The new Honda Motocompacto foldable electric scooter has already won your heart. You know, I know it — we all know it, so why bother even talking about practical things like ride quality, handling, comfort, and price? For me, the answer is that it’s my job, so here, allow me to tell you what it was like to ride a little electric scooter that you’re probably already in love with.
As a car journalist, my job is to enter each media event with an open mind free from preconceived notions that might taint my objectivity. But I think it’s fair to say that the vast majority of journalists attending the Honda Motocompacto event at the company’s North American headquarters in Torrance, California had already decided upon arrival: The Motocompacto is cool.
You could tell by the general vibe that permeated the air as journalists rolled in with huge smiles on their faces. We were about to ride the successor to the legendary 1980s Motocompo, the little miniature folding motorcycle designed to fit tightly into the cargo hold of the also-tiny and also-charming Honda City hatchback:
The original Motocompo featured a 2.5-ish horsepower 49cc single-cylinder two-stroke gasoline engine attached via a hand clutch to a single-speed gear reduction. It was noisy, it featured a decent number of moving parts and maintenance items like oil/fuel additions and chain greasing and carburetor cleaning, and overall it was just a contraption — a ridiculously nifty little mechanical gadget that everyone loved despite its drawbacks (like instability and moderate 20mph top speed):
The new Motocompacto is definitely a modern interpretation of the old Motocompo, but it does seem to give up some of the old machine’s mechanical charm. Gone is the internal combustion engine, clutch, oil/fuel tank, and noisy muffler; in their place is a 6.8Ah battery and an electric motor driving the front wheels (the old Motocompo was rear-drive). Here’s a look at the overall setup:
With plenty of aluminum use and a simple powertrain, the new scooter is less than half the weight of the old one, at just 41.3 pounds; like the old machine, it’s got a composite body and a bunch of fun folding mechanisms to keep things compact and fun.
Top speed is 15 mph, and range is about 12 miles, down about ~5 mph and at least 25 miles, respectively. That latter figure is a pretty significant drop, though I wouldn’t want to ride this thing more than 12 miles, anyway (more on that in a second).
Honestly, many basic scooters back in the 1980s were outfitted with little 49cc two-strokes, and today’s most basic scooters feature little electric motors, so there’s no question that the Motocompacto is, at least mechanically, the 2023 version of the old Motocompo, but is it as interesting to operate? I have never driven the old Motocompo, but I’d probably guess “not quite.”
What It’s Like Riding The Motocompacto
The Motocompacto’s controls are quite simple; there’s a small thumb “throttle” on the right side of the handlebar, and on the left is a lever to actuate the rear drum brake via a cable:
A screen at the center of the handlebar tells you what speed you’re going, whether the vehicle has been properly unfolded (if it hasn’t, there will be a lock symbol, and the scooter will not move), and which mode you’re in. Mode one requires you to push the scooter before the thumb-accelerator functions, while model two will allow you to accelerate from a dead-stop. There’s an on/off switch, and an indicator of whether the LED headlight (and also taillight) is on (when the headlight is off, it blinks — this is the daytime-running-light mode). It’s a lot simpler than the old kick-start Motocompo fire-up procedure.
Riding around Honda’s North American headquarters in Torrance as a Honda rep in a high-vis vest guided us around the beautiful campus was honestly surreal. What an absurd media event, what a beautiful day, and what a load of fun with fellow media friends (in the image, that’s Chris Rosales from The Drive and Mack Hogan from Road & Track in black and white shirts, respectively)
But I won’t pretend that riding the Motocompacto wasn’t a bit anticlimactic. I’m not saying the old Motocompo didn’t feel the same way when it was new (now the noise would likely feel like a novelty), but the reality is that most younger Americans have probably ridden E-Scooters before — they’ve become such a mainstream part of our culture in a way that scooters really never had in the past — and to be honest, the Motocompacto doesn’t really feel much different. If you’ve ridden a Bird or Lime scooter, you’ve pretty much experienced what it’s like to ride the Motocompacto.
Like a Bird or Lime Scooter, the electric Motocompacto feels fairly quick from a stop, it runs out of steam at 15-ish mph, there’s no suspension to absorb any bumps, steering is just a regular T-shaped handlebar — it’s all quite straightforward, and most will find the experience familiar.
