Honda MSX125 ‘Grom Reaper’ By Cole Mishler

When it comes to electric motorcycles, the designers and engineers at Zero Motorcycles hold a seat squarely at the top of the pile. But, what do those designers do when they’re off the clock? Apparently, some of them continue to build bikes, as evidenced by Cole Mishler’s ‘Grom Reaper’ Honda MSX125.

Already a neat little city cruiser, the Honda Grom is a superb little beginner bike — but that doesn’t mean it can’t be improved. In the case of Mr. Mishler’s take, that meant swapping out the old petrol engine for a new all-electric Zero Motorcycles power plant, bumping up the output to 27 horsepower (up from 10) and 66 foot-pounds of torque (up from just 8). That swap also gives an impressive boost to acceleration and jumps the top speed from 56 up to 66 mph. But the changes aren’t just in its performance, either, as this bike also got new wiring, custom fiberglass bodywork, Öhlins forks, and a new rear shock. While this started as an after-hours project, we can only hope that the bigwigs at Zero take some notes and create a production version of this neat little speedster.