Face it. Grips don’t last very long. It’s their nature. They’re made of soft rubber or vinyl, and whenever the bike falls down, the grip takes a lot of punishment. Or let’s say you just want to change bars and save a pair of grips. How do you get them off without ruining them?

Surprisingly, lots of riders don’t know how to take grips off or install new ones properly.

Worse. Many riders don’t know how to mount them to where they’ll stay on. Want a cheap thrill? Hit a jump in third gear and have the grip come off in your hand!

Here, we have the final word on grip technology. Read this stuff, memorize it and proceed to dazzle your friends the next time you’re hanging around the garage or shop.

(1)  Naturally, if the grip is wasted, you can just cut it off with a razor blade - But that’s the easy way.	(2)  Often, a grip can simply be pulled off, if it’s done in this manner.
(3)  If you attempt to grab the grip like this, then you’re making a rubber version of the Chinese finger trap, and get nowhere fast.	(4) If you have an air hose handy, merely have a friend plug up the other end of the bars and insert the hose in the hole in the end of the grip. Blast some air in and the grip will balloon up and almost jump off. Neat.
(5)  More often than not, you’ll have to resort to the time-proven method of inserting a slender screwdriver under the grip, then squirt in some chain lube. Once a lubricant is between the grip and the steel, it almost falls off. Don’t forget to clean both the grips and the bar ends if they are to be used again. Any trace of oil will prevent proper seating.	(6)We like to use contact cleaner for installing grips. Saturate the bar well and the inside of the grip, it should slip easily in place, then when the solvent evaporates, the grip locks in place tightly.
(7) If you don’t have any contact cleaner handy, many other common solutions will do the job, among them are lacquer thinner and alcohol. Don’t use straight gas or mix, as that leaves an oily film.	(8)  In stubborn cases, tape should be wrapped around the bar like so before the solvent Is drenched over the surfaces. Be careful though; some synthetics are attacked by common chemical solutions.
(9) Drench the inside of the grip thoroughly, and the end of the bars...	(10)  ? then quickly slide the ?grip into place. Ordinary old fashion friction tape works best for this, but masking tape can be used in a pinch.
(11)  One sure-fire method to keep the grips on, is to spray the end of the bars with spray lacquer paint. When this stuff finally dries, the grip is never going anywhere. Even heavy water conditions will not let the grip slip off. You will have to cut the grip off, though, when you want to remove it.