To be sure, the Honda offers some advantages over a typical E-Scooter. The most obvious one is the existence of a seat, which is a big deal; it lets you take a load off your feet, and it lowers your center of gravity. That’s not an unsubstantial benefit, though I found the seat to be quite uncomfortable. It’s a bit small, and I felt that it put quite a bit of pressure on my rather large arse in a way that I don’t think I’d like for a long duration.
I will say that I liked the foot pegs; they were nice and relaxing, though when they were folded, it became almost impossible to deploy the kickstand (to solve this, I would weld a little tab/protrusion to the ring-section of the kickstand so it juts out a bit more):
Another advantage to the Motocompacto over a standard E-scooter is that there’s substantial storage between the plastic body-sides; you can easily stack probably a full 12-pack worth of beers in that space, and I bet quite a few purses would fit there, too. 
The Motocompacto can also be folded up in a way that not all E-Scooters can. I’m not sure it takes up any less volume than a typical E-Scooter (its folded dimensions are 29 inches by 21 inches by 4 inches), but it’s a nice rectangular bit of kit that you can easily stack things on top of. Plus, the way it folds is deeply, deeply satisfying, with high-quality latches that make just the right noises when you put the scooter together. Here’s a look at how to fold and unfold this charming little machine:
The biggest advantage of the Motocompacto, though, is the style. E-Scooters are typically so boring, with very little actual bodywork that they’re really difficult to individualize. The Motocompacto, though, is a blank canvas that you can make your own, and that alone is a big deal.
Here’s an idea with what we might do with ours (we’d also put Autopian graphics all over it):
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Anyway, let’s get back to the ride. Again, the seat isn’t that comfortable (you can see how small it is in the pic below), and as for handling, the little scooter was fun to throw into turns, though if you lean too far, the footpegs will rub.
If you lean even farther with the footpegs tucked in (requiring you to sort of “hover” your feet above the ground), you can bust your arse like the gentleman in the background of this photo did:
I went into a few turns too quickly and turned too hard, and — perhaps because of the bike’s lack of caster — the thing did want to snap-oversteer, but honestly, I would never ride this thing that way. I was just goaded by this autocross-type course that Honda set up, a hilarious setup that wasn’t needed given what this scooter is all about, but I was glad Honda put it together anyway:
It Might Be The Next Hot Thing
The Motocompacto exists, in part, to get you into Honda dealerships. “It was very intentional, the price point, to make Honda available to a wide Audience,” Honda told journalists at the press event, saying we should think of the scooter as the toy in the Happy Meal. Kids want the toy, not the hamburger, but they end up with a burger. In that analogy, the burger is a Honda car. In other words, the Motocompacto exists, in part, to lure you towards the Honda brand, and to ultimately get you to buy a car.
Should you check out a Motocompacto: Well, it all depends; you could buy an E-scooter with more range for less money, and heck, you could even buy one with what looks like a bigger, more comfortable seat, but they don’t fold like the $995 Motocompacto does and they’re not as stylish as the Motocompacto is.
And when it comes to little city runabouts like this, style is key. You’re riding this thing in dense, urban areas; to have something that looks like it comes from the future, that you can make your own with graphics, and that you can quite easily unfold from your tiny car, ride to your workplace, store in your office, and charge (3.5 hours from empty to full using the above charger) while you work so you can ride it back to the parking garage at the end of the day — it’s just cool.
It may not feel that different than a typical E-scooter, and it may not be something I’d ride long distances, but as a “first and last mile” solution, as Honda puts it, it works beautifully.
Oh, and most importantly, it can do a burnout:
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Note: You can pick up a Motocompacto from its dedicated website; sales start today. Our Mercedes just bought one and it’ll be delivered to her local Honda dealership. She paid $995 plus tax.
(Update: Some readers are pointing out that the online portal to purchase the Motocompacto shows inflated pricing depending on the dealership. We reached out to the dealerships pointed out. One of them told us the markup was made in error and would be corrected. The other dealership has not yet responded. If your dealer shows a price higher than $995, we would recommend calling ahead to get the correct price. -MS)
Grown ups wearing bicycle helmets on the back of their head… Your nose and forehead are going to hit the ground first, so protect those please (heart emoji)
https://www.bikeradar.com/advice/sizing-and-fit/how-to-wear-bike-helmet/
I just ordered one. I will show up on my Honda Insight Gen 1 to my local dealer to pick it up, I feel this is the perfect thing to pick up lunch down the street instead of moving one of my cars for a few miles. Summer please come back soon
I see this a good RV/Campsite runabout to go between the site and lodge/laundry/bathhouse, etc. I would not take it on the road as I do not want to become a hood ornament.
