The Purrfect Project (Hellcat)

[deadwood83]

This will document the story of my diabolical kitten project.


Current parts Ordered:
-Bike.
-ZS190 Motor w/ oil cooler
-Grade 10.w/e yellow zinc motor mount bolts, with matching nyloc and lock washers.
-Piranha clutch cable
-Some cheap CDI that I really, really hope has different timing curves for warmup.
-Hard Racing oil cooler bracket
-Fender delete
-An LED tail light that does not fall out.



What I think I will end up replacing:
-Rear axle, possibly swingarm
-Wheel bearings
-Levers
-Mirrors
-Brake pads? Dunno, will have to bed them in and see.
-Brake lines. This is just a hunch, but seems likely.
-Headlight bulb. Guaranteed.
-Control levers


I ordered from Q9 Powersports on April 17. It was deposited in my care on April 23. We'll see how long the paperwork takes to receive. ZS190 was ordered April 20.


Currently, it awaits assembly because I am "at work." It is highly inconspicuous, and fully camouflaged.

[deadwood83]

Well, it went together pretty nicely.



Handlebar mounts are garbage. Brakes need to be bled.
Stock alignment is surprisingly decent.
Rear sprocket was loose.
Clutch and brake levers were in different physical planes.

Unlike what I have seen in videos of the Boom, there were no shavings in the gas tank.

Not sure why they bothered installing pads on the rear brakes. The oil on the rotors means those pads are instantly garbage.

After using the stock controls, I have no idea why people change them out. I actually quite like the factory levers.

Can confirm the shifter is way too long. I wear a size 13 shoe, and I kept checking to see if I had shifted.

Getting to neutral from first gear is hilariously difficult. It's like a minigame you play when riding the bike.

I measured the oil that shipped in the bike. 1/2 teaspoons. Replaced with valvoline conventional for motorcycles. Same oil I run in my XJ.

The mirrors are useless. You can see the sky, your elbow, or the fence to the side of you, but almost nothing behind. They must go.

This thing is FUN. I adore this stupid little bike. WHat's more, I hate how much I like it straight out of the box. Compared with my mid-sized XJ, this made me feel like some sort of parking lot champion. I felt invincible. Tiny turn radius, 2mph balance, etc etc. I rode it for 2 miles just in my little gated community.



The build, while very fun, was punctuated by rain. I was rather damp by the end of it. After riding, adjusting, riding, it feels pretty good. The jetting actually works quite well at my altitude. It is still a little lean, because it doesn't like 8k much, but a VM22 is arriving Saturday to fix that.

Mods I did not plan on doing:
Replacing the boomerangs for genuine Grom. I was having so much fun that I forgot the tires weren't broken in.... so I was riding the bike, then I was riding the road for about 6 feet after trying to lay into a corner like on the XJ.

Total damage:
- My favorite pair of Dockers
- A good 5" scrape on the tank fairing, left side
- Flat spot ground down on the ball end of the clutch lever
- Left side boomerang is shot. The signal now dangles down like a sad balloon from a birthday party one week ago.
- Learning the bike has no safety shut offs.
- The mental trauma of remembering how annoying a scrape that barely breaks the skin can be.

Also, I submitted my information for the MCO to Q9. We shall see how long that takes to get here.

Now, first order of business: Call my local Honda dealers and see who has some white boomerangs in stock.

[RedCrowRides]

Not ragging on you at all, but this is like the 3rd set of HellKat assembly photos that all show no front fender installed , is HellKat just not sending you guys front fenders or what?

[Rangerscott]

Paint those zinc bolts. Zinc doesnt last long getting dirty or being out in the weather.

[deadwood83]

Originally Posted by RedCrowRides

Not ragging on you at all, but this is like the 3rd set of HellKat assembly photos that all show no front fender installed , is HellKat just not sending you guys front fenders or what?

I can't speak for others, but the fitment of the front fender was so poor I did not feel comfortable putting it on without the assistance of a heat gun. The fender is on now.

Originally Posted by Rangerscott

Paint those zinc bolts. Zinc doesnt last long getting dirty or being out in the weather.

