Hey. I decided to get a Grom probably the day I saw the 2016 SF model at an event in the city with Wombat.
He thought I was mad.
Everyone thought I had lost my marbles.
So why did I buy a Grom?
BECAUSE MINI BIKES ROCK.
Let’s just get that out of the way. I am not a one-kind-of-motorcycle guy. I’m more a every-kind-of-motorcycle guy. I can find the joy in almost every kind of motorcycle. Yes even a scooter, hence the Postie thing.
For some time now I had been playing around with a monkeybike, I think it was just after both my folks passed away and my other half took me to the UK to get the hell away from all the misery surrounding me at that time, bless his cotton-picking socks.
It was in Trent in England when we found ourselves surrounded by the cafe sipping motorcycle crew from all over when suddenly the monkey bike gang descended upon us. I was instantly enamored and knew that one day, as an adult, a fully grown 6’2″ adult, that I must and shall have a monkey bike.
I kept an eye on FleBay and ScumTree for a while for a Z50J (the one with gears and fold down handlebars) but as with everything these days, they had once again become fashionable and ridiculously priced. Sick of the shit and free of some excess baggage I decided it was time to move the DRZ on.
Today.
Right now.
So on the bike I hopped and hustled it into the city.
Cut a short boring story even shorter, the DRZ broke down, the bike shop didn’t want it, but a mate I knew in the Harley dealership did want one, and he had a Grom with 500kms on it that he was bored off, so we swapped.
Just like that.
And so I didn’t really BUY a Grom so much as I swapped another bike for it.
Straight swap, no crazy messing around just you get your own RWC and I’ll get mine.
You can fix the DRZ and good luck with that (I was 99% sure it was just a dead battery as I hadn’t been riding it), and I’ll take your Grom and do the RWC for a transfer and everyone is happy.
So it was.
I had just got by way of wheeling and dealing a pretty much brand new 2016 plate Honda MSX 125 SF Grom.
And I was in love. I named him Tyrion.
It was instant and yes it is ridiculous. It has 12″ wheels FFS. It’s a 125cc single cylinder four stroke EFI minibike. I rode it home and started planning upgrades that night.
Why a Grom?
Upgrades It is so tempting to jump right in the deep end and go bonkers on updates for the little beasty but I had to show some restraint.
Not much, but some. I new that the pipe had to go straight away. That and the stupid air box would take care of air in and exhaust out so he’s breathing a lot better.
The harder question to answer is about the woeful front shock.
There appears to be no preload or rebound, literally nothing. And every single post I read about em says to do the Ohlins upgrade – but that sucker is over $500 on it’s own so I am umm-ing and ahh-ing over whether or not to commit. For laters.
Yoshimura RS 2
Having done the same thing on the DRZ 400 albeit with a twin pipe system, I knew I wouldn’t be happy until Tyrion had a Termi of his own, so rather than fart about with cheap knock offs and half arsed solutions I dove in head first and slapped down some hard earned dollars for the full Termi RS 2 system from Hard Racing.
It was a cinch to install, literally four bolts later and he was crackling and popping like a baby thumper should. Happy days.
While I was at it, I thought hmm… may as well piss that ugly mofo of a whale tail into the bin, and get a nice sweet little Yoshi tail tidy chucked in for the ride, you know, to save on shipping later ;P
The guys from Hard Racing are ace can I just say.
I had a mind numbing moment where I couldn’t see how the blinkers went back on because I rushed in and didn’t look at the whole kit properly, think I had them laughing at me in the States over some crazy email jibber jabber. It all turned out well 🙂
Chimera Cold Air Intake
Another no brainer is to update your filter, on any bike you get, this should be a priority. Damn stupid regulations and such trying to strangle our poor bikes!
I just won’t have it.
So I chucked the Chimera Cold Air Intake into the same shipping box with the Yoshi from Hard Racing, and was done with it. It sat on the shelf for some four weeks while I procrastinated about doing it myself and whether or not I could be bothered or was technically competent, and as it turns out it was another piss easy gig for the Lego Mechanic (me).
Strip the fairings, pull the stupid airbox out (carefully) and shove (carefully) the ram air intake on.
Snap on a beautifully sexy K&N race filter and stuff all the fairings back on. Another 40 mins of my life spent wrenching, another farkin excellent outcome!
Tyrion how has a distinct induction growl on WOT.
It’s really quite barky. Barking mad even? I don’t know if it has added that much HP to the equation but let’s get real here, we are talking about a 7hp 125cc minibike.
The Little Things
I get quite weird about little things, like levers and mirrors. Small things that are really easy to fix. So he also go updated LEDs, these really cool little jiggers from TST industries that are a flush mount LED, the only thing to be wary of is the relay – it’s not made for LEDs so your flashing sequence can go to hell, but another really easy fix with a straight swap out for a LED flasher from TST again and job was done in minutes.
Levers came from FleBay and some sliders I think I picked up on the way along the LED indicator route. A nice touch. And look at the comaparison, it was another no brainer.
It isn’t ever going to be fast.
But fun, it’s a whole shed load of fun.
And to wrap it up, that’s why I bought a Grom.
So there.
Until next time, stay upright.