I probably won’t buy one (I live up a hill and the roads are way too rough for tiny solid tires w/no suspension) but I am SO glad it exists, due in part to how charming the original Motocompo is (was).
I suppose I could rationalize getting one to leave in the trunk of either of my two 20+ year old cars, but I already bought one of those $40 lithium ion battery jump boxes, which gives me some insurance against getting stranded by a drained car battery.
Still, MotoCompacto ftw! They’re not suitable for everybody, but for those who can put them to use, they look like fun on a bun. 🙂
Friend and I both ordered one this morning. Wish we had an even vague idea of what the delivery window looked like. Is it just as long as it takes to get from a domestic Honda warehouse to the dealer in question, or are we waiting till Q1 2024 for these things? Wildly excited.
Honda did not tell David. Best I could guess from other reports is that deliveries should start sometimes this month. At least it’s Honda and not some startup, so we’ll know we’ll eventually get it. lol
hyyyype
From what I can tell is that our initial allocations are a lot lower than anticipated. Our DPSM was frantically fielding emails this morning from dealers in our zone wondering where our scooters were. Currently we were told that we would only receive 5 of our original 15 unit allocation for the month (this was bumped up from 10 originally). It was also unclear if that included the demo unit that we have yet to receive and our display for it sits sad and empty. Here is to hoping I see some scoots tomorrow morning on our daily stock order!
Aah, hopefully I didn’t have much competition here in Kansas!
Seems like a missed opportunity to make it with a standard bicycle seat post. That would allow users to customize for their particular tush, including a seatpost with suspension.
Hadn’t thought of it as a competitor to a bird/lime scooter, but I guess that checks out. I guess the question would be, to me, how much does its compactness/weight benefit it vs one of those scooters? I guess it depends on if you’re fitting it in the back of a car, lugging it around a downtown / etc.
Side note, my wife and I went to a few concerts in a college town his summer – and went to/from the shows on e-bikes, then lime scooters. Everything about the trip was great, but getting on those scooters every day was always a highlight…so fun!
Hopefully that helmet is a deletable option?
I’m all for it, except that many dorms, apartments and business locations will not let you bring electric things inside for fear of battery fires. Which ruins the point of having it on a college campus. Or bringing it to work inside. How fast would this be stolen when left outside?
“Electric Things”??? Nobody tell them about laptops, phones, personal massagers…
Yeah, it’s a bit hypocritical, but after battery powered things on wheels burning up and killing people it has given decent devices a bad rap. Seems like it started with those hoverboards which didn’t hover, since they rolled on wheels. Maybe Musk named those…based on his Bladerunner driver comment.
Comparison test with Changli and $1000 Leaf when?
They seem charming as hell, but if I was going to actually do my short commute on two wheels I’d pick a conventional e-bike or scooter. I expect bigger wheels, better lighting, longer wheelbase, and actual suspension would make things safer and more comfortable. Plus this guy would get stolen in no time in my neighbourhood. It would make a great solution if you live in a small place with no storage.
Lol, my local dealer has ADM on it.
Subtotal: $1,243.75
Wait, what dealer? I’m curious about this!
Folsom Lake Honda, 95630.
Wow! Yep, the site gave me the markup, too. And that’s before taxes. Honda dealers gonna Honda dealer, I guess. I’d say try a different dealer. I didn’t pay any markup.
Yeah the next dealer 10 miles further doesn’t have it.
I found an even worse markup at a dealer local to me: $1,492. Time to make some calls…
?!?
It’s the Motocompacto, not the Motocolumbus.
lol I experienced this exact same thing
My closest dealer, in Austin TX, didn’t add any markup. Howdy Honda on HWY 71. Ordered! I’ll pick it up in my 1996 daily STEPWGN, and I’m sure it’ll fit in my 91 Beat after i get it out of the box 🙂 I’m excited!!
So, I made some calls to both Folsom and the dealer local to me. Folsom has not called back, but my local dealer (Muller Honda Gurnee) says the $1,492.50 was a data entry error that will be corrected. The real price is $995 as it should be.
