Think mini motos, and you’d undoubtedly think about the Honda’s mini line-up: the Cub, the Monkey, the Trail, and the Grom. But what if these bikes could get even “mini-er”? Say hello to Bluroc X-Bongo 50.
Where the Honda mini motos are all based on a 125cc platform, the X-Bongo 50 is based on an even smaller 50cc platform. And if you were to forget the small displacement for a while, you could easily mistake it for the Honda Monkey!
Bluroc is a Belgium-based, small-capacity bikemaker that's been around since 2013and now has a presence in seven countries throughout Europe. Its lineup is pretty interesting. You’ve got 250cc cruiser and scramblers to a 125cc tracker, and now a 50cc Honda Monkey styled mini moto.
The X-Bongo 50 is powered by a horizontal 50cc single-cylinder air-cooled engine that’s equipped with electronic fuel injection. It’s paired with a four-speed manual gearbox that offers good low-rpm torque.
Peak power is rated at a mere 3.2 horsepower (2.4 kW). Yup, you read that right – 3.2 hp! The thing weighs 211 lb (96 kg) dry, and I have to say, it’s not light for the power it produces by any stretch of the imagination. In comparison, the Honda Monkey weighs 231 lb (105 kg) wet, but it still produces 9.4 hp. That’s a power-to-weight ratio of 0.040 hp/lb as opposed to X-Bongo 50’s 0.015 hp/lb.
It sits on an inverted front fork and twin rear shock absorbers with adjustable preload. Braking comes in the form of discs at both the front and rear wheels – both of which are 12 inches in size.
Despite its retro appearance, the Bluroc X-Bongo 50 gets an LCD dashboard that provides all the necessary information, plus a waterproof USB socket, on the handlebars. You also get LED lighting all around. On the styling front, the racing-inspired graphics accentuate the angular lines and the short yet aggressive stance.
At 65 x 30 x 41 in (1,650 x 760 x 1035 mm), it’s a small motorcycle. With an adjustable seat height of 29/30.7 inches (735/780 mm) and a wheelbase of 45.4 inches (1155 mm), I can see people hopping on it and having fun.
At £2,399 (around US$3,300), it’s priced just about right for beginner riders. With real motorcycle components in a scaled-down form factor, it might just serve as the ideal first motorcycle for skill building and a fast learning curve.
Should you get one? Well, the fact that it’s not currently available in the US answers half of that question. You can’t. But even if it were to launch in North America at some point, the simple truth is that there are tons of electric options you could go for instead.
Even at that price, from off-road-focused dirt bikes to beginner e-motos from SurRon, LightBee, and ShineRay, you do get plenty of options. So the big question is this: Are electric motorcycles slowly taking over the entry-level space and making cool purpose-built mini-motos like these obsolete?
Source: BLUROC
