This post will encapsulate nearly 3 full years of this build, so strap in.
When I created the 2.0 version of the website you see here, I gained a lot of functionality my older, more basic web hosting platform could only dream of. So my documentation (if you could call it that, it was passive, at best) of modifications and improvements went to a thread I made on the build forums of hondagrom.net. I started the thread the moment I brought the grom home from the dealer, because I knew it was not going to be stock for long. If memory serves, I think it lasted about 2 hours? Maybe 3?
Below is taken from my original posted updates, any future updates will be added to this site in the form of new blog posts.
July 23, 2016
“Thought I’d share my Grom story.
“After commuting with a truck for 3 1/2 years and attempting to find parking in the downtown SD area I started looking for other options. My neighbor sold me a 1987 Honda Elite 50 scooter a few months back for $420. It was a POS with looks only a mother could love (dubbed it “Mess-pa”) but it ran like a champ. Decided I needed something a little newer and faster since its top speed was 35 mph on a downward grade. Sold it for a small profit and while comparing scooters saw the Grom. Noticed it was similarly priced and over 100mpg, not to mention it looked a million times better than any zuma or ruckus.
“So last week I picked up a cherry 2015 with 2 miles on the clock for the same/less than used Groms are going for in my area!
“Immediately I began making it my own. I don’t have too much $$ to customize nor do I like the crazy outlandish things with LED lightstrips underneath everything and that can be traced by the car alarms it sets off. I plan to do this bike up subtly with modifications/upgrades where it counts. First thing first was removing all the pointless warning stickers. Also took off the decals below the seat I think it looks cleaner that way. The dealer threw in a hotbodies FE kit at a good price so also immediately threw that on.
“Shameless plug for the dealer, sure they appreciate it.”
July 23, 2016
“My girlfriend described the front turn signals as reindeer ears so they had to go, found flush-mounted LEDs on ebay for only $15. Also had to swap out the flasher relay. It was a quick 20 minute job.”
July 23, 2016
“Did some searches on the forum for things I can do to improve it on the cheap and/or free mods. Of course I did the airbox mod, but instead of turning the intake snorkel 180 degrees I just removed it all together and gutting the inside of the box and removed the mesh panel behind the filter. This mod alone improved my bottom end pull not to mention sounds great! I ordered a K&N filter so that’ll go in soon.
“Also did ND4’s Fork Mod, also highly recommend! As I’m sure most of you know the forks come pretty weak stock. This mod simply adds an inch of length to the inner rod. No more dipping under it’s own weight!”
July 23, 2016
“Ordered a new set of mirrors, short clutch/brake levers, and x-mount for my phone on amazon. In the meantime I found a couple of small things to do while I wait for the UPS man. Had some carbon-fiber-esq decals laying around so tried to cover the center piece of the shroud. I like it but I have to redo it, already peeling off.
“Also bent the horn bracket up to tuck under the headlight better, not really noticeable but whatever I was bored.
“Also found a nice camera bag at walmart for $9 and slid it onto the handlebars, perfect little pouch to put my disc brake lock.”
July 28, 2016
“Look what came in today! Threw these on, the levers are ride it brand on amazon. They were cheap and I know many forum members were complaining about the fitment, which admittedly I agree with. However, I’m not a total stickler for these kind of things and simply moved the perch away from the grip which made it MUCH better. My fingers are long so I can set them out pretty far and not worry about jamming my ring finger all the time.
“Also, been toying the idea of adding a stereo somewhere, so I did! The speaker is a waterproof/shockproof bluetooth speak I got from Costco a year ago. It has a tripod mount nut built in, so all I did was find a 1/4 20 bolt at ACE and borrowed a rubber clamp from my YZ and presto! A $2 stereo mount.”
August 3, 2016
“Nothing new since last week. All the parts I’m waiting for are on the slow boat from Hong Kong or are not in stock, so just rode it.”
August 6, 2016
“Had some more “fun” with carbon fiber wrap. Wrapped the tank cover last night, all it took was 3 podcasts, 2 beers, and a small burn on my thumb from the heat gun. Pretty proud of it having never wrapped anything this complicated, f’ed up a little in the corners. Not bad for $3 in vinyl wrap from Ebay.“
August 10, 2016
“Got a lot of stuff in the mail so jumped right into it. New mirrors for a kick off, kinda got these not knowing how they’d look. I like em so far, visibility not as good as the mickey-mouse stock mirrors, but look 1,000% better. They also don’t stick out too far past the bar ends, which is important to me because I lane split all day every day.
“Also got my rod ends for morti’s shift lever mod in the mail FINALLY, only took a month. Took it up and down the block, seems pretty solid. Not a huge difference in feel but much more secure than that dinky rod and cotter pins. Reliability for $5, not bad at all.
“Ordered a 14T sprocket as well, but motosport f’ed up. It was nowhere close (was expecting it to be smaller), so gotta wait on that.”
August 21, 2016
“I finally broke down (aka I had a couple drinks and went online shopping) and bought the MIVV slip on exhaust. Shout out to Greg at MNNTHX for the incredibly fast service! I ordered it super late Thursday night and Saturday morning it was on my doorstep!