Noted. I don't trust most modern stainless fasteners for corrosion resistance either. I went zinc so I could get a higher shear rating.





Some progress towards where I was right after assembly. I could not find white Hellcat boomerangs, so I ordered some Honda boomerangs in white. No, they won't match perfectly. I rationalized it by saying it was step 1 in the eventuality of having actual Grom panels. As a temporary workaround, I applied a liberal coating of gelled cyoanoacrilate and held the boomerang in place for a few minutes.

I tried a clone VM22 on tie bike and it was not great. I didn't like the lack of choke control on the bars. The PZ25 clone on the bike is actually quite good! It is also jetted quite well for the thin air here. Stuck without paperwork (aka plate) I contemplated doing an oil change, but realized I did that 1.8 miles ago.

Instead, I took off the bodywork and started analyzing everything.

The plastic looks like it was made for a child's electric ride-on car, but thicker. If I elect to keep it, I expect I may try and reinforce it with some woven fiber sheet and epoxy on the back. Probably less expensive to just get Honda parts though.

From what I can tell, the axle bolts are made of some sort of super-cheese masquerading as metal. That might be an exaggeration, but they are easily scratched by mild steel. I have added the axles to my "hit list."

I considered removing the evap canister and hosing, but did not have a golf tee handy to block the intake from the old evap. May as well let it catch whatever until the ZS190 goes in.

Unlike most others' reports, my motor mount bolts were tight. And I mean tight. I got each one to move slightly, at which point I heard the 'click' of a very mild friction weld. I went over all the other bolts, and they were all actually tight with the exception of the choke cable. That was loose and floppy from factory. I noticed the RPMs slightly climbing when turning to full right lock so I made some adjustments at the throttle tube; solved.

One issue with my bike, is the idle adjustment screw. Currently the bike idles at about 2k. I started to back the idle off, and quickly found out the idle screw has no tension. I wager it's not very functional. I tightened it down a bit to avoid any potential air leaks.

It will take me some time to get used to a high-revving single cylinder. My past single cylinder experience was with an F650CS, and it tends to live under ~5k. Of course, the 4-cylinder Yam has almost no vibration whatsoever at any RPM. There's a certain buzz/vibration above 5000 I think I just need to get used to. Either that, or it's just the way the noise of the bike changes around that speed. Probably the latter.

While tightening everything, and applying Red-N-Tacky to moving parts, I got some more personal time with the exhaust. It is.... not particularly confidence-inspiring. Searching through oodles of facebook posts in a few different groups indicates that this exhaust might be good to go since the two-piece nature allows rotation of the midpipe section.



I actually quite like how quiet the bike is. It could be a little louder, but just a little. I'd like to not spend a fortune on the muffler, but cheap, quiet, and flowy tend not to go together. I am wondering if I got two perforated baffles, then bent both of them while sealing off the sides facing each other if that would create a hybrid dual baffle chamber. That sounds like a lot of work though, and I feel like saving my big work motivation for my old Yam. I'll probably just get a perforated through-baffle and then tightly wrap thick-gauge stainless pot scrubbers around it. Unsure what muffler I'll go with, but the fake carbon mufflers seem cheap enough on the 'bay.

Some research on the ZS190 has shown that the stator from the 125 should be a direct swap. I already knew the gear indicator would swap easily as well. This means it is a true plug-and-play engine swap. Stator and gear indicator are the only electronics (apart from the coil) that connect to the engine. I care a little less about the extra power and what really excites me is having a 5th gear. Without a sprocket upgrade, 1st gear on the stock Hellcat is useless. 2nd is short enough to start from a stop with ease.

I verified once more that the headlight bulb socket is electrically an H4/9003 and ordered some fleabay LED headlamps. I ordered a pair for a whopping $11. Worst case scenario, I am out the equivalent of about two dollar menu items these days. I don't think these little pitbike engines were ever meant to drive the electrical load we're pushing on them.

