Now that I’m getting bit by the Grom bug( Interested In A Honda Grom or Grom “Clone”? ), I wondered what I could do to customize the Grom? The Honda Grom has an impressive aftermarket selection of customization options. Then it came to me, how about I make an off-road Grom? I make it into a Grom Dual-sport build!
Why Is A Grom Dual-Sport Build Is Crazy?
I want to get out of the way of the voices in my head that say building a Dual-sport Grom is crazy. Things that sit in the way of the Grom being a proper off-road adventure bike.
- Tire size. The Tires on the Grom are 12 inches. This small tire means it will have greater rolling friction on uneven roads and are small enough to get caught in ruts on the road.
- Cast Wheels. Cast wheels can get banged up enough to lose the seal around the bead and become permanently flat while stuck in the sticks.
- Ground Clearance. The Honda Grom has about 7 inches of ground clearance. It’s worse that there is a very vulnerable component close to the ground, the exhaust piping.
- Limited power. The Grom comes with < 10 horsepower and single-digit torque ratings.
- They have limited suspension travel. About 4 inches of travel.
Now that I beat up the poor Honda Grom and pointed out weaknesses limiting its off-road capability, I want to address why I might be interested in turning the Honda Grom into a dual-sport motorcycle.
Why A Grom Dual-sport Build Would Be Awesome!
Get ready for reasons that might make sense to me only. 😀
- The Grom’s height. The Honda Grom has a low seat height, allowing a rider of my short stature, 5’8″, to utterly flat-foot it. If the road gets hairy, I can put my feet down to stabilize the motorcycle. Even prevent it from falling.
- The Grom’s weight. I have a TaoTao TBR7 Dual-sport motorcycle. It might be a lighter motorcycle due to its size, but it gets heavier each time I have to pick it up. After a small spill, the Grom is about 250 pounds and should quickly get upright. My TRB7 Info: My TaoTao TBR7 Review & Specs: Out Of The Box.
- Parts and Parts. The Grom has a great selection of parts to customize the motorcycle for off-road use. These parts are off the shelf and allow for the replacement of broken parts easily.
- Ease of repair. The Grom has a history of being user maintenance-friendly. Any bumps or drops, I could fix the bike myself.
- Fuel injection. Changes in altitude shouldn’t affect the performance of the motorcycle engine.
- Forced to go slow. Yes, this is an advantage. The Grom would require me not to tackle rough terrain with speed but with finesse. I would have to take my time, be technical and pick my travel lines to avoid bottoming out or burning the clutch.
- Looks! It would look bad-arse to have crash bars and accessory lights on my Grom. On top of the big knobby tires. I can imagine how it looks right now.
I thought I was thinking outside the box, but then I did a few web searches and found some people have turned their Honda Groms into dual-sports and full-featured mini-adventure bikes.
There seem to be Honda Grom Adventure Kits for customization of your Grom. It looks like I am not the only one crazy enough to see the Grom and think about taking it off-roading.
Building Castles In The Sky, or Grom Dual-sport on Earth?
No matter what I think, unless I have a Grom motorcycle, I am not getting anywhere close to doing any customization. These Groms are in high demand and short supply.
We’ll see…
Honda Spec Source: Honda News
