NOTE: This does not work on the 2nd gen groms as they have different fork caps.
If anyone needs these parts PM me, I can get them to you for ~15 bucks shipped.
Alright, as we all know the stock forks are super soft, bottom out stupid easy and dont have much travel.
So after looking at options from racetech, ohlins etc and looking at how the forks were built i was like... hmm i dont feel like dropping 300+ bucks for fork upgrades, but id like to do something about it. So i purchased some 20wt oil, but while that was coming in the mail i decided to take it one step further, Get me some more suspension travel.
On the grom front forks this is actually REALLY easy and can be done CHEAP, im talking 5 bucks in parts at the hardware store. Essentially i made the internal damper rod 1inch longer via a 1inch long steel spacer to move the top of the rod down one inch. This is not adding preload to the spring, but increasing overall travel (similar to the racetech fork upgrades and how they are 20mm longer than stock). Personally i like the soft springs as they provide a nice ride and i do a good amount of off roading as well... so this mod has a twofold benefit as i get ground clearance, more suspension travel etc.
Here are the stock top cap internals taken apart
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And stock top cap internals stacked together as they come out. Note that the damper rod goes through the center and there is a lil cir clip on the rod that holds the big washer you see from sliding down the rod.
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Below are the parts I used for the spacer. The row at the top are parts I bought at the hardware store. An M8 x 50mm long cap head bolt, a 1inch long spacer that just so happened to be the perfect size (same OD as the damper rod ~ 12mm), 2 small thin 1/2in ID rubber washers to take up some space, and a small OD M8 washer to hold the stock bottom out washer in place (this was the job of the small circlip previously)
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Here is the spacer seated in the stock top cap
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Here is the stock rubber bottom out bumper over the new spacer (2 thin rubber washers went between the top cap and stock rubber bumper). Note how there is a little extra of the spacer sticking out. The stock bottom out washer slides over this and gets held in place by the M8 washer purchased above)
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And this is the final product that gets screwed back on the damper rod. Yes the silver M8 washer is much larger than the stock circlip used to hold the bottom out washer, but its not an issue, the inner diameter of the stock lower fork tube that this assembly goes down into is PLENTY big enough for this washer to clear. In essence the spacer and silver m8 washer are sandwiched between the stock top cap and the top of the stock damper rod.
![]()
While i was doing this mod, I also changed out the fork oil to 20wt maxima fork oil at the recommended height (YOU CAN NOT increase oil height by much at all!!!!, after some measurements and experimenting with oil height, stick with the stock 75mm of oil height. Going taller makes it to where there is no room for air when the fork is compressed... NOT GOOD!)
Overall impressions.... HOLLY SHIT, WORLDS better, I had to TRY to make it bottom out now, places where it would bottom out before didnt even come close.
For 15 bucks (10 for fork oil, 5 in parts from the hardware store) I could not be happier with the results!!
Feel free to ask questions.
If anyone needs these parts PM me, I can get them to you for ~15 bucks shipped.
Alright, as we all know the stock forks are super soft, bottom out stupid easy and dont have much travel.
So after looking at options from racetech, ohlins etc and looking at how the forks were built i was like... hmm i dont feel like dropping 300+ bucks for fork upgrades, but id like to do something about it. So i purchased some 20wt oil, but while that was coming in the mail i decided to take it one step further, Get me some more suspension travel.
On the grom front forks this is actually REALLY easy and can be done CHEAP, im talking 5 bucks in parts at the hardware store. Essentially i made the internal damper rod 1inch longer via a 1inch long steel spacer to move the top of the rod down one inch. This is not adding preload to the spring, but increasing overall travel (similar to the racetech fork upgrades and how they are 20mm longer than stock). Personally i like the soft springs as they provide a nice ride and i do a good amount of off roading as well... so this mod has a twofold benefit as i get ground clearance, more suspension travel etc.
Here are the stock top cap internals taken apart
And stock top cap internals stacked together as they come out. Note that the damper rod goes through the center and there is a lil cir clip on the rod that holds the big washer you see from sliding down the rod.
Below are the parts I used for the spacer. The row at the top are parts I bought at the hardware store. An M8 x 50mm long cap head bolt, a 1inch long spacer that just so happened to be the perfect size (same OD as the damper rod ~ 12mm), 2 small thin 1/2in ID rubber washers to take up some space, and a small OD M8 washer to hold the stock bottom out washer in place (this was the job of the small circlip previously)
Here is the spacer seated in the stock top cap
Here is the stock rubber bottom out bumper over the new spacer (2 thin rubber washers went between the top cap and stock rubber bumper). Note how there is a little extra of the spacer sticking out. The stock bottom out washer slides over this and gets held in place by the M8 washer purchased above)
And this is the final product that gets screwed back on the damper rod. Yes the silver M8 washer is much larger than the stock circlip used to hold the bottom out washer, but its not an issue, the inner diameter of the stock lower fork tube that this assembly goes down into is PLENTY big enough for this washer to clear. In essence the spacer and silver m8 washer are sandwiched between the stock top cap and the top of the stock damper rod.
While i was doing this mod, I also changed out the fork oil to 20wt maxima fork oil at the recommended height (YOU CAN NOT increase oil height by much at all!!!!, after some measurements and experimenting with oil height, stick with the stock 75mm of oil height. Going taller makes it to where there is no room for air when the fork is compressed... NOT GOOD!)
Overall impressions.... HOLLY SHIT, WORLDS better, I had to TRY to make it bottom out now, places where it would bottom out before didnt even come close.
For 15 bucks (10 for fork oil, 5 in parts from the hardware store) I could not be happier with the results!!
Feel free to ask questions.
Here are the part numbers used.
Thank you nd4spdbh!!! What a deal to change the uber poor performance of those stock forks! I didn't do the 20wt yet (couldn't wait, but oh what a difference. Here's how I did the mod, hope I did it right:
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