So I recently picked up a used 2015 for $2000 with 511 miles on the odometer. I looked for a while till this gem popped up and drove about 165 miles each way to pick it up. It had a Vagabond fender eliminator kit, TST front flush mounts/electronic flasher relay, and some cheap Aprilia style mirrors. Besides those mods it was completely stock, hadn't even had the first service done. My plan for the Grom is to build it up to be a bike I can ride to my local Kart track, spend a few hours there, and ride back. The track is about a 10 minute ride from my house, so its super convenient. I can pack some snacks/drinks, a few tools, mini tire compressor, camping chair in a backpack, wear my track gear over there, remove the headlight/taillight/tag and be good to ride.
It passed inspection without issue and I got the reg/tags/title/insurance all sorted out. The first thing I did was swap out the stock Vee Rubber tires for a pair of Pirelli Diablo scooter tires. I hadn't found many reviews of these tires but I figured I'd give them a shot. The literature on them makes it sound like they are just a downsized version of the Diablo Rosso Corsa 3 tires.
Front tire profile
Rear tire profile
These things are miles better than the stock Vee Rubber which felt like I was riding on some Lego tires. The profile on the tires makes the Grom turn in really fast, and they hold a line pretty damn good. I feel like I can get on the brakes without fear of the Vee Rubber tire just washing out. It's a very confidence inspiring tire. I'll be able to give more feedback on the tires once I get some more miles on them, but initial impressions are very good.
I wanted some lower and wider bars to be able to get down and off to the inside of the bike, and get a bit more weight on the front end. I ordered up a set of the ProTaper Honda Mini bars as they are lower/wider/and should hold up to a crash way better with the center brace. I topped them off with a pair of the Domino MotoGP grips.
I went simple on the footpegs and went with a set of PSR's. I may go with a set of Driven or Woodcraft rearsets in the future, but these made a huge improvement in grip, which was my major gripe with the stock footpegs.
Next on my list for track prep was getting some real suspension on the bike. I'm kind of a suspension snob and need a really tuneable suspension and have it setup correctly. I also ride an R6 with a full RaceTech setup and it's amazing. After doing lots of research I went with the Racing Bros fork kit and shock simply because of all the adjustability. For most people the Ohlins will probably be suitable as an upgrade in the forks, but I think it would drive me crazy not being able to tune it. The Racing Bros shock only adds a high speed compression damping circuit over the Ohlins, and its a good deal cheaper too.
Fork tubes clamped in the vice using the Racing Bros foork tool.
Heating up those fork lowers to soften up the threadlocker.
Nasty crud between the lower and tube.
Cleaned the crud off.
Removing the spring cap off fork tube.
Done installing the fork kit.
Rear shock is a breeze to install.
The suspension REALLY made a big difference to the Grom. Tires were a big jump, the forks and shock were a leap. The suspension doesn't just bottom out with me bouncing on it. With stock suspension at pace if you hit a mid corner bump, I felt like I was getting bounced off of my line. Now the suspension just moves and bumps barely upset the chassis. Under hard braking I could pretty much get the fork to almost bottom out, now there is actually support under hard braking, and I'm not afraid of bottom out, as we all know once the fork is bottomed out, the tire is the next thing to slide. This Grom is just a pleasure to ride around town, or in anger on the kart track. Next time when I service the forks I will use 10w oil as I'm close to the end of the adjustments on the forks using the recommended 7w oil.
While I had the rear cowling off to install the rear shock, I went ahead and installed the new CustomLED BlasterX tail light and Targa fender eliminator kit. I know this is an aesthetic mod, but for me, it was more of a quick change setup for the track. Two nuts off the back of the tail light and the plug and it comes out. Two nuts and bolts for the tag and it comes off, and we all know how easily the headlight comes off.
Part 2 in the next post.
It passed inspection without issue and I got the reg/tags/title/insurance all sorted out. The first thing I did was swap out the stock Vee Rubber tires for a pair of Pirelli Diablo scooter tires. I hadn't found many reviews of these tires but I figured I'd give them a shot. The literature on them makes it sound like they are just a downsized version of the Diablo Rosso Corsa 3 tires.
Front tire profile
Rear tire profile
These things are miles better than the stock Vee Rubber which felt like I was riding on some Lego tires. The profile on the tires makes the Grom turn in really fast, and they hold a line pretty damn good. I feel like I can get on the brakes without fear of the Vee Rubber tire just washing out. It's a very confidence inspiring tire. I'll be able to give more feedback on the tires once I get some more miles on them, but initial impressions are very good.
I wanted some lower and wider bars to be able to get down and off to the inside of the bike, and get a bit more weight on the front end. I ordered up a set of the ProTaper Honda Mini bars as they are lower/wider/and should hold up to a crash way better with the center brace. I topped them off with a pair of the Domino MotoGP grips.
I went simple on the footpegs and went with a set of PSR's. I may go with a set of Driven or Woodcraft rearsets in the future, but these made a huge improvement in grip, which was my major gripe with the stock footpegs.
Next on my list for track prep was getting some real suspension on the bike. I'm kind of a suspension snob and need a really tuneable suspension and have it setup correctly. I also ride an R6 with a full RaceTech setup and it's amazing. After doing lots of research I went with the Racing Bros fork kit and shock simply because of all the adjustability. For most people the Ohlins will probably be suitable as an upgrade in the forks, but I think it would drive me crazy not being able to tune it. The Racing Bros shock only adds a high speed compression damping circuit over the Ohlins, and its a good deal cheaper too.
Fork tubes clamped in the vice using the Racing Bros foork tool.
Heating up those fork lowers to soften up the threadlocker.
Nasty crud between the lower and tube.
Cleaned the crud off.
Removing the spring cap off fork tube.
Done installing the fork kit.
Rear shock is a breeze to install.
The suspension REALLY made a big difference to the Grom. Tires were a big jump, the forks and shock were a leap. The suspension doesn't just bottom out with me bouncing on it. With stock suspension at pace if you hit a mid corner bump, I felt like I was getting bounced off of my line. Now the suspension just moves and bumps barely upset the chassis. Under hard braking I could pretty much get the fork to almost bottom out, now there is actually support under hard braking, and I'm not afraid of bottom out, as we all know once the fork is bottomed out, the tire is the next thing to slide. This Grom is just a pleasure to ride around town, or in anger on the kart track. Next time when I service the forks I will use 10w oil as I'm close to the end of the adjustments on the forks using the recommended 7w oil.
While I had the rear cowling off to install the rear shock, I went ahead and installed the new CustomLED BlasterX tail light and Targa fender eliminator kit. I know this is an aesthetic mod, but for me, it was more of a quick change setup for the track. Two nuts off the back of the tail light and the plug and it comes out. Two nuts and bolts for the tag and it comes off, and we all know how easily the headlight comes off.
Part 2 in the next post.