Honda has just updated the beloved Grom, and the big news is that it hasn’t really changed much. The 2025 Honda Grom has shed the oversized ‘washers’ that adorned its bodywork, and adopted slick new plastics for a sportier look. But it’s the same adorable mini-moto under the hood—because why mess with a good thing?
The fine folks at California’s Steady Garage aren’t known for leaving well enough alone though. Run by Kevin Dunn, Jimmy Chen, Bahwee Suh and Duy Nguyen, Steady Garage’s specialty is mini-motos—or, more specifically, wild custom mini-motos. They’re gaga for the Grom, and they know exactly how to make it even radder than it already is.
Although we wouldn’t call the diminutive 124 cc, 12-inch-wheeled Grom a sportbike, that’s what Steady saw when it rolled into their workshop. Drawing parallels between its streamlined new design and the look of Honda’s actual sportbikes, they decided to transform it into a belligerent little streetfighter, while preserving its most distinguishing features.
Steady’s standing in the mini-moto community (and their impressive parts store) has garnered them a wealth of contacts. So they flipped through their Rolodex and tapped the best in the biz to kit their Grom out with an eye-watering list of hop-up bits.
Gears Racing came to the party with a smorgasbord of suspension upgrades. First, they overhauled the front forks with aluminum tubes, black chrome stanchions, and what Kevin tells us is the first proper cartridge kit for the Grom. Then they sent over a fully adjustable piggyback shock for the back, which connects to a gorgeous aluminum swingarm from G-Craft.
The burly CNC-machined yokes and steering stem are a full set from Thailand’s Sex Machine Racing, and the stanchion brackets are Nemoto parts.
Steady’s friends over at Chimera Engineering supplied a whole lot of goodies too, starting with the Grom’s shiny new three-piece modular rims. Measuring 12×4.00” at the front and 12×5.00” at the back, they’re wrapped in Kenda tires. The hubs, wheel spacers, wheel axles, and swingarm pivot axle are also from Chimera, as is the rear sprocket carrier.
The brakes use new Anchor calipers, bolted to Chimera caliper mounts. Braking wave rotors and braided stainless steel lines from EBC add extra stopping power.
The Grom’s powertrain gets a little help from a DHM camshaft and a high-performance ignition coil and wire set from Nology. Steady upgraded the clutch with a six-disc conversion and new springs from SMR, and installed an SMR billet aluminum stator cover. The ram air intake and cone air filter are from Chimera, as are the myriad covers and guards scattered all over the bike.
For the bodywork, Steady Garage collaborated with Detailed by Panem—a carbon fiber auto parts specialist in Las Vegas. The requisite parts were designed and fine-tuned using 3D-modeling software, before Detailed by Panem created the molds and produced the final parts.
The collaboration yielded a pair of sporty fenders, side trim pieces for the headlight nacelle, side body panels, and a gas tank cover strip. Steady modified the bodywork further by adding vents to the main gas tank side covers.
As for the tail end of the bike—that required a heavier hand. “Fortunately, Honda’s redesign of the Grom frame in 2022 into two separate sections—a main frame and a rear tail subframe—opened up more opportunities for customization and aftermarket parts,” Kevin tells us.
Steady unbolted the old subframe, replacing it with a machined aluminum support that was produced in collaboration with Chimera. Rogelio’s Auto Upholstery handled the rear bodywork, along with the seat foam and the luxe walnut leather upholstery. The redesigned rear end also called for a new battery tray and some fettling of the OEM wiring.
“Creating a design that exposes more internal areas of the motorcycle involved considerable effort,” Kevin tells us, “including relocating components and blending existing panels with the new layout. We also kept in mind the potential for making additional kits for enthusiasts who might want to replicate our design.”
Lighting is by way of a Baja Designs headlight in a Chimera housing, with a Motodynamic taillight integrated into the tail. Woodcraft clip-ons with ASV levers flank the OEM dashboard, mounted to a Chimera clip-on conversion plate that attaches directly to the regular bar mounts.
Vance and Hines pushed Steady’s 2025 Honda Grom project over the finish line with a bespoke exhaust system. “They brought our exhaust design to life,” says Kevin, “with custom muffler shields that blend with the body’s side panels.”
Finished in teal blue paint, with crisp yellow graphics and just the right amount of carbon fiber showing, there isn’t an inch of this Grom that has gone untouched. With outfits like Steady Garage and their co-conspirators on the job, it’s no wonder that the mini-moto custom scene is thriving.
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Steady Garage would like to thank American Honda, Vance and Hines, Chimera Engineering, Kenda Powersports, G-Craft, SMR Factory, Gears Racing, Anchor Brake Systems, Rogelio’s Auto Upholstery / RAU Engineering, Micro Machines SGV, and Bike EXIF.
