There are many bikes available on the market with options that give them a “retro” vibe. Their advertising verbiage typically consists of phrases like “retro type meets trendy efficiency,” insinuating that clients will get the very best of each worlds. The Honda Dax 125 definitely falls into this class. However giving credit score the place credit score is due, Honda went all-in, throwing in heaping handfuls of “retro” the place many OEMs would depart it at just a few sprinkles.
That’s the entire level: The Dax 125, new to the U.S. for 2025, is making a play on our feelings. It reminds us of simply how determined we have been as kids to get a bike once we noticed the neighborhood children zipping round on their very own.
At first look, the Dax (brief for “dachshund,” in reference to the bike’s wiener-dog form) appears to be like just like the Path 125 that was launched in 2021. Nevertheless, the Path 125 was impressed by the Path 90 and 110 fashions, whereas the Dax extra intently resembles the define of the Path 70 mannequin of the Nineteen Seventies. It has smaller-diameter wheels, a visually distinct pressed-steel T-bone body, and many shiny bits of chrome. The place the Path 125 appears to be like proper at house trucking by means of the woods behind your campsite, the Dax 125 belongs in entrance of your native cafe the place each patron can snap a discrete photograph as they stroll in.
The Dax is powered by the identical air-cooled 124cc Single present in different Honda miniMOTOs (Path 125, Grom, and Monkey). Just like the Path 125, the Dax has a 4-speed, semi-automatic clutch. Which means there’s no clutch lever to tug, however the rider nonetheless wants to make use of the heel-toe foot shifter to vary gears, with impartial being on the backside and 4th on the prime. As I found whereas having fun with this mini for the previous couple of months, that transmission system is the steepest studying curve required when getting acquainted with the Dax.
GEAR UP:
It sounds easy sufficient: Pop it into 1st after beginning the engine, pull out of your driveway, then shift up into 2nd when wanted, and so forth. The trick is to concentrate to what your throttle hand is doing. Not like a guide bike transmission, the Dax doesn’t permit you the time to match throttle enter to engine pace earlier than releasing the clutch. After a pair miles of the bike lurching and protesting once I tried to vary gears (and embarrassing myself when using previous a parking zone stuffed with elementary-school children loading onto buses), I lastly found out learn how to clean out these gear shifts.
When upshifting, it’s important to roll off the throttle for a second. When downshifting, that you must get the revs up a bit for a clean shift. Duh, proper? However I discovered that not having a clutch to tug and launch to offer myself time to regulate the throttle as wanted required a extra considerate and intentional strategy to shifting. The secret’s timing and feeling out how a lot kind of throttle that you must apply for every shift. When you get the texture for it, all of it begins to click on and also you’re zipping round city with out a care.
Not like the unique Path 70, which entered manufacturing in 1969, the Dax 125 will get the posh of gasoline injection. The little Single is straightforward to reside with so long as you aren’t in a rush: Honda claims a prime pace of 55 mph, though I discovered my prime pace to be just a few mph lower than that except I had a downhill stretch to assist me alongside. It additionally will get fairly buzzy when pushed to its max pace. There’s a easy resolution (though it goes in opposition to the recommendation my dad at all times presents once I get a brand new check bike): Don’t journey this one such as you stole it. As a substitute, journey it like there’s nothing extra essential to do immediately than benefit from the sunshine. It’s not such a foul mind-set to discover.
The seating place is straight upright, and the fats and huge bench seat gives loads of room for adjusting your place whilst you journey. The seat is a bit laborious, however most individuals gained’t be using the Dax for hours at a time. In entrance of the seat, the slim body, which holds 1 gallon of gasoline, makes a handy spot to face over at intersections. The gasoline filler cap is situated below the seat, seat peak is 30.6 inches, and claimed moist weight is just 236 lb.
Suspension features a 31mm inverted fork with 4.3 inches of journey and retro-looking twin shocks providing 4.7 inches of journey. I discovered suspension to be completely satisfactory for the kind of using I used to be doing on the Dax, which was principally backroad shortcuts close to my house and puttering round city. Brakes embody a 220mm entrance disc pinched by a Nissin 2-piston caliper and a 190mm rear disc with a Nissin 1-piston caliper, and ABS is included. There have been a pair instances whereas using once I wished stronger brakes to assist sluggish me down, though that situation went away as soon as I used to be extra accustomed to the transmission and higher ready to make use of engine braking.
The spherical headlight is LED, as are all the opposite lights. The spherical LCD sprint is barebones, solely displaying a gasoline gauge and pace, with a piece on the backside that may swap by means of an odometer and two tripmeters. The display is a bit troublesome to see in direct daylight, but it surely’s laborious to be mad at it once you see the little blinking-face picture pop as much as greet you when turning on the bike. It’s a small factor, but it surely encapsulates the persona of the bike effectively, as does the playful dachshund brand on the body beneath the seat, full with wheels for legs and lengthy ears billowing out from beneath a helmet.
Many riders would have a blast proudly owning this retro mini. The actual query, although, is whether or not or not the enjoyable it brings is well worth the $4,199 MSRP – a worth that’s effectively on its technique to affording a small however full-sized bike that may carry the rider on the freeway. In Honda’s personal lineup, the Insurgent 300 prices solely $650 greater than the Dax and comes with a 6-speed guide transmission and a 286cc Single, in addition to extra of a “actual bike” stance.
The reply, after all, is determined by the rider. When you’re on the lookout for one thing straightforward and enjoyable to journey at surface-street speeds that has numerous persona, the Dax matches the invoice. You is likely to be tempted to search for a less expensive choice, however the Dax is a solidly constructed mini. It feels and appears like a top quality product, with no shoddy workmanship or corner-cutting bits to be discovered. It’s not simply the Honda badge that can let you know that – poke round a Dax at your native dealership, and also you’ll see what I imply.
And you’ll’t ignore the type issue. There are those that purchase bikes primarily based on specs and sensible reasoning. There are those that purchase bikes primarily based on their private emotional response to the machine. Most of us need a little bit of each. The Dax leans closely on the emotional aspect of the equation, but it surely’s additionally a succesful and reliable mini that gives an interesting and wonderful using expertise inside its limits. It may not be proper for each rider, but when it sings to you, I can guarantee you that you simply’ll have a very good time aboard a Dax 125.
2025 Honda Dax 125 Specs
- Base Worth: $4,199
- Web site: Powersports.Honda.com
- Guarantee: 1 yr. unltd. miles
- Engine Kind: Air-cooled, Single, SOHC w/ 2 valves
- Displacement: 124cc
- Bore x Stroke: 50.0 x 63.1mm
- Transmission: 4-speed, semi-automatic clutch
- Last Drive: Chain
- Wheelbase: 47.2 in.
- Rake/Path: 25 levels/3.3 in.
- Seat Peak: 30.6 in.
- Moist Weight: 236 lb (manufacturing facility declare)
- Gasoline Capability: 1.0 gal.
