I want to get some new grips

Go to any bike shop and you can find a good pair of replacement grips for $6-12. You should be able to find some that are more comfortable than the stock ones. eBay usually has a number of dealers selling grips, too. The Pro Grips brand is quite popular among club members, as are Oury Grips. The Pro Grips have a relatively smooth surface, as opposed to the individual pads offered by the Ourys (similar to the waffle sole on Nikes). Give them a good test at the dealer, or be prepared to try them out before installation and send them back if they're not comfortable, if you order online.

Removing bar ends: DON'T. A lot of members go thru lots of work drilling, hammering, even using dynamite to remove the bar ends in order to remove the oem grips. There's really no need, unless you plan to keep those old grips (but why?). You can easily cut them off carefully with a razor blade, then slip the new grips on with soapy water or hairspray. Another reason to cut them off is that some are glued on. There have been reports of one side being glued on, while the other wasn't.

To remove: Take a razor (or sharp utility knife) and cut off the old grips from the bar up (that is, do not cut down into the grip; work the edge of the razor under the grip, and cut in an upward motion, to avoid scratching the bars).

Then take your new grips, and apply a little soapy water to the inside of the grip and to the bar itself (you can also use hairspray, should you have some Extra Super Hold left over from the 80's). The soapy water or hair spray will make it easy to slide the new grips on, then after a few hours will dry to leave a good seal that will keep those grips stuck on there. Some members have reported slippage using hair spray, although most haven't. If you have some spray adhesive around, that would be a good alternative. Before you affix them permanently, see the first Note below.

Notes:

• Make sure the right grip isn't so long that it makes the throttle stick. You can cut off a couple mm with a (pick one: razor blade, utility knife, scalpel, sawzall) if you need to. Be sure to TEST THE THROTTLE RETURN before you get in real traffic. There is generally no problem with this on EX250s (with either Oury or Pro Grips), but you may run into it on other bikes.

If you should have to do some trimming, insert a socket of the approximate correct diameter, so you have something solid inside the rubber to prevent it from folding. Then, put a ring of masking tape around the grip to give you a good, straight line to follow when you do the cutting.

• The left and right grips do not have the same inner diameter, so don't frustrate yourself trying to get the left-hand grip onto the throttle; it won't fit. The diameter of the bar and grip is smaller on the left side, but the bar end is the same size on both sides. It may be difficult to get the grip over the bar end on the left side because the bar end is much larger than the grip. A lot of soap and twisting should do the trick.

• A cool trick learned at a dealership many moons ago is to use compressed air and blow it under the grip. Lift up the outboard edge of the grip, and jet some air under there. Working quickly, you can have a grip on or off in seconds, with no residues to worry about.