Honda’s revival of the Rad-era Motocompo, the Motocompacto, is now available to order at motocompacto.honda.com through participating Honda and Acura dealerships.
Starting at $995, the all-electric folding scooter is capable of a top speed of 15 mph and a range of up to 12 miles.
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Man, this would be so much fun to have.
I only live a few blocks from the center of downtown, and I'd love to ride this to grab lunch or a few groceries instead of having to drive my car.
This would be so perfect to bring along to the track to scoot from photo spot to photo spot with. Must resist the urge to order one.
I want one so bad but I've blown this year's fun budget already. Maybe next year!
We had someone call today to test drive one.
Sonic
UberDork
11/1/23 4:20 p.m.
I ordered one today. I just googled the part number to find one of the online parts places figuring the algorithm would discount it about the same as usual, and it did, so I'm saving 9% even after shipping. Let's see if it works.
It was on Motor Trend newsletter today , so now the public knows about them and they will probably be out of stock quick ,
Hopefully Honda has plans to keep building them after this first batch.
te72
HalfDork
11/2/23 12:07 a.m.
I mean, they're neat, but... I was just about to say that a 15mph top speed is kinda silly, "just get a road bike" until I realized that this folds up and looks like it might fit in a Miata trunk. That part is pretty rad. =)
It will easily fit in the rear hatch of an '85 CRX. Not that I've measured it or anything.
I was running around San Francisco last week, and this thing would have been perfect for taking on a ferry or BART and then zipping along to your destination.
Unfortunately, I do not live in San Francisco (well, not THAT unfortunate, I like where I live more) and all of my justifications for the Motocompacto are transparent and thin. But boy, it would be cool to have one of those in the trunk of the CRX for pit bike duty.
$882 Preorder at Alldiscountparts.
I really with that I hadn't just spent my fun money on passports and plane tickets.
Keith Tanner said:
It will easily fit in the rear hatch of an '85 CRX. Not that I've measured it or anything.
I was running around San Francisco last week, and this thing would have been perfect for taking on a ferry or BART and then zipping along to your destination.
Unfortunately, I do not live in San Francisco (well, not THAT unfortunate, I like where I live more) and all of my justifications for the Motocompacto are transparent and thin. But boy, it would be cool to have one of those in the trunk of the CRX for pit bike duty.
The big problem with it in San Francisco is that it won't climb hills very well. It's the same sort of drivetrain as most of the electric scooters out there, and a ~ 500 watt motor just isn't enough to maintain speed up more than a fairly modest incline.
j_tso
Dork
11/2/23 10:49 a.m.
For lugging the 40 lbs I think the handle could be extended and the kickstand could be a small frame with a pair of wheels then it can be dragged like a roller suitcase. Wheels on the side could also enable easy Akira Slides™.
In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :
There are some flat areas of SF. Our walking of the city last week only had one slope to climb. Based on the number of rental scooters zooming around, the population has certainly adopted them - and a quick (lazy) google tells me they're all 250-350W.
500W with low gearing (top speed of 12 mph implies fairly low) should be able to climb based on how well my wife's 250W pedal assist ebike climbs the big hill to our house. Twice the power and lower gearing would make a fair difference.
How do these roll when it runs out of battery?
Does it have a switch that lets it free wheel ?
j_tso
Dork
11/2/23 11:28 a.m.
In reply to californiamilleghia :
probably lift it by the seat and drag it on the front wheel.
Keith Tanner said:
In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :
There are some flat areas of SF. Our walking of the city last week only had one slope to climb. Based on the number of rental scooters zooming around, the population has certainly adopted them - and a quick (lazy) google tells me they're all 250-350W.
500W with low gearing (top speed of 12 mph implies fairly low) should be able to climb based on how well my wife's 250W pedal assist ebike climbs the big hill to our house. Twice the power and lower gearing would make a fair difference.
I have tried a couple similarly-powered scooter as pit bikes, they will not climb the hills out of the paddock at either Laguna or Sonoma, FWIW. (and no, I'm not talking about the huge grade up from 68 at Laguna, but the relatively modest one just outside the paddock gate). They work great in the flat paddock itself, they just don't work as a "I want to go watch the cars in turn X" solution.
Dunno about the rentals in SF, perhaps they're a special model? They do make scooters with more powerful motors, usually that translates into a top speed around 40 mph (and a lot more $$$), which is kind of terrifying on a lightweight scooter. Maybe there's a special one with a better motor but similarly governed?
Sonic
UberDork
12/9/23 12:04 p.m.
My original online order was cancelled, they claim because of shipping problems due to the Li ion battery. Maybe.
So about 2 weeks ago I went to Hondas Dremashop site, and the prices from dealers near me varied from $895 to $1495. I picked the one for $895 and also ordered a new front lip for the NSX as mine is torn up and figured it would be a while.
Got the notice yesterday that it was ready and picked it up today, now hiding in thr enclosed trailer to give to my wife for Christmas.
I got the call a few days ago telling me that mine should be here on Monday.
I was originally planning on getting two (one from the Honda dealership and one from Acura, I was first in line at both dealers) one to use as a pit bike and one to tuck away in an unopened box. But when the Honda dealership called, they said that they had to do the initial charge there, and log it in as basically a PDI in order to activate the warranty. That sort of killed my plan to keep one New In Box, so I'll just be getting one. I'm sure that a few will find their way out the door in sealed boxes with open warranty cards though.
He did say that they have one there that's available for demo rides if I want to try it out. And so I will.
A guy in my local Porsche club just got his to use as a pit bike for autocrosses. It fits in both the rear cargo area and the frunk of his Cayman GT4., so theoretically he could carry two, but I don't think that is his plan. He said it's much easier to get in the frunk, so that will leave the rear area open for other stuff.
In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :
The box has an access flap so it can be charged and kept charged until it's sold. I'll see if I can find the documentation at work on Monday.
As seen at Lime Rock today:
johndej
UltraDork
9/2/24 10:14 p.m.
Bumped around on my honda metropolitan 2 today (which I bought for ridiculously cheap a couple years ago), I'd trade it for one of these in a heartbeat.