“Had some fun testing out the 3 different db levels. Gonna try and do a sound test video if anyone is interested. What I can note:
1. Quietest (all baffles in) is as close to stock as it can get, nearly identical at idle and below about 5k rpm. After that it does get a little “throatier”
2. Mid (single drilled baffle) is noticeably louder when moving, definite sound difference. Sounds like the bike ate too many beans round the campfire, reminds me of my old CRF450 exhaust. However gets real quiet at idle which I like.
3. Loudest (no baffles) is fairly loud, perhaps a bit too loud for my taste. But it sounds real nice, deep and throaty.
“Gonna test it out for a bit, I’m going to stick with either the mid or quietest setting, haven’t decided yet.”
August 21, 2016
“Got a license plate frame! Not too exciting, but I made it myself. My mom has a 3D printer and I’m learning to design prints in Inventor, so I made a simple frame that actually fit with my hotbodies FE kit, the turn signals are snug to the plate itself so you can’t fit a standard plate frame on it. In hindsight I’d thicken the bottom of the frame to cover the bottom mounting holes but hey it’s my first attempt. Also made out of semi-reflective material which is a bonus.“
August 28, 2016
“Got the 14T sprocket sorted out, ended up finding a JT sprocket on ebay for cheap. Didn’t take pics cause it was a quick job (just imagine a stock sprocket with one missing tooth). Acceleration feels normal now, the stock sprocket felt sluggish unless I went WOT from the start. Easy $12 mod.“
September 2, 2016
“Got more goodies! These I was really looking forward to. Found a good pair of SS braided brake lines from Hard Racing, the lines are from core moto and nearly everyone was selling them, also on amazon and ebay, but HR had them the cheapest! Was able to custom pick the line color and banjo fittings, went with carbon lines and gold banjo fittings to compliment my potential idea of powdercoating the wheels gold. They look really clean and feel great, much easier to do stoppies now!”
September 2, 2016
“It saddens me to say, but I think I’m running out of things to add to this build. Went for a long ride after testing the brake lines and this bike is so dialed, I absolutely love it. Probably not gonna add anything for a while and just ride it.”
September 11, 2016
“Ah, who am I kidding, I’m gonna keep finding things to do with this.
“Got a speedo correction plug-in from 120clocklabs to fix my overestimation with the 14T sproket. Easy plug and play, only annoying thing was getting access to the speedo since the wiring is wedged behind the charcoal canister.
“Also got new handlebars. $30 shipped. They are Tusk offroad minibike bars (in-house brand from Rocky Mountain ATV/MC, I get a lot of my dirt bike parts there). My only gripe is that the control length is not as long as stock, its enough but I had previously moved my clutch and brake perches back. Its a few cm lower than stock and ever so slightly wider, everything clears perfectly. I think it makes the profile of the bike much better.”
October 18, 2016
“This is slowly turning into a not so wallet-friendly build. I caved and ordered the Kitaco clutch cover and while I was in there upgraded to EBC heavy duty springs and a stronger clutch spring plate.
“What a pain in my ass getting these things done!
“First the oil spinner. Didn’t have a holding tool to brake the nut loose, finally jerry rigged a tool out of a bike tire and a cheapo oil filter wrench.
“Then after finally getting the spinner off and buttoning everything up I find that the clutch is not engaging and there is zero tension on the clutch cable. Turns out I forgot to put in the plug thing that engages the clutch. F.
“So I drain everything and open it up all over again, put the piece into place and re-fill. Clutch is working nicely! Took it around the block and everything was great for a couple minutes until I pull up to a stop light and look down to see my header smoking. F.
“In the second attempt to button up the case cover I pinched the gasket and it was leaking oil on the header.
“Now I need to pull the cover a third time and replace the gasket. In my defense the gasket that comes with the kit doesn’t seem that great, I’ll probably just use the stock gasket since it holds well.”
January 21, 2017
“Haven’t updated this in a while…
“Made the conversion to an LED headlight. Cycle gear was having a sale on their conversion kit so I jumped on it. I have previously swapped the stock bulb for a brighter/whiter automotive bulb hoping that would give some better visibility. Nope. If anything it was worse because the draw was so great it would dim significantly at idle, people kept thinking I was flashing them if it was start stop type traffic.
“The LED kit came with a regulator which on the stock AC current worked for the most part, but I read into it a little more and many people stated that this would wear the light out over time. Also my high beam didn’t really work, it kept flickering.
“However, I ordered an AC to DC rectifier from Steady Garage and solved that problem in 5 minutes! BUT, now the high beam indicator doesn’t light up on the dash. Neutral, the check engine light, and blinker lights all work. Just high beam. I’m not terribly troubled by it but it does seem unusual to me….
“Also got the steady garage integrated tail light kit used from a fellow forum member. Love the flashing brake light! I already have an FE kit with turn signals so wasn’t going to wire up the integrated ones, but decided why not have 2 rear turn signals?? Kinda looks odd but who cares, hopefully people will be more aware of my lane changes!”
