That review is trash. The 5 speed is the bees knees out of 9 dude! First of all, I just finished my first tank last weekend and didn’t fill up until after 163 miles and had over 0.1 gallons at least still maybe 0.2!! My 14 can’t break 100 with tail wind all day..

im 6’0 170lbs and hitting 70 tucking without a draft on level pavement, still way more left without redlining. Will be 80 with mods! OG couldn’t do that fast stock.

yes neutral issue is still there, it’s a Honda. Overall definitely badass. Once I have I/E on this it’ll blow doors off old ones with same mod.

 

Coming from the 4speed grom to the 5speed, it's an improvement but not in all of the ways you'd wish.

Immediate changes that I recognized is the low-end torque. The thing moves even when it's bogged down; throttling in the wrong tall gear will still allow acceptable acceleration compared to the previous 4speed engine falling flat on its face. Even with in the tallest 5th gear and only going 40mph or so at 3800-4200 rpm, you can feel it pull pretty well when laying on the throttle- this is felt throughout the entire gear set. 1st gear feels shorter, while it may not actually be much shorter, it FEELS that way because of the engine's low-end torque that it has now. I off road my groms and it seems I was often slipping the clutch around sketchy obstacles for the sake of finesse but now, I can just bobble on the throttle lightly in 1st with confidence that I'm not going to stall it and have immediate go-go power even when idling down low at 2-4 mph. Pretty great.

Shifting overall is great, it seems to be more clanky as far as feedback from the transmission actuation felt by my foot and heard from my ears. From a stop, shifting from neutral to first, all the way onto fifth and back down again to any gear is confident.

What is not confident what so ever is finding neutral- it seems to be about the same as when my previous 2017 Grom was new and under 1000 miles on the clock; finding neutral had me laughing at myself often, especially when wearing some boots with no "feel" feedback. This new 5 gear seems to be even harder, there seems to be TWO hidden neutrals or even hidden 1st gear positions. It wouldn't seem that way and would be 100% comparable to the 4speed "finding neutral" phenomenon but the added dashboard gear indicator makes it extra confusing because it itself can't find neutral sometimes. Even when I KNOW it's in neutral, the dash will show "-" or sometimes I miss neutral and go into first, the neutral light isn't on but the dash still says "-" but it is in 1st(ish, it goes forward, but there's still one more down-click available in the shifter.) So, ultimately the only issue I am having right now is reminding myself to ignore the gear number indicator when finding neutral and only pay attention to the neutral light, otherwise, the gear number indicator does exactly what it's supposed to do.

I'd love the CT125 with the 5speed and torquey motor- owners say the 4speed is already quite torquey, wonder what improvements can be had on that platform with these changes.

 

Try switching to a direct shift lever. Made a world of difference to me.

 

Awesome looking bike!

 

2022 five speed. Sometimes I'll be accelerating in 2nd or 3rd, and then the bike "stutters" for a moment, and the GPI (gear position indicator) has gone blank, and clearly something in the transmission partially slipped out, but not all the way ... I don't know what's going on in there, lol. Also, occasionally it shifts 2nd to 2nd, or 3rd to 3rd ... probably because it is in the funky state I just mentioned. And the lever can still go down when in first, and up when in fifth, odd.

I think my Street Triple 765 had the "best feeling" click, however it was prone to slipping out of 3rd. Speed Triple 1200's transmission works perfect, but the click/feel is not as satisfying. What I mean is, I still haven't had the perfect transmission even on the more expensive machines.

 

Sounds like they just added a cog to the 4 speed since you are experiencing a lot of the same issues I am. The mushiness below 1st and above top gear is the same, and that stutter is infuriating. I find that if it stutters in 2nd, I will not be able to shift into 3rd on the first try. I rode a friend's Monkey and was able to replicate it, but the dealer was not.

I was primarily a Triumph rider for many years (half a dozen Triumphs) and I was always happy with their transmissions. The boxes on the 1200s I had (Thruxton, Bobber) were both terrific and confidence inspiring. Didn't try a 765, but I had three 675s and all were great. Even my 865 Bonneville was decent.

I think since Honda did such a good job on the fit and finish elsewhere, it is easy to forget that these are pretty cheap bikes, and the transmission just shows the true price point.

 

Well, that's a little disappointing, but your feedback is valuable. I've dropped a tooth on the front sprocket, done an intake, cam, exhaust, and ECU tune to my Monkey, so it feels pretty peppy in all gears now - at least peppy enough for me.

Neutral is also kind of a chore to find. On most bikes I find myself getting into neutral by going to first and then up to neutral. WIth the Monkey it is far easier going gently down from second. It's annoying, but not as annoying as attempting to shift into 4th and not being able to, or having the bike pop out of first gear while I'm pulling away from a light. Fortunately that's rare enough and hasn't occurred when attempting to cross traffic, but the danger is still there.