Speaking of electrical load, my research also drew me to the fixed timing curve of the CN CDI units. I read horror stories (and saw pictures) of the ZS190 having a touch of preignition on startup and snapping the starter chain. So there are two paths forward:

• hope for the best, and if something breaks replace the starter chain and the left side engine casing.
• Get a $50 CDI with decreased advance under 2k rpm.

I have a hunch which one will be less expensive in the long run. I ordered up the T-Bolt EZ Start CDI with 5-wire adapter.

Next up was an examination of the forks. The right fork leg is a solid 3mm proud of the triple tree. That probably explains why I suddenly lose confidence when releasing the handlebars. The hellcat is one squirrely feline out of the box. Well, at least compared to bikes with wheels 50% larger...

I'll need to wait on that particular fix until I can hang it underneath a ladder. I don't trust the anodizing on the forks to withstand my typical wood dowel/rubber mallet adjustment method.


I played with the headlight some more this evening. While it is weaker than my resistance to buying bike parts, the beam pattern is actually pretty decent. The hot spot is not quite on the cutoff, but closer than a lot of other Chinese headlights I have seen. What I really need though, is to fight the urge to retrofit a real projector into the housing. It would be very convenient to swap in say, A morimoto Mini h1.


Am I the only person who finds the stock DRL to be incredibly ugly? Like, seriously. There has to be a way to backlight just the blue plastics. I wonder if I could back the blue glowy bit with some EL wire and run the LE wire off the DRL socket.



Dunno. Thoughts, anyone?

[scoot newb]

Sounds nice.

Yes completely remove the canister. Then keep only the vent line that comes from the gas tank and the vent for the crank case.

The stator on the 125 IIRC is not a direct swap. There isn't anything wrong with the stator in the 190. It is plug in play for the hellcat. The wires are the same color and works fine.


You want to make sure you get stronger engine bolts. Also pick up a Grom rear axle and swing arm bolt (they are the same part number), Grom cush drive and hub. The originals on the hellcat will break/bend with the 190.

Replace all fuel lines with silicon fuel lines, I went with 1/4 inch from tank to fuel filter into carb. Get a nicer fuel filter and don't forget to change the oil filter once in a while.

When you install the 190 you want the manifold facing the rear of the bike not the front. You'll notice the top of the carb comes in close contact with the mount for the petcock. You will no longer be able to mount the petcock there. I chose not to use a petcock and plan on grinding off the mount.

I have the zinc coated engine bolts. Metric ratings are different than imperial so the strength should be 10.9.

Don't worry about the choke cable that will be gone as soon as the 190 goes in with the PE carb.
Depending on where you ordered your ZS from most come with a kit. Pitsterpro for example includes clutch and throttle cable as well as everything else you need. Also use the coil wire that comes with the kit.

Recently ZS started shipping motors with a "keeper" for the shift star to prevent the detent arm from popping out and going in front of the shift star. Even if you just ordered the motor most likely it is not going to be from the latest China batch and will not have the keeper. Without the keeper... - false neutrals, popping in and out of gear which can lead to a disaster. You need to do this fix for sure if yours does not have it.

If your carb is jetted and somewhat tuned starting the ZS isn't a problem. Use the choke if you have to, don't touch the throttle, then let it warm up. Set idle to 2k. One thing I've never broken was the starter chain.

If you can cancel the ZS 190 order and get a real Daytona 190 do it. Even with the shift star fix the tranny is garbage.

T-Bolt EZ Start CDI with 5-wire adapter.
I have this but haven't put it on yet.


I don't think you need the 5-wire adapter. IIRC the CDI on the hellcat is the same one used on the Quantum 150 and has a connector like...
https://partskit.com/product/103271




I would not get that exhaust. I would get something from Kepspeed or here. That thing is loud and has a smaller diameter header. Grom exhausts are not a direct fit. The 125 and the 190 connect to the motor at an angle.

I hate the stock headlight assembly. Mad Eye or Harley bucket light for the win.
If you're going to replace the bulb, not all will fit in the odd headlight housing even though the connection (H4) is correct. If you have taken it off you will see how the main bulb goes in. These fit.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FGDT6Q4

Don't forget LED running light bulb

These control levers will mount on the stock perch and are decent.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08318KDF2

AllsBalls wheel bearings for sure. Don't skimp on a cheap universal fender delete. https://www.motodynamic.com/ Ones for a 2014 grom work and if you decide to forego the rear turn signal for an integrated turnsignal/brake light combo do not skimp on that either. Those inexpensive ones are not bright enough to be seen in the day.


