should allow the Dax 125 to fit plenty of riders while being a total ball to ride. The Dax 125 is even 236 pounds, which is fewer than 10 pounds heavier than a Grom!
Power comes from a 123.9cc 80-degree single-cylinder that should be good for 9.7 HP and 7.7 lb-ft of torque. I reckon most riders will be able to hit 55 mph on a good day. That’s substantially better than the 40 mph the 72cc engine of the original ST70 was capable of.
The rest of the parts of the Dax 125 appear to be trickled down from Honda’s 125 platform. You get a 31mm inverted fork, disc brakes front and rear, ABS, and fuel injection. Even the Dax 125’s pair of 12-inch tires appear to be a carryover from the Grom. That’s not a complaint. Honda’s found a way to create a slew of different-looking machines that share more or less a common platform, and that’s cool!
But not all of it is just a copy and paste of a Grom. The transmission of the Dax 125 is a semi-automatic four-speed, just like the Super Cub. You also get a twin-shock rear suspension and a small one-gallon fuel tank. That should still be good for over 100 miles of travel.
You don’t get much in the way of extras with a Dax 125, but there is some nice detail with LED lighting that mimics the lighting of the old Dax, a cute cartoon Dachshund on the middle of the frame, and a sighting of Honda’s classic logo. Instrumentation is handled through a basic LCD screen.
Relive Your Childhood
Honda anticipates the Dax attracting two types of riders. The first is middle-aged riders who may have enjoyed the original CT70 when they were kids and as adults will buy the Dax 125 out of nostalgia. The other group is younger riders who love retro vibes and maybe don’t want to spend a ton of money on a motorcycle. In other words, the kind of buyer Royal Enfield is capturing well right now.
Regardless of the camp you reside in, a Dax 125 is set to cost $4,199 before a $300 destination charge and before any dealer markups. That makes the Dax cost $600 more than a Grom, $300 more than a Super Cub C125, $100 more than a Trail 125, but $150 cheaper than a Monkey. I think the Dax, like Honda’s other miniMOTOs, could be a little cheaper, but Honda seems to sell enough of them to keep adding to the lineup, so the price appears to be right for many riders.
If you’re excited, get ready to visit your nearest Honda Powersports dealer come October. As always, I’m always happy to see more affordable motorcycles enter the market. More choice is always good, especially if those choices look as cool as the Dax 125.
(Images: American Honda)
My dad had an early 60s Honda 50 step-through and a couple of childhood friends had Mini Trail 50s and one even had a Trail 70, which this bike closely resembles.
I bought a Honda ADV 160 a few weeks ago and love it. It’s described as an “urban-adventure” scooter. It retails for only $300 more and is far more versatile than the Dax 125. The ADV part of the name alludes to being equipped with “dual-sport” tires, a longer travel suspension and increased ground clearance that lends itself to exploring dirt trails.
It’s technically freeway legal (many states prohibit freeway access to motorcycles with less than 150 cc displacement engines), not that anyone is going to do an iron butt on one of these. I have taken mine up to 63 mph briefly on a highway and it was very stable. I’ve only got 250 miles on it and am still breaking it in, but it’s been averaging a bit over 90 mpg in mostly around town riding. A YouTube video showed a guy hitting 121 kph/75 mph, but I don’t know if it was on a perfectly level stretch of roadway.
It has a decent amount of storage under the seat and a gas tank that will take you 2x as far between fill-ups as the Dax.
After years of riding a progression of conventional motorcycles, having a centrifugal clutch and CVT took some getting used to. Especially the left-hand lever being the rear brake instead of a conventional clutch!!
My buddy has a Monkey and I have a PW 50, we are the coolest kids in the campground when we meet up in summer.
(Coolest 50 year old kids, I mean)
So, are we buying this or a Trail 125?
Trail would probably make more sense on a day to day or if you’re going out in the backwoods to camp. But this thing just looks like so much fun it would be hard to pass up.
::opinion from somebody who wants both but never owned a bike before::
This over a grohm anyday. The Trail 125 is too much like a moped, but this over a Monkey is still a tough choice.
I have had my eyes on a CT70 for a couple of years now. In my area, used ones are basically either basket cases/missing parts/frame only for $2-2500 or restored/original/unmolested for close to $4-5. So honestly buying a new one for that wouldn’t really make me upset. Now I just need to find the cash and there will be one in my garage
Having owned an original CT90. A new one is way easier to maintain and fix and with much less problems. The only thing is that my old one had the high-low transmission and folding handlebars. They bring those back to the new Trail 125 and I will sell organs for the money to buy one. (probably not my organs)
Hey there are a few organs you can live without, I think. I do really like the Trail 125 but I feel like the fun factor would be higher on the Dax here. Maybe not by much though. I have never owned a bike but grew up on 4 wheelers (Yamaha Warrior 350, probably one of the best trail quads in my opinion) and have biked literally thousands of miles, so something small like this would be fun for lite all road shenanigans.
Kristen > Dax
I want one BAD!!!
