Riding around on my Vader 125 (Grom Clone) w/ Honda Grom
 

Hey everyone,

I just posted a video of me riding around on my new Vader 125. I rode alongside my sister, who was on her Grom. While this isn't really a comparison video, it can give you an idea on how close the two bikes are. It'll also show you some of the quirks I've encountered with the Vader so far (mind you this was my first day actually riding the bike).



Anyways here it is.. Enjoy!

(P.S. If you enjoyed the video, feel free to subscribe. I'll be posting more videos similar to this one on a weekly basis and my videos should mostly revolve around me riding my chinese bikes (Vader 125 & Hawk 250).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9oXi4I_C7Y

Nice vid! That is a true clone, I must say. Interesting how well they seemed to pull it off.

Thanks! Yeah, I was taken by surprise just how close this bike looks and feels like the Honda Grom (and at a fraction of the price). Grant it the Honda still has its edge on quality and performance, but to me it doesn't warrant the extra +/-$2,000 that they're selling for.

As soon as I get the little quirks figured out on this bike (charging issue, squeaky rear brake, etc.) I think it's going to be a solid bike!

LOL that was funny when your sister smoked you in the race and gave you some crap about it. Great video. Think you can squeeze anymore power out of it with some fine tuning?


/

Should go a little faster with some fine tuning and a few aftermarket performance parts (mainly a better exhaust and correct carb jetting)

Ha, I'm a sore loser!

Oh yeah, I'm sure I'll be able to get more power out of it. This was just "out of the box" performance. I haven't tinkered with anything on the bike yet (not even the idle adjustment screw).

Like Azhule said, a free-flowing exhaust and rejetting the carb should give me a noticeable improvement in performance.

I'm also thinking a sprocket change will make a great change, especially with topend speed. The bike feels more geared towards offroading, so if I can find a ratio that'd be more street-oriented I think that'd be more ideal for my use.

With that said, even though I got smoked by the Grom, the Vader actually does feel peppy and has all the performance I really need for scooting around my small town (although it may need just a little bit more juice for 45mph city roads).

Thanks for the great video. I am grateful that you posted your ride on a bone-stock bike. In theory, things should only get better with parts and tuning. I am all for your plan to look for sprockets first, and then deal with exhaust and carb.

Thanks for watching culcune! Yes, I think sprockets will be my main focus for now. The bike seems to rev out very quick. First gear is practically useless (basically have to shift as soon as you dump the clutch) and I can comfortably cruise @ ~15-20mph in 4th gear where I would expect the bike to become upset at such low speed in the highest gear.

If I can ride out each gear a little longer I think it'd definitely help.

The key would be to see what hub is used. My guess, the countersprocket will be relatively easy to find a Honda sprocket for. Perhaps these use the same wheels as the CT70 clones (Skyteam, Icebear), which many owners found sprockets for quite easily?!

I bet you're right.. I still need to take the sprocket cover off and see what type of sprocket is being ran under there. I don't even know how many teeth are on the stock countersprocket yet..

Brake it in
 

It will get faster once it brakes in.

Yeah, it's already improving its top speed naturally. This week I hit 47mph going uphill compared to 41-42mph on the same hill 2 weeks ago. It especially helps when the bike is warmed up.

I still think a good carb tune, pod filter, and exhaust will help dramatically.

You should do a few side by side comparison shots of the sprockets, carb area and other bits between both bikes to see if you the parts are identical for the clone to use the actual Honda Grom parts. A few video comparison's of those things, like being able to order the Grom brake pads if they match and chain and sprockets would help a lot of people out.

Other then the good carb tune I would wait for the brake in to be done before doing those mod's.

Good idea.. I will make sure to do that!

Keep us up to date on your mods for the Vader. I'm thinking of picking up one of these things for a project. I see that Texas Power Sports is now selling them. I've seen all your videos on Youtube but would like a little more feedback. On one video the bike wasn't running well. Did you find the problem? Keep up the good work MaXIPad. You may be the only person in the country riding a Vader.

:thanks:

Thanks for watching my videos! I'll try and be more informative and specific when talking about the Vader in my videos.

I'll also make sure to update you guys when I perform any upgrades on the Vader. The initial issues I had with the Vader seemed to have worked themselves out (knock on wood). We'll see what other issues may arise as I put more miles on it.

I'm sure I'm not the only one riding the Vader in the US, but I have to be the only one sharing information about it. Normally I let other people be the guinea pig, but this time I feel like I'm filling that role lol.

What kind of project are you planning on doing with the Vader?

On my Vader I have a big 26mm intake pz27 carb 125 main jet pod filter cut open factory exhaust removed all baffles in muffler and got rid of the catalytic converter and then welded it back together and a 17t (mine has a 428 chain groms use 420 and output shaft is 17mm) front sprocket now 1st goes to 20mph at redline instead of 10mph. Mine isnot legal yet so I haven't been able to take it on a good run yet but when I first got the bike it would barely do 40 now it does over 50 decent.