The clone PE carbs that come with the ZS are hit or miss. Look into a genuine Keihin PE 28 or Nibbi. Don't forget a jet kit 38/120 is a good place to start.

You'll also want an oil catch can if you plan on running the motor hard at top speed. These motors are notorious for blow back and you don't want oil all over the rear tire at 75/80.

Also on the 2018/2019s the voltage regulator bracket... the welds that hold it onto the frame are garbage. The bracket will break off. But once you do the canister delete you can bolt the voltage regulator directly to the frame. Yes it will reach.



The suspension is awful. I haven't started on that yet.

Last but not least, a universal alarm remote start will plug right into the aux port up front by the headlight. I love it.



Not that I know everything just going over everything I learned the hard way.

[deadwood83]

THanks for sharing your experience Scoot! Sounds like our paths are not too dissimilar.


I plan to keep the stock choke lever, and I would like to keep it functional. It looks like polini makes some parts that night be right up my alley.

Attachment 21136
Would just need to measure the choke parts and order the proper size. Not this exactly, but something similar could work. Making the bracketry isn't too hard. I made some custom bracketry for the old XJ that I think came out really well.





It is indeed too late to cancel the 190 order, and I was already planning on the shift star mod. The cost difference between the two motors is not insignificant, and I can rebuild the transmission (with Daytona parts) about two times over for the price differential. If I wanted top speed from the bike, then I would def go Daytona. I just want something for city streets that has enough power to get out of a sticky situation, and maybe do a canyon climb.


Plus, coming from the Yamaha XJ world, I am no stranger to transmission work.


The cush drive rubbers, swingarm bolt, rear axle, and front axle are cheap enough I will be ordering them soon. May I ask what made you swap the rear hellcat sprocket carrier? It is not exactly an anemic part, and the genuine Honda hub is showing as ~$150 which is a tough pill to swallow once you consider that also requires a different mounting scheme.

If I had to guess, failures would probably be due to loose bolts gradually egging the holes in the Hellcat hub. 20hp (more like 16-17 at my altitude) is not a lot to put through such a beefy piece; especially when it is rubber-damped.


I did see the kepspeed exhaust over and over. I even priced one out. Came to ~$280 delivered. It is difficult to rationalize that on a bike that will not be my primary ride by any means. I do really like their swingarm as well; for no other reason than it uses actual bearings and isn't just direct tube to tube contact. I think if I ever do that, I will need to upgrade the rear shock at the same time. I suspect the friction of the stock swingarm is part of what keeps the rear shock from bottoming out lol.


I wholly agree on the suspension though. Rather garbaggio. Going over speed bumps makes the front forks wheeze and gurgle like a terminally ill pneumonia patient. I will be dumping the current fluid (once I have plates) and replacing it with some Redline D4 ATF as a temporary cleaning fill. It also visco's out to be between a 15W and 20W fork oil at almost all temperatures.... and I have like 12 quarts of it but no cars with an automatic transmission.


You are correct on that part where I did not need to order the 5-pin adapter. Oh well, it is what it do.


RE: Carbs. I looked at the Nibbi, and looked at what little video content there was available. I'll be honest, it just looks like a coated clone carb with a couple aluminum pieces and a dremel polish. Certainly convenient and less than a genuine Keihin, but I was born in the hellfire of 4x CV carbs with passive air balancing on a 40 year old abused motor, so how bad can one slide carb be? (insert lightning and sudden downpour sound effects)


I just want my paperwork to get here so I can actually do a real riding eval.

[scoot newb]

I suspect some of the clone carbs are defective. Just I mean, these China parts are night and day if you're used to Japanese products.


The hub carrier for the Grom should only be around $60 for an OEM one. I've seen photos in Clone groups where the 190 damaged the stock hub or so the posters said. So rather than risk it I spent the $60. I also had the bug at the time. You know? Where you keep dumping money and fixing something for no good reason.

