what's going on happy Thanksgiving everybody it has been a long time since
nomadic fanatic has been on two wheels
first of all had Thanksgiving here at Julia's banquet with some friends here
in Alton Illinois awesome really glad I came back up was really smart to come
hang out with friends this is not gonna be a bike review but I've got lots to
share with you and I also want to talk to with you about why I think that the
honda grom is the best RV traveling motorcycle that you can possibly get but
this is my new motorcycle guys now groms are nothing new they've been around here
in the US since I think 2014 it is not a pit bike it's not a minibike it's
considered a full-size motorcycle just in a smaller form factor so it's got
everything that a normal motorcycle has just for smaller shorter people it's a
125cc it's air-cooled 4-speed transmission but unlike my other
motorcycles this one has fuel injection up here so no longer carbureted it's got
disc brakes all around very nice I got it brand new from the Honda
dealership here in Alton Ted's Motorsports with eight miles and I will
show you how we're looking now 52 miles now that I have put on this brand new
motorcycle it's kind of I guess you'd call it campervan Kevin don't run over
me yellow it's not quite neon green like my cones it's more like a neon yellow I
haven't even done anything to it yet except put on a ram cell phone mount
because I need it for GPS to know where I'm going around here it is not a dual
sport okay you can see by the tires this is strictly a street bike right it does
have foot pegs for a second passenger well I don't know max speed on this guy
says 62 I have not gotten it up to that speed I've not gotten on the freeway or
anything yet but its bare-bones stock at this point guys and it will not be that
way for long some people consider these toys
or something like that but it's really economical for me plus okay you guys
only know me from YouTube right so you don't really know that I'm only five
foot six okay I'm a short guy so if you're six foot or over six foot this
might be uncomfortable for you but on those bigger bikes
I can't even flatfoot my feet on the ground let me show you what this looks
like when I sit on it say it's normal for me it doesn't look like a midget
bike when I'm on this bike for what I do on the road 60 mile an hour is gonna be
just fine I'm not gonna probably take this on the freeway very often it's good
to know that legally I could if I wanted to the other thing I had to consider was
how much of the dual sport off-road did I really get out of the TW 200 not that
much not that much I need this as a tool to get around the big city so that I can
share more of it with my subscribers smaller engine but also much lighter
weight all right so I should probably answer a few questions for my followers
about the past because my my break issues with the RV I've done some
drastic things in the past to fix that one of them was physically get rid of
the TW 200 off the back of the RV thinking that somehow that was
contributing too much weight but then I also did a bunch of other stuff like
when all om brake parts front to back on the RV which ended up costing me over
$3,000 or the initial cost of that TW 200 so why am I going back to this some
people might say if you're gonna have the same brake problems no it's not a
weight issue or if it was a weight issue here's here's a way to think about it
and I mentioned this in the in the past but the hitch back here I'm rated for
350 pounds max on that tongue well this steel carrier weighs 99 pounds the TW
two hundred ways 278 pounds wet do the math that's three hundred and seventy
seven pounds that was directly on the hitched tongue weight that's over 350
my back now the Honda Grom comes in at 229 pounds wet that means I'm only
putting 328 pounds on the back of this and I'm going to swap out that battery
for a lithium lighter battery later anyway so now I can definitely say I am
under the weight limit on the back hitch plus all om breaks on the RV now first
of all I just want to point out that we as a country can really be divided when
it comes to safety gear I have gotten it from both point I have been out there on
a bike in shorts and a t-shirt no helmet and here in Illinois you don't got to
wear a helmet I've done it ok I'm guilty of that I have been mocked for that I've
had people say you're crazy on the other hand as soon as I got gear for my TW 200
half of my subscribers went the other way they said you look ridiculous Eric
you look like an idiot a fool what are you doing with all that stupid gear that
you don't need so I'm just gonna point that out I may not always wear all the
gear I need sometimes I may look over here too much safety or something like
that also I like to match that's just my thing and you might think that's comical
but if you can find stuff that matches why not right so we'll start with my
helmet it's an S&S element I love it that it
has that half face look but then it can instantly turn into a full face helmet
when you need it and then just pop it right back up it's also easier to get on
in this position it actually matches the motorcycle that's awesome motorcycle
gloves same thing I did get some black ones with yellow accents just like the
bike now this jacket I just want to mention the Kawasaki in town here's
going out of business so it's 50% off everything I happen to find a bright
