First Look- NEW 2023 Honda DAX 125 Announcement Review! - ST125 Retro Mini Bike _ Motorcycle

Well, it's happening, guys. No more Rona. Mini bikes are taking over the world now. Today, we are going to take a quick look at the announcement of the new 2023 Honda Dax 125, a bike we talked about coming down the pipeline months ago in this video and before that over at hondaprokevin.com, but let's get into what we know so far. At the time of making this video, Japan and Europe are the only countries to let the cat out of the bag. American Honda is still being hush-hush when it comes to release for it in the USA, but trust me, it's coming. The Dax, also known as the ST125, shares the same updated 125cc engine as the Super Cub, Monkey, and Grom, albeit with a different tune, as you can see here from the slightly different horsepower and torque numbers and what RPM their peak power is at. The Dax is setting itself apart from some of the crew thanks to its heel-toe shifter and semi-automatic transmission like the Super Cub and Trail, so there's no clutch to worry about, just twist the throttle and click up and down super easy. Its overall size is very similar to the rest of the Minimoto models, with its seat height coming in right at 30.5 inches, and it's the same story when it comes to its weight, tipping the scales right at 236 pounds, full of all fluids. A lot of its parts are borrowed from other Minimoto models, so many of the specs are going to be very close to each other. For example, the 31 millimeter inverted fork matches the Grom and Monkey and brings in 3.9 inches of travel, while out back you've got a twin shock setup that brings in the most suspension travel in the class at 4.7 inches. It's rolling on 12-inch wheels that were robbed from the Grom, and it packs a gauge setup that was stolen from the Monkey for a taste of that retro styling, and it's the same story on its LED headlight too. It doesn't stop there though, as you'll see that there are a lot of little pieces here and there shared between them, but thankfully the T-shaped frame and exhaust are all original to the Dax, and a true throwback to the original. Sadly, we will lose that taillight setup though when it comes to the USA, just like we did on the Monkey and Super Cub being replaced with the Grom's taillight. It's available in two flavors. You have Pearl Cadet Gray and Pearl Nebula Red, which would probably have to be my favorite of the two, but I haven't seen that shade of gray in person yet, and we all know pictures and videos don't do some of these pearl color schemes any justice to their true color. If history repeats itself, American Haunt is only going to bring one color over yet again, and if I was a betting man, I'd say it'll be the red. Now how about pricing for the Dax? That's still an unknown officially, but I would guess it'll hover right in between the Grom and Monkey, probably right around the $39.99 mark for us here in the USA. Hopefully less, but who knows, and with the way the world is right now, it'll probably be $10,000. Now what are my thoughts on it all? Overall, I love it and get excited about the possibilities behind this platform and really want to put one next to the Grom in my garage, but if I had to nitpick on some things though, just going off of what we have now, and keep in mind I haven't had a chance to spend some one-on-one time with it just yet for one of our deep dive videos, which is coming soon, but one complaint would be the fuel tank. It's only one gallon. Now I know they don't have a ton of room because of where it's stashed in the frame under the seat, and it's not that big of a deal if you're going off the rated 149 mile per gallon mark, but still, once you modify it and start to make it suck down more fuel and ride around like a hooligan on a tiny bike, like most of us will, you're gonna wish it had a larger tank. Another nitpick thing would be the tire choice. I know 9 out of 10 people are going to keep these on the street, but I would have thought they would have went more along the lines of what the Monkey or because of past Dax models, but thankfully tires for these are cheap and abundant if you want to make it more off-road friendly. Now on the press release, it calls the front fender chrome. Now, I'm not the brightest out there, but that doesn't look like chrome to me. It looks like it and the rear fender are painted in a silver color that maybe you could call chrome-ish, but that seems like a reach. Let me know what you guys think. Am I going crazy or what? I also wish they would put a little more detail into the seat, similar to the Monkey and more in line with the original Dax models, but that's just me being nitpicky, as like I said earlier, overall, I love the bike so far and think they hit a home run on the design, bringing a lot of the old-school flavor and mixing it in with newer tech without ruining the design. It's still instantly recognizable the second you look at it, and for that, I think the team at Honda deserves a round of applause, but that's enough of me rambling on. What do you guys think about it? Is there anything you wish Honda would have done differently, and what other minibike from their past would you like to see Honda revive? Let me know what you're thinking down in the comments section, and I'll be joining in on the conversation too. That's a wrap for this one, though. Hit that subscribe button if you want to stay in the loop with everything in the Honda Power Sports world, and for my future Dax video, where we finally get to put our hands on it and show you all of the nitty-gritty details you need to know. Thanks again for watching and supporting all of this. I really appreciate it, and we'll see you in the next one.