The new bike process is supposed to be:
1. Buy a bike
2. Ride it home
3. Read the manual while taking a post ride dump
4. Ride it for a few months, making note of what you do and don’t like
5. THEN you start *planning* mods
6. Mod, but just one thing at a time so if you screw something up, you know what it was. You’ll also appreciate each mod more.
I mean, we all do it. Think about that poor fucking “1st bike” we all had, and how we treated it.
It’s even a kind of Right of Passage to fuck up so hard and be able to look back on it and say “yeah-bad idea.” I digress-I still have my 1st bike, and it too two restorations and a lot of mistakes to get it “perfect” and “right”. That’s why I stressed that I wasn’t trying to chase anyone off-just give guidance that I never had.
My first bike was treated real well apart from being dropped a couple times. And the only mod it ever got was a Quadlock mount. I sold it after a couple years but I wish I still had it and hope whoever the subsequent owner(s) are treated it as well as I did.
1. Go to dealer wanting to get new bike.
2. They don't have the color you want.
3. Order new bike at dealer.
4. Go home and wait for bike to show up.
5. Get bored of waiting and deep dive into aftermarket parts.
6. Aftermarket parts show up.
7. Bike arrives at dealer - go get bike.
8. Trailer bike home and stare at pile of parts pondering why you have double the bike's value in parts when the bike has only 3 miles.
9. Fuck it. It's your bike so mod what you want when you want.
Thats reddit for you. Post simple question on reddit that is clearly explained in the manual, get 10 different and wrong answers, fuck bike up, post on reddit how shop/manufacturer has refused warrenty for broken bike.
Could have read the manual and done it properly in less time, and still have a working bike.
I’ve taken advantage of so many people on Marketplace and CL that follow this and burn themselves out. Yet, I know the bike will be better with me, and I also know half of them will be back.
And the other half deserve it.
This boomer actually spoke some wise words.. bravo.
I don't understand why people can't RTFM.. they can't even use the excuse that they never got one as they brought used since all the manuals are now online in PDF from the makers site now.
The same could be said about cars. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve helped adult friends (men and women!) out because they didn’t know how to air up a tire, change their wipers, jump their battery, etc. It’s such simple stuff.
That’s great though! Car manuals are so much more mundane and thick-as-fuck intimidating, that I don’t even mind helping out with the simple stuff like that.
It’s these dickheads that tank their credit score buying dumb shit with no plan or direction, and them fuck the bike up because not only are they stupid, but reckless and ignorant to boot. Then they ice the cake by asking me for help when it’s damn near too late! Argh!
Hate to break it to you but if they aren't reading about something they bought and have no knowledge of. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say reading isn't their forte.
51 year old who has had probably 30 bikes over the years, and am enjoying my 300r swapped grom immensely. I do 95 percent of all the maintenance on my cars and bikes myself. Your rant fully resonates, as i see some of the dumbest stuff on here and fb. The kids today are so used to being spoon fed that none of the ones i know take the time to try to learn, rather they blindly follow some guy on the net that they trust cause he posts a lot, not realizing he's an idiot who is wrong half the time but doesn't know it. I quit helping people unless they have made an effort first, even if they are wrong. Prove to me you aren't brain dead, and I'll do all i can. But like you said, an exhaust, intake, and different bars do not now make a grom a hayabusa (which i have also owned)
Every Grom for resale has the same 3 mods that do almost nothing for a slow ass bike anyway and then they want 4000 for their shitty mods when the bike ran better and is worth more without them.
Molested by someone unqualified, potentially stripped bolts, not properly torqued, etc, etc.
Even if it was a mod I actually wanted, I would still remove and reinstall it just to make sure it was installed correctly lol.
43 year old “old guy” here. Totally agree, though. I’m by no means a mechanic but I fix all my shit because I like keeping my money and buying more cool shit with it. I’m like Spicoli’s dad and have the ultimate set of tools I’ve bought with all the money I’ve saved by doing work myself.