Yeah the stock swinger is awful and those chain tensioners.

If you know how to fab and all that this will be great. I don't know how to do any of that nor do I have the tools. This bike, mine came damaged out of the box and I had to learn to wrench and gather tools if I wanted to get around at the time. I had messed with 2t dirt bikes back in the day but the ones from Japan never needed work. They just kept pouring it on. But an 80cc was 5k.

If I could do it again, I would get the Daytona. I don't like the idea of transmission failure at less the 5k miles and I doubt I could do it on my own. I've seen them for $1100 shipped with a coupon code, plus that comes with a 4v head.

I want to go for a ride but it is raining.

[deadwood83]

Originally Posted by scoot newb

The hub carrier for the Grom should only be around $60 for an OEM one. I've seen photos in Clone groups where the 190 damaged the stock hub or so the posters said. So rather than risk it I spent the $60. I also had the bug at the time. You know? Where you keep dumping money and fixing something for no good reason.

This hits close to home.

Originally Posted by scoot newb

I suspect some of the clone carbs are defective. Just I mean, these China parts are night and day if you're used to Japanese products.

Trufax. Though I have faith in my ability to adjust. For 4-wheeled vehicles, I bought my first non-BMW last March (2019). It's a Hyundai Veloster Turbo, R-Spec trim. Pretty happy with that little car. I like it even more when I pay insurance / fuel on the M3.

I actually have complete faith that you would be able to work on a bike transmission. You basically have two sticks with some finger-destroyers on them, then a third stick lives below. The third stick has some two-pronged beefed-up pickle forks (like the food) which push the finger destroyers back and forth. That's about it.

The finger destroyers have these cheeky little grooves so they can combine like Megazord. This allows a free-wheeling finger destroyer to couple with a driven finger destroyer, giving you power output. Megazord combine link highlighted with blue.



In other news, my front door got blocked today. See, I have a glass door in front of my... door. The UPS driver must have figured I was not on the interior of the residence because he put the freaking thing right up against the glass. Either that or he/she is a funny guy/gal. It did give me a bit of a laugh.

Also, a shout-out to literally the darkest corner of my home.


It came with a special Carburetor. I have dubbed it, "Y'All."

It's great because wherever I go, I have Y'All with me!


So far, stator is looking like a direct swap. Hellcat stator Ohms-out higher, so it either has thinner gauge wire or more windings. Since people say the ZS190 doesn't charge the battery below 2k rpm, my bet is on the latter. The Hellcat appears to have a DC rectifrier which means.....
8-pole-capable stator rectifiers are cheap and plentiful! 8 pole stator: ~30 bucks. Rectifrier, ~20-30 bucks.


I looked at the VIN inspection form for the state. It has a field for displacement. Looks like the big swap has to happen after I get the VIN inspection done.

[deadwood83]

Took a wee trip on the angry kitten to the my local emissions place where they performed a VIN inspection.
They marked the year as 2019 which concerns me a little, since I think the title is going to say 2020 (build date 9/2019). They also marked it as a scooter, which I find hilarious.


Maybe is is a scooter, who knows? That just means I will have a really fast scooter.


Also, got the shift star fix done while the motor was on my living room floor. 10.9 bolts are next to the motor, new clutch cable is next to the motor, fender eliminator is on, stereotypical grom mirrors are on.


Now with the VIN inspection over..... IT IS TIME. Stator swap, gear indicator swap, and motor.


I have Kitaco brackets for the oil cooler, but the mount points on the included oil cooler do not line up. Am I about to drop $200 on a Kitaco? Oh heck no!. I'm going to fab up a way to use the oil cooler as it sits. Hoping that I get a letter from Q9 with my MCO, etc in the next 24hrs so I can get plates and be on the road!


After that,
Bearings (where I have garage space), axles and swingarm bolt (where I have space), cush drive (again, space), front fork oil. I will have to evaluate how everything sits at that point before going further.

