Now that my Boom Vader is here ( My 2nd Chinese Motorcycle, A Grom Clone, Ordered. ) and assembled, I am looking back on the problems and concerns that I ran into. The Boom Vader being a Grom Clone, I can find a lot of information online from other Grom Clone owners.
None of these items is a deal-breaker with buying a Grom Clone. I plan to cover more about the warranty and who I bought the Boom Vader from and do a full review of their service later. However, for now, they are honoring the warranty.
Let me cover the issues from the smallest to the biggest.
Boom Vader Came With Mismatched Parts
This issue might be trivial, but I want to provide a total report items I found wrong during the assembly process. I might even be wrong about this item, but I was following some posts that suggest I am not.
My Boom Vader came with two ‘right’ mirrors. Yes, I said it. I imagine many of you are facepalming right now, but hear me out. When I looked at posts for the final step to install the mirrors, I read/watched others saying there was a right “R” mirror and a left “L” mirror. My mirrors are both labeled with an “R.”
Is this a problem? No. I rotated the mirror to look backward and function as a rear-view mirror.
Now don’t label me a Motorcycle Karen, and no, I didn’t demand to see the Boom Vader manager, and I fixed the issues such that it wasn’t an issue. If I didn’t read and watched other people’s Grom clone assembly instructions, I might not have known there were labels on the back of the mirrors.
Let’s put this to rest and move on.
Boom Vader Came With A Missing Part.
OK, get ready for another facepalm.
One of the mirrors didn’t come with a locking nut. Yes, this is a concern since the mirror can rotate while I ride my motorcycle, spinning as I go down the road.
Now some of you would be like, hey, got one mirror, let the other be free to spin. Well, again, not harping on this, just reporting what I found.
Boom Vader Came With A Rusty Fuel Tank.
When I looked into the Boom Vader tank, I saw spots of rust. When you research this, you find that many Grom Clones have either no coating or a poor coating on the inside of the fuel tank.
Add in the tank is empty, and the metal is exposed to air and moisture, you get rust.
After all these small items were found, I found a severe problem:
Boom Vader Motorcycle A Death Trap??????
Before I have you guys swear off getting a Grom Clone, hear me out. I did something very dumb and didn’t realize there was a problem till I started up and rode the motorcycle.
I prep’ed the motorcycle with an oil change, did a few starts and stops, idling to get the good oil circulating with no load and let this help break in the motorcycle. I took the bike out for a quick, slow-speed ride around the front of my house.
The Boom Vader was rough in handling, but the real problem occurred when I tried to stop. I had no rear brake. I could have sworn it worked initially, but it seems the situation allowed for a good couple of stops and then no more. The rear brake was nonfunctional.
The bad thing was I never tested the rear brake more than a couple of times before riding the motorcycle, and I would have noticed that the foot petal moved with no resistance had I tried it more.
Was The Grom Clone Dead?
No, a little dramatic, but I wondered what else could be wrong. Then I focused on the current situation. The motorcycle was moving very slowly, and I could stop with my feet if even the front brake failed.
Well didn’t make it far, and it wasn’t an actual ride since right I had to turn around almost immediately after I pulled out of my driveway. I got the Boom Vader into the house and tried to figure out what was wrong.
What Was Wrong?
I looked over the motorcycle, pulled off the right-side body panel, wished there was a good set of instructions and found the rear brake fluid reservoir empty.
I thought this would be a quick fix and got a bottle of Dot 3 brake fluid.
When I removed the brake reservoir cap and poured the fluid in, it poured out onto the floor, and I had a mess.
It seems there was a break in the brake!
The reserve feed line to the master cylinder was broken, and because of how it laid, it wasn’t apparent until the fluid came out and I touched the line. The feed nipple into the master cylinder was broken, with part of it stuck in the feed line.
Sloppy Boom Vader 125 Welds We Don’t See.
We can all have fun talking about what the welds look like on a typical Chinese-made Grom Clone, but I was impressed with how sloppy a weld I found when cleaning up the Boom Vader’s exhaust.
Note, this is a later entry, and I might have never really cared about this sloppy weld I found till I was having problems getting the complete upgrade setup for my Boom Vader ( Ordered My Boom Vader Exhaust Upgrade Parts (A Dummy). ). I took the time to look at the stock exhaust system when doing an oil change and found this concern.
Now the exhaust pipe narrows down after exiting the engine exhaust. The exhaust flange rides in this ‘bottle-neck’ area of the exhaust piping.
Just saying this suggests room for improvement with the Boom Vader’s exhaust system.
There is a weld on the exhaust pipe to make this transition, and this weld is done on the inside of the exhaust piping. And there is a lot of over-welding slop noticed.
Did I Immediately Fix The Boom Vader?
- I quickly fixed the two right mirror issues, and I just flipped the mirror.
I haven’t fully fixed the missing mirror lock nut, just going to search around the spare parts bin for a nut or some other solution to stabilize the mirror.
- The gas tank wasn’t a big deal, so I filled up and ran the motorcycle, so I just lived because there was rust. What was I going to do?
Gas Tank Updates: My Boom Vader Gas Tank Is Leaking From Bottom, Again!?!, Motorcycle Gas Tank Leak Repair Job(Boom Vader Gen 2), Why Is My Motorcycle Leaking Gas?, Boom Vader Gas Tank Repaired Again(Now Welded)!, etc.
- Now the broken rear brake. What did I do? I parked the motorcycle and contacted the seller with photos. I plan on doing a full review of the seller later and feel covering how they respond to a warranty problem will go far in reviewing how they treat their customers. Stand by for that.
Warranty Update: Brake Fluid Reservoir Replacement
In the meantime, the Boom Vader is parked in the garage. I am only doing idle warm-ups to slowly wearing the piston rings and help with a gentle break-in period.
- The slopping internal weld in the Boom Vader’s exhaust system is now for the late find. I plan to grind that out and test for any new performance changes with the little Grom Clone motorcycle. Stay tuned for an update on this latest assembly issue/concern.
Weld Update: Attempted first mod to the Boom Vader motorcycle exhaust system and clean up the weld issue, here it is: My First Boom Vader 125 (A Grom Clone) Exhaust Mod!
Stay tuned; I have a few more posts about how I truly resolved these issues and, later, a seller review post.
The seller review post will be good for other possible Grom Clone buyers since these bikes are notorious for not arriving in perfect condition.
Ride Safe, Ride Fun!
Just Bought A Boom Vader; Now What Do I Do?
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Boom Vader Gen 2 Upgrades
Hi I’m Tom, A New Motorcycle Rider and Blog Author.
I am a new rider(Pa Learners Permit at the end of 2020, and I received a Pa Motorcycle License in 2021 after passing a Motorcycle Safety Course).
I bought my first motorcycle, a TaoTao TBR7, at the beginning of 2021 and have been doing upgrades on that motorcycle since.
I added to my motorcycle collection by buying a Boom Vader Gen 2 in 2022, and that Grom-Clone motorcycle has been upgraded by me as well.
I continue to ride my Boom Vader Gen 2 motorcycle as well as my TaoTao TBR7 dual-sport bike.
Read more on my About Me page.
Fun Fact: I’ve only been on one group ride.