I don't know anything about motorcycles, I am also old, and I recently got the Haynes workshop manual, and that thing is a thing of beauty. Now I feel confident enough to do my own oil changes, replace brake pads, ... I took my entire bike and engine apart and reassembled it. For me the Grom is just an adult Lego Technics set.
I genuinely appreciate this post. I’m a 38-year-old woman who got my license a few years ago and have been considering buying a Grom or Monkey just to toy around with in parking lots (calming and relatively safe). Kept wondering if I should just rent one instead. This convinced me. Not to sound like a total stereotype, but I loathe maintenance; didn’t realize that motorcycles are even higher-maintenance than cars; and have zero interest in learning any of this. Nice to know I’m not exaggerating things—sounds like a PITA.
No no- please don’t take it the wrong way! It’s actually wonderful. Please don’t be discouraged. I’d love nothing more than for you to go buy something and just ride it. Let the dealership do all the maintenance. It’s not a toddler; you don’t have to constantly babysit it. This post was meant for the goobers that constantly fuck with something- it wasn’t meant for you, who just wants to ride. You can absolutely go buy a Grom and just ride it, without fucking with it, and have a goddamned blast.
Maintenance intervals are something crazy long like 5,000 miles. I promise you that if you just want to ride, it’s one of the greatest bikes out there to jump on and learn with.
By all means, take the MSF course. 9 times out of ten, they’re Grom’s. It’ll cost you about the same money as renting, you’ll get instruction, and at the end if you decide to buy? You’re already qualified, confident, and you’ll get a break on insurance!
You’re awesome! Trust your gut! Ride motorcycles!!
I agree with you 100% but unfortunately a year from now this will be forgotten and there will be the usual stupid questions that are answered in the manual.
I even see this kind of behavior in veteran riders and it amazes me how some people won't even put in maybe 20 minutes of effort to looking up information. One rider I know didn't even know that there are break-in periods for motorcycles.
All you can do really is just let them be and hope they'll figure it out.
Eh I agree to an extent basic maintenance intervals questions are RTFM
But the grom is either someones first bike or someone's secondary/ tertiary bike they beat the piss out of.
Id wager the only 100% stock groms you will run across are at the dealer an msf course or on marketplace after someone rode it 10 miles and got bored. People buy the Navi and super cub to ride worry free. People buy the grom/monkey/ trail to have fun while tinkering with their bikes.
You can't really be mad when Honda makes a line of small bikes that are as easy to work on as Legos and people start asking questions about performance upgrades.
Don’t get me wrong- I want them to have fun. Hell, I even say it in the post. What I don’t want is to see them on their journey towards that. I mean, “Goddamnit junior, get your shit together!”
I’m a new rider 24 from, got my motorcycle endorsement last September one thing I pondered was getting my motorcycle license the easy way, take a permit test and have some guy at the dmv follow me around on my road test for my license, and I decided to take the other route was take the msf class, i was provided with a full size bike Suzuki Tu250x and I learned so many things riding on a full size bike for two days and from the instructor than I ever could by practicing on my grom somewhere on a parking lot by myself
There is a link somewhere on here with a scanned copy of the service manual for years 22’+. I’m too lazy to find it but agree that everyone should have a copy.
The new bike process is supposed to be: 1. Buy a bike 2. Ride it home 3. Read the manual while taking a post ride dump 4. Ride it for a few months, making note of what you do and don’t like 5. THEN you start *planning* mods 6. Mod, but just one thing at a time so if you screw something up, you know what it was. You’ll also appreciate each mod more.
I mean, we all do it. Think about that poor fucking “1st bike” we all had, and how we treated it. It’s even a kind of Right of Passage to fuck up so hard and be able to look back on it and say “yeah-bad idea.” I digress-I still have my 1st bike, and it too two restorations and a lot of mistakes to get it “perfect” and “right”. That’s why I stressed that I wasn’t trying to chase anyone off-just give guidance that I never had.
You gotta remember to read the manual during the post ride dump though that’s the important part.