neon motorcycle jacket it's not quite the same color as the motorcycle not
quite but again I want people to see me on this bike not for attention but
because I don't want to die am I gonna wear this year-round even in the
summertime in the desert possibly not possibly not all the time but I got it
it matches I'm happy
helmet on it's a really relaxed fit helmet also if I want to keep this open
got a button right here for shades okay and then when I'm ready to ride and I
really face full face and shades
so bear with me this is my first attempt at moto vlogging I do have a microphone
inside the helmet it might sound a little bad and I don't know if the wind
is gonna sneak in under my chin or not but I mentioned things like I
technically feel that this is the best motorcycle for RVs and the main reason
for that is actually the fact that it's fuel-injected overs a lot of the
carbureted lighter bikes because someone like me I can change things like whether
it was snowing and icy and just miserable six days ago and now it's 60
degrees on Thanksgiving so weather can contribute a lot to the performance of
the bike itself and how it wants to start and run and stay running other
things to consider is the elevation now for me traveling in one day I can see
thousands of feet difference in elevation and that can really affect the
performance as well also the vibration on the back of the RV can actually jump
this just gravity-fed gas to the carburetor can it can drip and flood the
carburetor if that petcock is not working correctly
there's fourth gear
that's what we got now I prefer the chest mount camera
system to the helmet one because you don't get you don't see all the times
where you you're looking constantly to your left and right to see if cars are
there it's just a little less sickening to watch in my personal opinion I don't
know what you guys think well if somebody just got pulled over in their
Grom I've met a girl no no
you know that's not a girl
sorry man
maybe that's the other good thing about a Grom is you really can't get into
trouble I mean it's this does not have speed and power guys it is not gonna get
you a ticket it's gonna struggle to hit 60 mile an hour when you need 60 miles
per hour so if you don't want to get a whole bunch of speeding tickets on your
motorcycle I'd say definitely go with a Grom and it's fun it's so maneuverable I
mean it just it's so lightweight
but it's not like unsafely light like I don't feel like a strong gust of wind is
gonna tip me over or take me out of my lane either
all right Mississippi River is gonna be off to our left but I'm gonna look for
that part I went to last time
all right it's zero to 50 right here speed limits 30 never mind can't do that
it's a fun bike though I can't light the stupid smile off my face and even the
real motorcycles wave to me like watch this guy see that I got the OL Harley
wave there Honda Grom that's awesome
also the wrong community to himself is actually a really big community they
have these big drama vents there's a youtuber gourami bear and I forgot some
of the other ones but you know they're fun to watch and they show how to do all
the upgrades for their Grom and this thing is supposedly really easy to get
up on one wheel eventually I will figure that out I want to pop a wheelie on this
bike for sure but let me get comfortable with it first because it's quite a
difference from other bikes I've ridden
it's fun man it's like it's like stupid fun I can't even explain it but a fun
little bike like I said if it doesn't work out I can always go to something
different later in life I mean you only live once right I mean I've said it I
said it so many times before why wait to do something you wanted to do until
you're not healthy enough or excited enough to even try it later on in life
if you want to do something in life find a way to make it happen right now and
enjoy it while you can I mean I'm all about being happy and
trying to stay as happy as possible on the road but like I said this is also a
tool so the bike the bike is really going to help us all enjoy the road and
the and the places we go a little better and has some fun along the way so let me
know what you guys think as far as the camera chest mount how did the audio
sound inside the helmet I can make a few changes with band-pass I can make it
higher or lower and stuff like that but let me know what you guys think I'm
gonna ride back to the RV because like I said I still want to show you how to in
my opinion properly load the bike and secure the bike to a moving RV around
the country so we'll go for one more ride so we're back loading this
motorcycle onto the back of the RV or any RV like this or bike but it's a
cakewalk guys there's nothing to it I'm not even kidding you
229 pounds you can almost just lift it and set it on the ramp instead but this
coming from some past mistakes that I made yes you can buy cheaper ramps than
this Titan ramps 600-pounder you can buy aluminum ramps as well and what you're
gonna see is that they are built really flimsy and they are unsafe in a lot of
ways you're also going to definitely want an anti wobbler which this kit
actually comes with one that's what this square thing is that keeps the entire
ramp from wiggling back and forth this direction I can't even show you because
it's so solid it's not moving anywhere but don't buy a cheap ramp guys because