I wouldn’t say it was a “data entry error” per se. All dealer parts invoicing software has a system in place to charge percentages over cost or list price as “retail” price.. the part number for this probably pulled from Hondas system and that’s what their pricing structure is set to price it at as if we’re any part priced at $995. Then they realized what it was and how stupid they’d look trying to sell it for that price and manually fixed the part number.
That would explain it! The dealer said it was an entry error, but that makes way more sense. In this case, it would appear the dealer that responded charges a near 50% markup on a $995 part. Yikes!
Yeah, I was also thinking that’s pretty egregious, but I’ve definitely seen it before. Gotta make that money, honey! (I don’t know if there’s a text input for the laughing emoji lol)
@Mercedes, that’s an exactly 50% markup, so it is almost certainly a feature of the system.
“…two-stroke gasoline engine… maintenance items like oil changes…”
I never change the oil in my two-stroke engines. I just keep adding more.
As someone who isn’t a fan of suspension in general this is somewhat concerning. They say the frame is aluminum but unless the front forks are chromoly this doesn’t bode well for frame longevity. Most Aluminum frame bicycles with much larger pneumatic tires have chromoly forks.
While I do like a lot about this vehicle the tires are too small for it to be usable for me where I am currently considering the state of the roads and the state of the sidewalks here.
I wonder if Honda will make a reverse “gyro” trike version with two front wheels. That would be very interesting.
*edit to change bikes to bicycles so that people wouldn’t accidentally think I was referring to motorcycles.
“and that you can quite easily unfold from your tiny car” It’s unfortunate that no one sells tiny cars in America any longer.
You can still buy tiny cars used or imported for cryin’ out loud. Not like you HAVE to buy everything new. My 1990 Miata is just as practical as a brand new one, the attitude of moaning about how nobody builds what we want anymore is honestly kinda silly. What you want already exists, buying a nice one or restoring a fixer-upper costs no more than you would spend on an equivalent new version and is better for the environment, it just requires you to actually maintain things and not treat your vehicles as disposable.
Anyway, I’m interested in a Motocompacto as it looks like it could actually fit in the trunk of my Miata unlike most things, and could come in handy for zipping around my college’s campus as well as the rest of the city. Only things stopping me are my Miata needing a new top, my project car needing repairs, and the fact that as I’m studying engineering I kinda want to try building my own folding e-scooter for funsies.
I can also buy a horse. But yeah, it sucks that pretty much all the small cars have disappeared from the US market — and no, not everyone is inclined to keeping a 33 year old vehicle running. There’s nothing to keep someone from buying a new small car and keeping it that long, except that you literally can’t buy a car the size of your 1990 Miata today. Cheap, simple small cars are pretty much gone from the market. I guess we’ll have to wait for the flood of small Chinese EV’s to have a decent new city car again.
I think you seriously underestimate how easy it actually is to keep a 90s car running. These aren’t new cars that break like crazy when the warranty expires, old stuff is simpler and easier to diagnose, repairs are simpler and easier to do, maintenance requirements are well understood, common problems are all known and solved, and you can still have an indie mechanic do all that for you if you don’t want to mess with it. Modern lubricants are also better than anything they had back then, so they’re actually more reliable now than ever before. I’ve daily driven a car from the 60s and the 90s and they’ve been fine, you just maintain them like you should any car. They’re just cars.
I daily a 1996 Honda STEPWGN, and weekly a 1991 Honda Beat. You can bet your ass that this thing is going in both of em 🙂 Good luck in your engineering studies and career!
Yeah but can I take it on a BDR?
Sweeeet!!
Does this mean that if the M-pacto is in Mode 1 it is more or less freewheeling until the motor is engaged? If that is the case, I envision the rider getting to the destination and simply walking the scooter inside, rather than carrying it.
(I’m assuming there is some mechanism to lock at least one of the wheels when the scooter is collapsed.)
The buying process is a bit weird (you can buy from either Honda or Acura, but it’s all the same) but I just put in my order! $1,077 after tax and will be delivered to my local Honda dealer.
I’ll throw a pillow on that tiny seat.
Yeah, but what’s availability going to actually be like? That’s my concern is that they’re going to snapped up largely by scalpers who won’t sell for less than $2,144+. Will I have to buy a Honda or Acura, or be an existing owner, to get a guaranteed place?