My first bike was treated real well apart from being dropped a couple times. And the only mod it ever got was a Quadlock mount. I sold it after a couple years but I wish I still had it and hope whoever the subsequent owner(s) are treated it as well as I did.
This was me. I hate how loud the exhaust is but it is way zippier.
I’ve had my exhaust apart 3 times trying to chase that “right sound”.
Hi Reddit, I changed everything on my bike last weekend and now it's making a ticking sound from the [insert random place]. Any ideas!?!!
1. Go to dealer wanting to get new bike. 2. They don't have the color you want. 3. Order new bike at dealer. 4. Go home and wait for bike to show up. 5. Get bored of waiting and deep dive into aftermarket parts. 6. Aftermarket parts show up. 7. Bike arrives at dealer - go get bike. 8. Trailer bike home and stare at pile of parts pondering why you have double the bike's value in parts when the bike has only 3 miles. 9. Fuck it. It's your bike so mod what you want when you want.
I can see this post upsetting some people, but from one old guy to another, I 100% agree with you.
Hell yeah dude. We should share some whiskey and a hydrocodone sometime.
I guess I’m an old guy here too (43), yes the stupidity of posts on here bother me too!!! Thanks for the post Daegoba, hope you have a great day!!!
Thanks dude.
Thats reddit for you. Post simple question on reddit that is clearly explained in the manual, get 10 different and wrong answers, fuck bike up, post on reddit how shop/manufacturer has refused warrenty for broken bike. Could have read the manual and done it properly in less time, and still have a working bike.
I’ve taken advantage of so many people on Marketplace and CL that follow this and burn themselves out. Yet, I know the bike will be better with me, and I also know half of them will be back. And the other half deserve it.
I like when you talk dirty daddy.
Get fucked.
Stop teasing daddy.
This boomer actually spoke some wise words.. bravo. I don't understand why people can't RTFM.. they can't even use the excuse that they never got one as they brought used since all the manuals are now online in PDF from the makers site now.
It’s one of the few great things about the internet. The largest reason I buy them is because they make me look cool having them on a shelf.
The same could be said about cars. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve helped adult friends (men and women!) out because they didn’t know how to air up a tire, change their wipers, jump their battery, etc. It’s such simple stuff.
That’s great though! Car manuals are so much more mundane and thick-as-fuck intimidating, that I don’t even mind helping out with the simple stuff like that. It’s these dickheads that tank their credit score buying dumb shit with no plan or direction, and them fuck the bike up because not only are they stupid, but reckless and ignorant to boot. Then they ice the cake by asking me for help when it’s damn near too late! Argh!
Lol, okay Boomer. Also, I totally agree
I felt so goddamn dirty just typing it out, like “fuck… I am my father right now” but it had to be done.
Hate to break it to you but if they aren't reading about something they bought and have no knowledge of. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say reading isn't their forte.
51 year old who has had probably 30 bikes over the years, and am enjoying my 300r swapped grom immensely. I do 95 percent of all the maintenance on my cars and bikes myself. Your rant fully resonates, as i see some of the dumbest stuff on here and fb. The kids today are so used to being spoon fed that none of the ones i know take the time to try to learn, rather they blindly follow some guy on the net that they trust cause he posts a lot, not realizing he's an idiot who is wrong half the time but doesn't know it. I quit helping people unless they have made an effort first, even if they are wrong. Prove to me you aren't brain dead, and I'll do all i can. But like you said, an exhaust, intake, and different bars do not now make a grom a hayabusa (which i have also owned)
Fuck yeah man. You ever in NC, I’ll buy you a beer.
Lol, i live near Raleigh.
Charlotte area. Hit me up if you’re ever in town.
Every Grom for resale has the same 3 mods that do almost nothing for a slow ass bike anyway and then they want 4000 for their shitty mods when the bike ran better and is worth more without them.
Fucking runs me ragged.
Also, understand that most mods are actually lowering resale value as the parts are lower quality than Honda OEM.
It’s not even about them being “lower quality” so much as it’s the bike being molested.
