If it’s small and it comes from Honda, you can bet your bottom Dollar Steady Garage will be all over it. The Californian outfit is best known for their wild Honda Ruckus and Grom customs, and stocks a staggering number of scooter and mini-moto parts. So it’s hardly surprising that the first custom Honda Motocompacto we’ve seen comes from the Steady crew.
Recently released by Honda, the Motocompacto is an all-electric reissue of the adorable, legendary, and ultimately short-lived, Honda Motocompo. Produced between 1981 and 1983 and only sold in Japan, the Motocompo was a 50 cc moped that could fold up to fit inside the trunk of a car. It was targeted at commuters who had to park far from work as a ‘last mile’ solution—but it never caught on.
The new Honda Motocompacto brings the original Motocompo concept into the modern age, with an electric drivetrain that’s good for a top speed of 24 km/h [15 mph] and a maximum range of 19 kilometers [12 miles]. Early reviews have been positive, and the battery-powered moped is reportedly selling like hotcakes.
The Honda Motocompacto’s small, appliance-like build suits its intended usage perfectly—but that didn’t stop Steady Garage. When the Motcompacto hit the scene, the guys couldn’t resist the urge to mess with it.
“Everyone here at the shop loves to play and tinker with new toys, especially ones from Honda,” says Steady co-founder, Kevin Dunn. “Since it has two wheels, is small, and looks cool out of the box, we knew we had to build a few of these and design some parts together with Chimera Engineering [Steady’s go-to parts fabricator].”
“We named it ‘Moto Distracto,’ because all of the technical guys in the shop dropped everything that we’re working on, and spent a bunch of time R&D’ing things for it, distracting us from our daily tasks.”
The Steady team had a bunch of ideas for the Motocompacto, but at the top of their list was the notion of sticking a fat rear tire onto it (relatively speaking, of course). It seems like a weird thing to get hung up on, but big rear wheels are a central piece of Steady’s history.
“Our passion for mini-motos and scooters started with the Honda Ruckus,” Kevin explains. “Back in 2007, having a fat rear wheel on the Ruckus was unheard of in America. We saw that Tokyo Parts were doing them in Japan, but in the States, no one had successfully completed one at the time.”
“The majority of people who owned a Ruckus wanted one—it’s one way to set the scooter apart from everything else. Through a few trials and errors, we managed to get a few done and created the complete 150 cc engine swap kit with the ‘fatty’ rear wheel option for the market. This completely changed and steered the direction of Ruckus builds in the USA.”
“When Honda released the news that they were going to release an electric version of the Motocompo, our team all had the vision to have a fat rear wheel on there. It’s one way for us to bring back the nostalgic times of the pre-2010 era.”
Given its size, there’s not much wiggle room around the Motocompacto’s rear wheel. Steady and Chimera worked together, designing and machining a burly new swingarm that Kevin tells us took a few attempts to get right. The wide rear wheel comes from a racing go-kart and is made out of magnesium.
Chimera also machined a new rear hub, which not only matched the kart wheel to the custom swingarm but also made provision for a cable-actuated disc brake. (It should offer a lot more stopping power than the OEM drum brake, although we doubt the Motocompacto needs it.)
The other obvious change is the Motocompacto’s new side panels. Made from scratch by Chimera, they’re modeled after the MOLLE webbing systems used by the military, offering a versatile way to carry extra stuff on your 12-mile-maximum commute.
Next, Steady ripped out the Motocompacto’s headlight, replacing it with an ultra-bright LED unit from Baja Designs. The OEM part is recessed into the front of the scoot’s bodywork, but Steady’s design is bolder, with a custom-made ‘nacelle’ shrouding the top of the light. Finishing touches include leather trim on the grips and seat, CNC-machined bar-ends, and a motorsports-inspired graphics kit.
Kevin assures us that this is only the beginning of the Moto Distracto’s transformation. As they head into summer, Steady Garage will have their hands full with various events and activities—but the next phase of the project is already planned for when the dust settles.
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