That’s a better question for David since I wasn’t at that event.
The buying process was super easy, barely an inconvenience. The website does not care if you do or do not currently own a Honda/Acura product. Also interesting is the fact that the scoot is sold through the car division and not powersports. So, whenever it shows up I’ll be getting a scooter from a car dealership. 🙂
I reckon bots and scalpers will try to ruin the fun, so I put in my order today before any of that nonsense happens.
Did they give you any indication when it will be delivered? Do they charge you upfront, or upon delivery?
My card was charged immediately and I was not given a delivery date.
Reading other reviews, it sounds like deliveries begin sometime this month. I’m supposed to get an email when mine shows up at the dealer.
Good for you! How does it arrive and what is the wait time? Delivery charges?
It will show up at my nearest Honda dealer whenever (???) the scoots begin shipping. No delivery, document, or shipping charge, just tax.
Can’t wait to see your review.
I can’t believe they embargoed this story. Sheesh.
It’s not a nuclear-powered NSX, people.
You can tell it’s a Honda EV because it’s 5 years late to the market. Pass.
#stilldiningoutontheirreuptation
I love it. I’ll never buy one, but I love it. Plenty of other people will buy one. I predict these will be all over the pits of every race track next season.
Honestly for the price it’s not bad. This is a really good solution for people who take public transportation. I don’t need one but I kind of want one and want to wrap it in Gulf or Castrol livery. If I ever got a city job and took a train in this would be the first thing I’d buy.
I want it, but it’s really hard to justify it against folding e-bikes at the same price point that have more capability. Also, I don’t need last mile transportation that often, and $1000 is a lot of Lime scooter rides.
But I still want it.
I feel the same way. The Lectric XP lite folding bike is $750, has much larger wheels/tires, a higher top speed, Is availalbe in one of the best blue colors ever, and it only weighs 5 lbs more than the Motocompacto. I’d rather have the Motocompacto for some reason.
I really think the advantage of the motocompacto is that it fits in a car’s trunk. Even a folding e-bike won’t be easy to fit in every car’s trunk. I could drive to the city, park wherever is easiest to park just outside the city, and then ride the motocompacto everywhere else without dealing with stop and go city driving or parking.
I do that all the time at the beach, I park inland a few blocks for free and then ride down to the sand.
I have a blue Lectric Lite and I took it on the train to work today. I moved into a second story apartment, and the difference between lifting a <50 pound ebike up a flight of stairs or into my trunk and my old 70 pound ebike is night and day. More lightweight electric vehicles, please!
I love the Lectric bikes, but I already have a nice fat tire e-bike, that while heavy, only gets lifted occasionally. The motocompaco is really in the scooter category IMO, but I dig it.
I foresee many, many canine encounters. FYI, even average dogs can easily exceed 15 mph. Plus, on this thing, your butt is right down in their biting wheelhouse.
That’s why you should always have your cropduster ready!
I think the tiny seat might affect deployment?
Depends on how much overhang the rider’s sporting, I imagine.
Nothing that a dremel can’t take care of
Did not think of that. Guess I better bring my Taser when out riding?
New product for e-scooterists: Taser-pants! Special wire-lined trousers for giving ill-intentioned pants contactors a shocking surprise! Now with optional insulated inner skin barrier.
It’s the price that’s the killer here. It’s neat albeit a little slow and lacking in range, but if this came from some upstart company it would easily cost 2x more than what Honda is asking. If I lived in the city instead of suburban hell I could see myself getting one. One thing I didn’t see is the battery type and replaceability.
Also, all of the photos of David riding this thing are prime Photoshop Battle material. The possibilities are endless.
Based on the website it seems like these are likely going to be pretty simple to disassemble, and that the battery is just mounted to the top of the frame, which should be accessible by popping the body panels off. I figure we’ll only need to wait until about Christmas until aftermarket battery packs and software updates are available for more range power.
And the subsequent posts and discussions of the person who melted or had their Motocompacto catch fire while they were using a chinzy aftermarket battery instead of a quality one
It’ll definitely happen unfortunately, but I really hope a solid aftermarket, even if just in Etsy Shop form, pops up for these things. I have no need for one, but absolutely want to get my hands on one and tinker with it do some customization, but will likely wait at least 6 months at least to wait for some other people to take the fall first.