almost all the cheap ramps come with a tiny little two or three foot ramp right
there you're gonna bottom out with nearly any motorcycle and it's pointless
right this is a 67 in shrimp that stores on the back of
this let me just demonstrate it to you how easy this is to put up there I have
the cone put right there so that once I get it up there I don't just have
somebody else hold it I just put the cone between the spare tire and the gas
tank of the bike and that keeps it from the mere hitting up here on the RV so
let me show you I like to get kind of a running start at it at least
just to build up the momentum that's it but going back here and secured it now I
can already walk away from it it's not gonna tip over
okay the second mistake I made hauling a scooter and then a motorcycle is the
type of ratcheting straps that you have as you can see by this one it has this
extra little thing there I believe we call this an S hook strap
the reason why this thing is important in a motorcycle strap that you're
driving on is because the tension from the shocks the front forks or the rear
shock depending on the terrain can make this loosen on one side right and if
this is not closed then this can come off something right so you definitely
want to get a closed loop or think it's called a closed S ratcheting strap I
highly recommend a second time I went with rhino ratcheting straps made in the
US a lifetime warranty and each one of these kits that comes with two
ratcheting straps also has these soft tail soft soft I forgot what you call
them but they're for handlebars now I'm not saying that handlebars are always
going to be your best option for securing every single motorcycle but for
the Grom I really don't have any other options because if I go right here
I fear that I'm gonna get this wiring involved well so I'm definitely going to
shape on the plastic coming down right here so for me the handlebars coming
down at an angle and pulling it forward is really going to be my my best option
for securing this particular bike and for the process of this what I'm going
to do first is the back one so I'm gonna remove the cone I'm gonna put the strap
here this strap I don't have to adjust this one's always going to be in this
position locked in and then it'll be a little loose while I pull the bike this
way and then ratchet this one down that's what we'll do first this one is
good right there I don't even have to adjust it
let's talk about one thing yeah we're putting a little bit of strain on the
front forks but there's no other way to do this really people say oh you're
gonna blow out your fork seals well you know what I have to find a way to haul
it and there's nowhere else to grip this so I'm going to use the bike suspension
to kind of help travel with the motorcycle if I have to replace fork
seals once every year that's no biggie it's a $5 seal it's not going to be that
big a deal I have to be able to have the flexibility on the back to be able to
carry in the first place otherwise there'd be no point in having the
motorcycle so some motorcycles you can put a block between the fender right
here and up here somewhere like a piece of wood or something and then when
you're crimping it down you're not gonna compress the forks as far this is a
plastic fender the Grom and the TW there was just no way to physically do that in
this circumstance so this is going to be okay let me demonstrate what I was
talking about earlier though say you're going over a really heavy boat look how
loose this can get I'm pulling it essentially right this could come off it
was not a closed s down here that's why you do that now unfortunately with this
bike there are not very many options I technically would be okay with putting
in a strap here and bring it to each corner but there's an even easier way to
just use one strap go up through here behind this underneath the rear shock
and back out the same way behind the muffler the muffler is mounted to the
same bracket right here so that's not going to cause any problems and then
secure it right here to get it to tight yep this bike ain't going nowhere and
I've always got eyes on my bike while I'm driving to see what it's doing
physically see if I have a strap malfunction or something happened on the
bike oh and lastly is just how this ramp here source held on by a couple of wing
nuts like that easy peasy motorcycle transportation oh yeah like I said I had
a blast with Thanksgiving with friends here we went to that banquet and the
food was scrumptious I'm talking chicken ham turkey best of all no cooking no
cleanup while I kind of feel guilty for the people that have to work on
Thanksgiving it's early enough that they still get a Thanksgiving at night with
their family and friends and I think it was a really good choice to come back
and see friends but now I need to make some more videos for you guys so oh and
also I brought back some turkey for Jax that's right Jax I did not forget about
you buddy I brought you home some turkey you want some turkey buddy yeah you do
want some
happy Thanksgiving little guy enjoy all right I don't know if I was allowed to
but I did anyway so we'll get a chance to utilize this bike on the road a lot
for the rest of the Great River Road so thanks for following Jackson eye on the
road we will see you soon back south okay bye guys
you