I didn't choose the scooter life; the scooter life chose me. Or, to be more specific, the maxi-scooter life chose me.
See, once upon a time, I was going to culinary school, and I had a big ol' knife roll that I needed to carry with me on a daily basis. Now, I don't know how familiar you are with knife rolls that professional kitchen-types carry, but if you either are one, know one, or you've just watched a lot of Top Chef, you've probably seen them.
They're long. Too long to fit in your bog-standard motorcycle pannier or top case, in fact.
As a result, way back when I took my very first MSF course and got my motorcycle license, I opted for a Suzuki Burgman 400 as the very first two-wheeled vehicle I would ever own. It had all the power I needed to get on the local expressways, and it had a ton of underseat storage space for my knife roll, plus other things.
In other words, it's incredibly practical. I also have a tank bag (the tank flap is on the hump in between your feet on the floorboard, so not quite like a traditional tank bag) for it, and there's enough space in the glove box to hold either a standard carton of 12 eggs or a carton of cigarettes (I don't smoke, but I've picked some up for family before). And I've also bungeed just about everything that can be bungeed to the back seat, but you can do that on any bike with good mounting points for your bungee hooks.
So you could say that I've been scooter-pilled from the start. I mean, off the showroom floor and without modifications, they're not the quickest. But you're not going everywhere in your daily life at top speed, are you? You need to live your life and do regular things. Get groceries. Run errands. Commute to work or school (or both). And carry a certain amount of necessary stuff with you when you do.
I've since gone on to both ride and own plenty of other motorbikes. And while I love them, particularly my all-time fave Honda Hawk GT 650 and the fantastic, grin-inducing triple in my Triumph Street Triple R, neither of those bikes is the absolute workhorse that my ancient Burgie is. And I'm honest enough to admit it.
But, you know. Different tools for different jobs. Hammers are great if you need to pound a nail or fix a Ford F100 (or so I hear from RideApart's resident mountain man, Jonathon Klein), but they don't work so well when it's a cutting job you're after.
If you're real honest with yourself, and I mean truly, soul-searingly honest, scooters are quite simply the most practical two-wheelers that most folks could own.
I mean, just ask most of Asia, as well as a whole lot of folks in Europe.
But a lot of people aren't super excited by scooters, even though you only have to spend a minimal amount of time online to find videos of folks taking their 125s and 110s up treacherous mountain roads in Brazil in their flip-flops with washing machines on the back like it's nothing.
And so, a few years ago, Honda Europe asked itself what it could do to make scooters more exciting. Folks in Europe don't seem to have the small-displacement hate that we Americans do, and scooters as a category are already much more popular there than they are here. But still, it looked for the answer.
The resulting kwisatz haderach two-wheeler it created was the original X-ADV. Here, at last, was a scooter for riders to get genuinely excited about.
But it's been a few years, and people move on. Even though the X-ADV has proved to be quite a big seller, Honda knows that you don't stay on top by standing still. In 2021, it had its first refresh, and for the 2025 model year, it's getting its second one.
This time, the focus is primarily on style. Even if you're a scooter skeptic, you have to admit this thing looks fantastic.
The redesigned LED headlights now feature daytime running lights with integrated turn signals. It's so slick, you guys. Just purely from an aesthetics standpoint, it looks so clean. No unnecessary, extraneous turn signal stalks sticking out at odd angles, ruining the lines of the front of the thing. Also, one less thing to get broken if you get into any scrapes with your X-ADV. And as a bonus, they also won't end up with droopy stalks after several years, like my 1985 VF500F Interceptor.
New for 2025, the Honda X-ADV also gets cruise control as standard, as well as fitment of Honda's Dual Clutch Transmission (the same one you'll find as an available option on the Africa Twin). The windscreen has three separate settings, and Honda says it's now single-hand adjustable (on the left-hand side).
You get a five-inch TFT dash that's controllable via the backlit four-way toggle switch on the left handlebar, a reprofiled seat with 10 percent more urethane padding and a new profile that Honda says should make it easier for most riders to reach the ground, and a nice 22-liter underseat storage area with a USB-C charging socket.
So far, it's only been launched in Europe, though previous X-ADVs have found their way to Asia as well. Absolutely zero of these have made it to the US, though, and while I'll remain sad about it, I don't know how many riders here are willing to get on board with this level of style and practicality in a single package.
Especially not at the price Honda is asking. Pricing varies by market, but in the UK, the 2025 X-ADV starts at £11,249, which, to its credit, is just £50 more than the 2024 version. At the time of writing, that converts to US $14,986. In other words, this is a nearly $15,000 scooter, and that's just the base MSRP, excluding any destination or other charges.
Now, obviously, OEMs price things differently in different markets, and direct price conversions are rarely a thing. And despite the fact that price seems higher than any reasonable person would probably pay in the US for a 750cc scooter, let's look at the price of another 750cc motorcycle that Honda does currently sell in the US.
Gallery: 2025 Honda X-ADV
In fact, let's look at one that shares the same engine as the X-ADV; the NC750X DCT. If you want a new one of those right now, American Honda's suggested MSRP is US $9,499. I'm no mathematician, but that's quite a bit less than almost $15,000.
Would Americans buy an X-ADV for NC750X DCT prices? That's a question I don't know the answer to. When larger-displacement maxi-scooters were regularly sold in dealerships (including my Burgie's big brother, the Burgman 650, or the Piaggio BV 650, or even the slightly smaller Aprilia Scarabeo 500), they didn't sell particularly well here. Most scooter aficionados in the US tend to go small (and possibly also vintage, or at least vintage-styled).
Pricing is relative, and if the X-ADV's current European pricing has been attracting customers in droves, there's no reason to believe that shouldn't continue with this styling update. To my eyes at least, the styling is on point. The four different 2025 colorways are also nice, with neutral options (if that's your thing), as well as that gorgeous bright yellow if you're more like me, and you like a bit of color.
