Is this Honda ADV150 the coolest scooter around?

Imagine the dimly lit corner of a neighborhood bar, with smoke hanging in the air and neon lights reflecting off the picture frames and liquor bottles. Hunched over half a pint of translucent beer is a grizzled loner, not making eye contact with anyone. “You mean ol’ Jimmy G?” the bartender asks. “People say he’s got stories, but nobody bothers to ask.”

That’s the vibe I always got from this particular scooter. It's a little bit intimidating, not because of anything it did to me but rather what it looks like it’s been through. Recently, my curiosity got the better of me and I left a note for the owner, saying I wanted to hear the story of the gnarliest little scoot I’ve seen in some time.

The evil genius behind the machine is Matt, and the Honda ADV150 is his first bike. Not what I was expecting. In some ways he’s a typical scooter buyer — he liked the idea of good fuel mileage and easy parking, but didn’t want to learn how to use a conventional clutch and transmission on a typical motorcycle. This is his everyday transport. There’s no car in the driveway.

Not long after he bought it in 2022, he set to work making it into the ADV150 he really wanted. He bought a different seat, swapped the exhaust, and changed the variator weights in the centrifugal-clutch assembly. As this then-new Honda was teaching him how to ride, he was learning to be his own mechanic.

Seeing the size and style of the boxes mounted to this thing, I pretty much expected Matt to be some adventure-touring cosplayer who thought it would be funny to have a set of hard luggage on a scooter. Not even close; he just knew he wanted a place to put stuff, simple as that. The luggage came from China, allegedly for this model, but it didn’t work right away. A friend with a welder helped him sort out the mounts and get the bags secured to the scoot’s tail.

The one downside to all of the storage is weight distribution. Typical scooter design leaves a lot of weight on the rear wheel and with all of the boxes full, plus a rider, apparently this particular scoot can be more prone to wheelie than an average 150 cc machine. Practicality has its price(s).

A couple of months after Matt got this ADV150, a pickup truck turned left through an intersection in front of him. He blew out the arm of his jacket and twisted the scooter’s fork, not to mention smashing up the nice new bodywork. But, it didn’t deter him. He still rides every day.

Greater Los Angeles is not a particularly friendly place to ride a scooter. Little pockets of the city are calm and gentle, but this ADV150 has a radius of a couple dozen miles across one of the most open and busy urban sprawls in the country. It’s not fast enough for L.A. freeways, but that hasn’t stopped the odometer from creeping up on 15,000 miles in a couple of years. 

So, is this the baddest scooter in town? Maybe not, depending on your taste in two-wheeled things. For me, it’s near the top of the list. Not because the story is unique — lots of people buy bikes and modify them, Matt isn’t the only one to get up after a crash, and plenty of people log more miles.

I think my favorite thing about this urban-assault custom is that it wasn’t built with the intention of showing off. It’s not asking for anyone’s attention or aiming to win a blue ribbon. Matt isn’t actually an evil genius, he just liked the idea of a scooter and tried to make one that worked. It is unintentionally badass, the best kind. It’s Jimmy G, sitting in the corner of the bar, minding his own business. Sometimes that’s where the coolest stories are waiting.