I have a Chinese clone of a CT70 that I refer in conversion about as the Chonda. 12 volt, four speed, manual clutch. An absolute blast to ride and a real attention getter. I’ve had guys come up to me in parking lots to share stories of their old Hondas. So I could be in the market to sell it and pick this up. Then I have a real Honda. and a bigger engine. And FI. But why oh why did they put the four-speed auto clutch in this and not the five-speed manual! Gah!!
I have also noticed that the folding handlebars that made these bikes popular with the RV crowd back in the 1960-70s are gone. I would assume for safety reasons.
As long as the cables are long enough I suppose a fellow could unscrew the mirrors, loosen the clamps, and rotate the bars down
The bars folded sideways on my trail 90 so one could get it very close to the back of the vehicle it was being carried by.
So much fun but nostalgia makes people empty their wallets. There are full-size bikes that are cheaper XT150L and a bit more KTM250 Duke. Are they as much fun, no but they are a lot more bike. I would want a DAX but I would but a trail 125 for more functionality.
PS I want the low range back on the Trail 125 that I had on my Trail 90.
I’ve noticed a proliferation of Grom-style bikes in the last year or so. The riders mostly seem relaxed & having fun.
As opposed to the majority of moped riders whose mien suggests the are trying to get to their meth dealer before he blows the motel room up
Whenever I see an article with the MSRP in the title, I always need to do a quick inflation calculator check to see the price in 2018 or 2019 dollars. I have learned that I currently have no idea what the value of money is. In this case, 2024 $4500 = 2018 $3,589.57. And you know what? $3,500 does seem pretty reasonable for this. It is not much more than a decent used bike, and it comes with a warranty. I cannot drop that much on a toy right now, but I sure hope enough people are to keep the retro bikes coming.
Tangentially related, I saw my first CFmoto Papio on the road this past week; that seems like the bike to get, purely for the asymmetrical headlights. Such a cool-looking little bike.
I just checked the price, the CFmoto Papio SS starts at $3300
I love Honda’s mini moto line up, get more people on two wheels than any other major oem for sure. The prices are a bit high compared to the competition in the category but Hondas well earned reliability and quality account for that.
These things should all be called the MP (Money Printer) series.
Good thing the Grom exists so they didn’t have an older and more primitive front end in the parts bin to slap on this.
I love it just as I loved it when I was a kid (we had a short person in the neighborhood who looked on this thing just like a basketball player would look on a Boss Hoss, they were a perfect couple), but damn, $4+ for something that has paid for itself about 50 years ago (20 for the engine and front end). Life is beautiful.
My old Honda, tore up the streets, sidewalks and alleyways with mine as a 10 yr old hooligan. Got me started on my motocross escapades with a 250 Elsinore.
I’ll have you know my ’77 CT70 topped out at 45MPH*!
*Downhill with a tailwind
That bike was fun, I decided to sell it instead of resurrecting it cause it couldn’t keep up with traffic in the 80km/h zones I travel to work, and it looked so sad covered in an inch of dust in my dad’s garage.
This bike remedies that…hmm.
Loved riding the range of these small motorcycles (from a Z50 to a ST90) as a kid. They were a fun way to blast around on trails and see of the natural beauty of northern Michigan.
Sadly with the lack of respect drivers show to people on small motorcycles because they assume the bikes are mopeds ridden be people who can no longer obtain a drivers license, they aren’t worth the risk.
Same here. We had a cottage in Grayling WAY off the beaten path in the ’70s and my grandparents bought a new CT70 to run up to the mailbox and back. Lots of fun, but we sold it before I was big enough to ride it myself. We picked another one up as a basket case just this summer and my 15 year old took it upon himself to resurrect it. It’s a fun little bike for bombing down trails and through the woods but I forbid him from ever driving on the road for exactly the reason you stated.
Hydraulic brakes… EW!
I’m a cable and pushrod brake guy!
If you have about 44 minutes of free time, you can enjoy watching Mr. James May – AKA Captain Slow – as he reassembles an original Honda monkey bike.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joCG9w_3fKQ
As he does so, he talks about the early history of Honda’s small bikes and how they got going in the US. This was several years before he brought his gin to market, so you won’t be hearing about that in this video.
I love that show. The Monkey bike episode specifically is one of my favorite things to fall asleep too. It’s so soothing!
I like watching those episodes to relax, but not to get so relaxed I fall asleep. 🙂
The telephone and the lawnmower are really enjoyable as well.
Yeah, they were.
To be fair to James (who is my favorite of the trio), I put it on at bed time.
Didn’t Honda have the monkey out just recently that was similar size and specs to these? Not a motorcycle person but have seen them listed for cheap on Facebook and have been tempted.
Oh yeah, there are a bunch of Honda mini motorcycles in this size, spec, and price range. There’s the Grom, the Monkey, and the Trail 125! The Super Cub is also considered to be one of the minis, too.
What Herb Uhl did was genius! Honda should have rewarded him. I didn’t know if the bike was pronounced DAX or DOX until I saw the Weiner dog. Love it.