[deadwood83]

The motor is mostly in. The oil cooler I got with my kit is vastly different in mounting style. I keep going back and forth between using it and getting a different one. Photo shamelessly clipped from the swap shop facebook page to show style.

The tabs are too close for the Kitaco mount to slide between them, and too far to actually use the mount. They are also on the wrong plane of existence to bolt to the mounting tabs for the Kitaco oil cooler spot.

I have an old Yamaha FZ600 oil cooler that has almost perfect spacing, but it requires Yamaha's old style fittings (which I think are DIN2343 18mm, clamped taper collar with backing nut hydraulic fittings) and those are crazy hard to find with a banjo at the other end of the hose other than old Yam hoses, which are all 12mm banjos. Finding an oil cooler in the US which isn't just a Chinese unit sold for 2-3x the price is.... difficult. If the Zhonger case used M12 banjos it would be a lot easier. There are some coolers that should fit, but they just use slip-over barbs on the cooler side, and I do not trust those to hold any sort of pressure whatsoever.

The carb fit was.... tight. and I mean tight. I had to unmount the petcock. My Hellcat has some additional bracketry that is different than what I have seen in others' photos. Oh, and that throttle slide cap is NOT coming off without dismounting the whole carb. The throttle cable was also almost too short. I had to pursue alternate routing, but verified there is still a wee bit of slack from lock to lock.

My belmetric bolts , lock washers, and nylocs worked perfectly. I definitely overtightened them a touch which is OK, they are really one-time-use items at the cost. I went until I felt the tiny mechanical squeak of a friction weld. They will not be coming loose. Red loctite really wouldn't do much due to the heat cycling, and I didn't have any green loctite.

The clutch cable recommended by folks on the swap page is too long by about .5-1.25CM. It is workable, but the handlebar adjustment is at the point where, on my Yamaha, I would say "whoa, this cable is overdue for replacement." It also has a super short throw. Dry runs (just going through the gears while rocking back and forth) indicate the shifting works, but I also have some doubts about real world longevity. While typing this, I just had a thought. There's a very real possibility the arm was installed off-index from factory. I'll have to check that. The shift star fix went in without a fuss. I was even able to perform the mod without removing the clutch basket. That's a win in my books, especially since all my impact tools are away from home.

Stator dropped right in without a fuss. This engine is a Gen3, which means the flywheel can take, at max, an 84 or 85mm diameter stator. Luckily the Hellcat stator is 83mm, but it means that an 8-pole upgrade in future might be a touch tricky. I did find a unit on AliExpress that is 8 pole-5wire, and lists the diameter as 85mm. That might work.

While things were apart, I took the opportunity to replace all the fuel lines with steel and fiber-reinforced 3/16" ethanol-rated Prestone lines; part number #FU0316.

I looked at the possibility of moving the regulator. I did not want to relocate my ignition coil because any spot I looked at had really mediocre grounding. This has proven rather difficult so far. I will need to stare it down some more. As a plus, the reg bracket looks like it is welded all the way across, so it should last ~30-60 days.

I don't like the way the filter kicks out to the side. I would prefer if it has a slight angle and taper to better tuck under the fairing. I'm trying to keep this a little bit low-key and that red filter mushed slightly out of the fairing isn't helping lol. (I ordered a 15* angled dual stage filter while typing this).

The exhaust.... is hopeless. The weld booger was so intense that it has less than 1cm opening at the head. I guess I'm waiting for the exhaust to come in. The cheapo muffler I ordered is just a tightly packed glasspack. I was hoping it was an open can design so I could make/use my own packing. No such luck. I have plans to modify the "DB killer" tip insert so that it will have better flow but still block most direct engine pulses. Basically I'm going to skeletonize the sides but still keep the tube 'cap' in place. This should act sort of like the "lollipop mod" on other four strokes which is meant to reduce exhaust pulse reversion. It won't have adjustability, but it also won't leave a screw and nut sticking out the side of my pipe.