Wow, thanks for the info bratea81, and welcome to the forum! I'm happy to see someone else on here with the Vader 125. How are you liking it so far? Are you having any issues with the bike (e.g. plastics cracking, charging/draining issues, etc.)?

I like it I wanted something slower so I could ride with my grom friends and still have fun. I had a charging issue when I first got it what happened was the battery was just dead enough to where the bike wasn't able to charge it so after I charged to battery with a separate charger all the way its been fine and my bmv still has me jumping through hoops to get it legal.

I just picked up my Vader today.

overall i guess for $1400 it's not terrible.. But it could be a lot better.. the stock carb is a joke.

what sprocket set up did you end up going with?

Lol You're right about the stock carb. Pick up the 26mm Mikuni Carb/Intake/Filter kit from Amazon.. It's fairly cheap and makes a big difference!

I went +1t on the front sprocket (16t I believe) and left the rear sprocket alone.

Wow--looked who came out of hibernation! :)

Hey I have a Vader 125 and purchased a 26mm Mikuni carb and can't get it to start did you guys take out the fuel pump they have for it idk what to do help please

You shouldn't have to mess with the fuel pump at all.. Just install the larger intake, carburetor, pod filter and attach the fuel line to the carb.. You probably just need to dial in your carburetor. I'm running a 120 main jet, but I'd recommend you start at 115.. It took me a little while to get the a/f mixture screw just right. Sorry for the late response.


@culcune LOL! I'm trying to come around more often! I miss it here!

Did you get yours up and running again? These don't have a pump for fuel its just a straight shot from the carb to the tank and no internal pump like a grom to my knowledge. The pump on the right side of the head is an air pump to help any I burnt fuel vapors reburn in the little catalytic converter you can remove it but need to cap off the metal line going into the head unless you like back firing and exhaust leaks.

I'm doing the carb swap within the next couple of days. Was wondering if I could get some help/info/pics/directions as far as getting everything hooked up and deleting/capping some things. I'm ok with messing with jets and air/fuel mixture, I just want to make sure everything is hooked up correctly.

Its fairly straight forward the only thing that carries over from the factory carb is the fuel line the factory intake has vacuum ports on it that would need caped off if your going to use it but I'd recommend getting a bigger one for a pit bike with the extra base bolting holes because if your carb is much bigger than stock you will need to turn it around and have the carb/intake face forward or it wont fit because the starter is in the way you will also want a in line fuel petcock because the factory one I built into the stock carb the emissions pump/air pump on the right side of the head can be removed but the metal tube coming up from the bottom of the head needs caped off or a block off plate made for the head because it will be an exhaust lean if you don't the factory air box will not work with most aftermarket carb/intakes so you'll need a pod filter most likely and if your mounting your carb facing forward I'd recommend getting a filter with a type of water splash shield on it the factory air box also has a crank case vent going to it I'd recommend just attaching it to the frame up high as it can reach with out getting it pinched or restricted with a little filter for it if you can find one

That's all I can remember from when I did my swap but I did mine awhile ago so I may have forgotten some

I'll post a picture of the intake petcock and filter types I referred to

can someone make a video on where the engine mount bolts are because I'm pretty sure mine snapped or so yeah I need a little help thanks����Or any help Wills be great... also if anyone knows where I can get new ones that we all do this let me know thanks

Any final pictures of this setup would be great. Just started install of carb and want to make sure all hoses that need to be attached/removed are correct. Thanks!

Hi guys, I just bought the ice bear fuerza 125cc, it is a clone of a modded grom. The first mod I did to it was the front sprocket mod to a 17 tooth. mine also uses the 428 chain. initial testing shows no gain in top speed, but rpm's are a little lower and 1st gear is a little longer before shifting to second. sounds like the same specs as the vader from what you've mentioned.

Maxi, can you tell me what motor you vader has in it? Mine is a LONCIN 152FMI... There should be a sticker on the top rear of the motor.. does a grom exhaust fit your vader at the head? Exhaust is my next mod, but I don't know what will fit... I want a low mount muffler, if you find something that works, let me know.

I hope this thread continues...

Power of chineese motors
 

You can defanatally get more power from it because the carbuerators on those thing are the same as stalk honda 80cc bikes. If you add more gas flow to these bikes, adjust valve clearances, new plug and wire you can defanatally increse power. Well the plug and wire might not increase power it will make it run better along with a new exaust which might make a miscropic diffirence by itself but if you tune the bike with a new carb and exaust that would increase power.
Ps Maybe put a ram air intake on that can help, just dont run to lean

I spoke to Venom Powersports today and the next shipment of Vaders aka X20 is supposed to be modeled after the 2017 Grom. The headlight is supposed to be the same as well however I'm not sure if it will be LED. My Brozz is supposed to be picked up Saturday and I'm thinking about ordering one of these.

mine is a 2017 still the same style maybe 2018?