After Dealer Expo, I was contacted by a local dealer who offered a demo ride of the lightweight Madass 125. Mark Christensen, the Used Motorcycle Sales Manager at Biker Bob's Harley-Davidson Motown , invited me to come out anytime and ride the Madass 125.
I showed up early last Saturday at Biker Bob's Harley-Davidson in Taylor, Michigan. If you've never heard of Biker Bob's, it's a very large, dedicated H-D facility in SE Michigan. It's huge, and their property includes not only a very large retail and service facility, but also a motorcycle safety range and a large, climate controlled storage facility with a built in outdoor bandshell. They do an absolutely cracking business in bikes, accessories and service and everyone at Biker Bob's seemed genuinely happy to be there.
Mark took me on a tour of the facility and then we got down to the business of riding. In case you're unfamiliar with the Madass 125, it's part minimalist motorcycle and part scooter. Well, it's actually a very small part scooter, but it is distributed by Peirspeed in the US and they are a notable scooter distributer.
The Madass features a 125cc 4t motor that drives a motorcycle-style foot shifting manual transmission. The frame of the bike holds fuel in an integral tank and with it's 16" wheels and clip-on handlebars, it looks like a funky, sported-up moped. Seeing it on the street, people often have no idea what it is.
We hopped on and after a few tries, I quickly figured out the left foot shifting thing. We immediately headed out onto busy Telegraph road. Up through the gears, I was surprised at both the speed and handling of the diminutive bike. It's light (around 200 lbs.) and with the manual transmission, one can wind it out pretty well. It almost feels like some sort of super bicycle, with it's very firm damping and good road feel coupled with almost unnoticeable mass. Lean on it, like Mark and I did, and you might be surprised as you easily outpace cages and reach an indicated top speed of about 60 mph. The brakes are awesome, even with me so distracted by shifting that I barely brushed the rear brake (strangely, as I use quite a bit of rear brake on my other scoots). Like any motorcycle, there is no wind protection at all, and the feeling of freedom is very nice indeed on the Madass 125. The seat, improved for 2010, seemed to be just fine and I think that I was riding a 2009 model. Too soon the ride was over, but I was left wanting more.
All in all, the Madass 125 is incredibly inviting. Take five minutes to browse the web and you'll find that it's growing in cult-like popularity and that tuning options abound. It's solidly built and appears that, if maintained properly, it will last forever. With an out-the-door price of just over $3,000 (at Biker Bob's), the Madass 125, despite it's name, makes a lot of sense for a minimalist motorcycle rider.
What's next: Scooter season is finally here!
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