Things left to do:

• Exhaust. Going to try and get a genuine Grom gasket for more forgiveness. Also replacing the crappy nuts with actual exhaust flange nuts.
• Modify brake lever for ZS190 fit
• Tune carb. I am at 4400' elevation, so I have preliminary jetting at 122/40. Reports show success with ~125/38 at sea level, so 122/40 in theory should be really close.
• Swingarm bolt / axles
• Fork oil
• Front end alignment
• Wheel bearings
• Lube all cables
• Put in Cush drive rubbers
• Wheel bearings. I might put these off. Prelim inspection of the front wheel during assembly showed a sealed bearing. I don't hear or feel any noise or looseness either. They might last a season. If they start to fail, it's a fast process.

Q9 sent the title on May 1st. 8 days after submitting "product registration" on their site.

[scoot newb]

Take some pictures.

Also 125/38 at sea level is with the Genuine PE. The clone carbs I have seen that come with pitsters kits are setup 40/115 needle clip 2nd from top. They actually run okay during the summer for people in NY albeit the idle the pilot is too rich. I did 120/38 needle in center.

I could not get my carb tuned at all when it was in the 30's and 40.

[Chrisguga]

This is quite a build. I definitely get the idea of treating like a kit bike and the fun and challenge of the build, but I can’t help but think you’d just be better off buying a a Grom when you’re changing so much on the bike.

[deadwood83]

Originally Posted by Chrisguga

This is quite a build. I definitely get the idea of treating like a kit bike and the fun and challenge of the build, but I can’t help but think you’d just be better off buying a a Grom when you’re changing so much on the bike.

I guesstimate I enjoy projects about equally with riding, and I already have a bike that is pretty sweet for riding. I really wanted a project and as much as I hate admitting it, I never ever intended to not engine swap. You can see from my brief overview of last year's big project push that I tend to go a little overboard. I would say that as far as things go for me, I am leaving this one pretty well alone and just doing the bare necessities.


Plus, the market here is absolutely insane. People are just out of their minds with asking prices.

4k out the door + ZS190 + brackets and everything else I have already had to buy + gas tank (or 2300+ used)


Hellcat puts me 1300 ahead of a used 2014 Grom minus the PO's neglect/stunting/etc.


The XJ has been sitting the past week because the exhaust needs adjustment. Aftermarket means it needs a repack. Getting a touch lean in the high revs where the 4-2 scavenges a bit too well unless it has good packing. UPS elected to mark my packing as undeliverable due to 'unmet security requirement.' I live behind a gate so it's not unusual for delivery drivers to just mark as undeliverable if they are running behind on a route.


Customs paperwork on the exhaust was completed yesterday so... I guess that means I might see it in the future. Maybe even this week. Jets-r-us got me my package rather quickly. I love those guys. I now have pilots 38-42 and mains 115-125. I'd totally colortune the 190 but Gunson wants $25 for the 12mm adapter


I also found one of these little guys:

Hello again my friend, working clutch controls. I haven't had the chance to miss you yet, but I know I would! Might have to cast a diff size lead slug on the end of the cable, but that should be no biggie.



I also figured out what I want to do about an oil cooler! This lil guy is about 10" wide at the core, which happens to be about the same size as the massive gap between the plastics left by removing the airbox. Would a curved KLX cooler look better? Yes. Was this less expensive? By about 3-4x. This whole DIY oil cooler setup was about $81. All parts are pressure rated to at least 300PSI. 1500PSI for the lines.
Red = cut off
Blue = Bend 90* to attach to bracket shaped like |________| so the long face can mount to the kitaco bracket and the bent cooler 'wings' will mount to the end parts.

Add a splash of AN-6 Braided stainless tubing:

Finish off the engine side with some M10x1.25 to AN-6 fittings:

In my headspace and memory of fluid dynamics from college it should be straight-up Bernoulli in the oil cooler. The cooler has oversized passages compared to the engine, so fluid speed should be slower within the rad compared to the engine. This will allow more time for the temperature to fall. That said, heat transfer is proportional to delta T so who knows. Plus once the engine reaches steady-state equilibrium it's all moot anyway.


I am jealous of scoot_newb's tail light. That thing is bright as frig. I am a little too cheap to buy it.

[Rangerscott]

Yea. People want just about what they paid for new when they bought their groms.