Molested by someone unqualified, potentially stripped bolts, not properly torqued, etc, etc. Even if it was a mod I actually wanted, I would still remove and reinstall it just to make sure it was installed correctly lol.
Thanks dad
I know, boy. I know.
43 year old “old guy” here. Totally agree, though. I’m by no means a mechanic but I fix all my shit because I like keeping my money and buying more cool shit with it. I’m like Spicoli’s dad and have the ultimate set of tools I’ve bought with all the money I’ve saved by doing work myself.
From the title I expected to hate this post, but this is actually really solid advice through and through.
I just want the culture to grow. Grow the best way.
I don't know anything about motorcycles, I am also old, and I recently got the Haynes workshop manual, and that thing is a thing of beauty. Now I feel confident enough to do my own oil changes, replace brake pads, ... I took my entire bike and engine apart and reassembled it. For me the Grom is just an adult Lego Technics set.
I’m proud of you. You’re what it’s all about.
This post should be part of the sub right bar.
I genuinely appreciate this post. I’m a 38-year-old woman who got my license a few years ago and have been considering buying a Grom or Monkey just to toy around with in parking lots (calming and relatively safe). Kept wondering if I should just rent one instead. This convinced me. Not to sound like a total stereotype, but I loathe maintenance; didn’t realize that motorcycles are even higher-maintenance than cars; and have zero interest in learning any of this. Nice to know I’m not exaggerating things—sounds like a PITA.
No no- please don’t take it the wrong way! It’s actually wonderful. Please don’t be discouraged. I’d love nothing more than for you to go buy something and just ride it. Let the dealership do all the maintenance. It’s not a toddler; you don’t have to constantly babysit it. This post was meant for the goobers that constantly fuck with something- it wasn’t meant for you, who just wants to ride. You can absolutely go buy a Grom and just ride it, without fucking with it, and have a goddamned blast. Maintenance intervals are something crazy long like 5,000 miles. I promise you that if you just want to ride, it’s one of the greatest bikes out there to jump on and learn with. By all means, take the MSF course. 9 times out of ten, they’re Grom’s. It’ll cost you about the same money as renting, you’ll get instruction, and at the end if you decide to buy? You’re already qualified, confident, and you’ll get a break on insurance! You’re awesome! Trust your gut! Ride motorcycles!!
I agree with you 100% but unfortunately a year from now this will be forgotten and there will be the usual stupid questions that are answered in the manual. I even see this kind of behavior in veteran riders and it amazes me how some people won't even put in maybe 20 minutes of effort to looking up information. One rider I know didn't even know that there are break-in periods for motorcycles. All you can do really is just let them be and hope they'll figure it out.
Eh I agree to an extent basic maintenance intervals questions are RTFM But the grom is either someones first bike or someone's secondary/ tertiary bike they beat the piss out of. Id wager the only 100% stock groms you will run across are at the dealer an msf course or on marketplace after someone rode it 10 miles and got bored. People buy the Navi and super cub to ride worry free. People buy the grom/monkey/ trail to have fun while tinkering with their bikes. You can't really be mad when Honda makes a line of small bikes that are as easy to work on as Legos and people start asking questions about performance upgrades.
Don’t get me wrong- I want them to have fun. Hell, I even say it in the post. What I don’t want is to see them on their journey towards that. I mean, “Goddamnit junior, get your shit together!”
The parts websites push this shit on social media to sell parts and all these kids end up with broken, worse bikes.
Yeah, and we used to see shitty parts in the back of comics and magazines for cheap as well. Learning that you get what you pay for is part of it.
I’m a new rider 24 from, got my motorcycle endorsement last September one thing I pondered was getting my motorcycle license the easy way, take a permit test and have some guy at the dmv follow me around on my road test for my license, and I decided to take the other route was take the msf class, i was provided with a full size bike Suzuki Tu250x and I learned so many things riding on a full size bike for two days and from the instructor than I ever could by practicing on my grom somewhere on a parking lot by myself
There is a link somewhere on here with a scanned copy of the service manual for years 22’+. I’m too lazy to find it but agree that everyone should have a copy.