Tao Tao Hellcat and IceBear Lil Monster

[siikmonkee]

I feel for those who have had crappy issues with their Grom clones - I wish you the best of luck going forward. However, although I've had a couple hiccups, I'm actually feeling pretty good about the purchase.

For about two years, I had my eye on a Grom. I'm not a highway rider, I've owned scooters and a small cruiser in the past, and it was very appealing to me to get something that I could just jump on and go have fun on. Find a trail, fit down back alleys...it's Utah, they're not all that crazy out here.

Anyways, so when my dealer got some of these clones in, I immediately made plans to buy one. And it took a moment - the dealer isn't that great as far as service is concerned and getting them to get one in stock for me wasn't the easiest ever, but they made sure to have everything assembled and the MSO in hand upon the sale, so I went for it.

The first bike I purchased was a 2016 IceBear Lil Monster (a Razkull clone - so a clone of a clone? Sounds sketchy, I know, but hear me out). Off the line, the bike was great. Put gas in, rode it around, got lost in some of the fields nearby, took some pics - it's honestly been a great bike, even with a couple of the tips that I overlooked when I first got it.

For those of you who don't know, immediately replace the engine mounting bolts and the oil. The bolts that they have stock with these machines are too short and will likely shear on the threaded side (mine broke twice after I replaced the bolt with the same length, so needless to say I learned the hard way). A 6 inch 5/16" replacement bolt - with a lock washer - does just fine. And the oil might as well be fish oil. When you change it, you'll see what I mean. I'm fairly certain that they don't put the amount needed in either. I'm very glad that the first 100 miles put on the bike didn't result in any issues. Lastly, going through and tightening all the bolts, screws, and whatnots goes a long way in making these feel a lot more secure.

While it was fun to ride as stock, I decided a few of the standard upgrades would be worth investing into, so I got a 17t front sprocket, chain replacement, and a Mikuni VM22 carb. I've been having fun on it since.

The second bike is a very similar story, though it started a little rougher. While I told myself that I didn't want to go back to the dealer I had purchased the first one from, horror stories online regarding getting the MSO made me decide I would try it anyway. Wanting to go back to a standard transmission format (the IceBear has a 4-3-2-1-N vs 1-N-2-3-4 shifting pattern), I decided on getting a Hellcat and giving the IceBear to my wife (who is loving it - we're at about 1200 miles at this point).

The Hellcat started off with no nuts on the engine mounting bolts and a missing dust cap on the rear axle. In addition, there was a hole in the rear caliper. So as I was going home, I immediately noticed humming and a general grinding noise, and I didn't have any pressure in my rear brake. I posted a thread here hoping to get some answers, but decided "the first one was easy enough to tear apart, so I guess I can do the same here" - which is when I found the issues.

I've been lucky with the dealer, as they agreed to order the parts for me - however, they were taking their sweet time getting the parts in (I still haven't been called about them, they told me 7-12 business days), and I got impatient - so I rush ordered the parts from Partzilla.com after hearing that 2014 Grom parts worked on these clones. Sure enough, I received my shipment and replaced the broken pieces (the engine mounting bolts were purchased from a local hardware store) and tightened all the bolts. I have since ridden the bike to work about 30 miles away from home twice, and I have no further issues to report. I've even put a VM22, 17t front sprocket and 32t rear sprocket on - 60mph and no vibrations anymore after the maintenance.

SO all in all, I would recommend these bikes - as long as you have a way to get the MSO quickly and aren't afraid to do the general maintenance needed. Reading others' experiences, people have put several thousand miles on these bikes and have even beat them up a bit (BangBang Scooter Gang on Youtube comes to mind), so I imagine as long as the work is done, you have nothing to worry about.