 

I actually tried that very early on in hopes that it would help, but I found no positive difference in feel.

I also installed a Hard Racing shift shaft bracket. That helped a bit, maybe?

 

I have found the gearing on the 2022 outstanding for my doodlebug needs after the first 2000 miles I've put on it so far. The transmission however is another story. It has given me no issues except I will say finding neutral can be burdensome at times. I often resort to downshifting to 1st and then feathering up, and I'm in neutral. I have only used heavy over the ankle work boots with it so it may be a different story wearing footwear less cumbersome.

I get that the Grom is a price point commodity for Honda and to some degree it's built to a certain standard with that in mind.

I'm reminded of a certain Honda design engineer I've been eternally grateful to.

If I could have a wish granted for something Grom it would be to have one Mitsuyoshi Kohama design a transmission for our beloved Honda mini bikes.

Kohama was the genesis of the Honda CB1100 model design. He and his team of engineers created the CB1100 out of pure passion with no one telling them what to do, no budgets, no objectives other than creating something they "wanted" to ride and own with classic Honda heritage.

In fact the resulting CB1100, commonly referred to as a "gentleman's bike" has fundamental engine design features that were thought unrealistic to machine in the real world but Honda made it not just out of necessity but to demonstrate simply - that they could.

The CB1100 transmission is unlike anything I've ever experienced. It's tactile transmission engagement and feel? - ...the epitome of perfection.

If interested in how that kind of passion came to fruition? An old Honda press blurb on the subject...

2013 Honda CB1100 Press Kit

When Mitsuyoshi Kohama was designated Chief Designer of what would eventually become the new Honda CB1100, he set out to create a motorcycle in a very different way than most of us could imagine. For starters, this bike didn't fit into a...

hondanews.com

Also, ...still loving the new Grom III.

 

Thank you all for your feedback on the five speed trannies (and your experience with the four speed units).

My Monkey's drivetrain is all stock save for a folding shift lever tip I added to the stock shift lever and an "O" ring chain. I kept the stock shift lever assembly thinking that the shift shaft wouldn't take the blow in the event I hit something or crashed.

I think my Monkey is the best shifting Honda I've ever owned and boy, have they built some clunkers through the years. Mine is butter smooth and makes riding the bike super pleasurable. I have absolutely no complaints about it.

I've lost some weight lately and I believe the lighter the rider the less you notice the gaps in the tranny ratios because you're not having to constantly shift it to keep the motor on the boil. There are some advantages to being a dwarf.

 

This has been my experience too. My 2018 Grom transmission shifts like a dream. It’s is super precise and crisp. Finding neutral is the easiest I’ve ever experienced on a motorcycle. I do have the Hard Racing shifter shaft support and I’m running the Kitaco adjustable shifter link. Maybe they are helping. I also run Motul 300v 10w-40 oil. It is smooth shifting.

My experience has been quite the contrast compared, to what others describe. I had a few false neutrals when the bike had really low miles, but that never happens anymore.

I weigh about 165 lbs all geared up and ride in AlpineStars SMX-6 V2 Air boots. The shifting is great, even in fairly stiff boots. The 4-speed is generally fine. I have considered the Takegawa 5-speed, but I’ve read a few reports of it not shifting perfectly some of the time. I would hate to take it apart and mess up a good thing. If it ain’t broke…..

 

If I am riding casual, it is well behaved. It's when I'm in a hurry with big revs and quicker shifts where it starts to do the funny things.

 

I just purchased a 2022 Grom yesterday,and yes, it is a miserable little bike to find neutral on.

 

It is interesting that nobody mentions transmission whine with the 2022 model. I wonder if the transmission became louder with the latest generation. In the first gear only a deaf person wouldn't hear the clear, loud transmission whining. Can you guys here it or not? I can imagine mechanics at Honda will say it is normal, but nobody in this forum ever mentions that. You can hear it a little bit in this video I made. It is not as loud as when you are sitting on the bike, but maybe you can hear the transmission whine a bit and tell me if your 2022 grom sounds exactly the same.

New video by myogen2003

photos.app.goo.gl

 

My 22 has a similar sound. I’ve paid no attention to it. To me it sounds normal and doesn’t bother me at all. I’m with the crowd that thinks the transmission is fine. Easy shifts with no false neutrals. No complaints. The whine I think is from the change Honda made from the oil spinner to a filter. My 2020 monkey didn’t make that sound UNTIL I added the Kitaco cover with an oil filter and spinner delete; then it did.

 

Great to know that someone with the 2022 grom has the same sound, so it is probably fine. I thought it sounded like transmission.

 

There's this guy on YT right now claiming his stock '22 Grom goes 72 mph on the freeway no problem. That's what a faired Suzuki 125 with 50% more power can do top speed ...