Hey everyone, My name is Michael, I'm 26 and a qualified car mechanic but I now work for B.G.C. because the mechanical industry sucks balls and is full of dodgy pricks & pays nothing... anyways I was born n bread in Western Australia in 1987. I have had a life long unshakable love for anything powered by a motor, my mother figures it must have come from my great grandfather who apparently was a mechanical engineer for Rolls Royce back in the good old days... Anyways so I saw this yellow bike sitting out the front of some dudes house in 2006 and fell in love with it, it just so happens that dude is now my brother in law and that yellow bike is now mine! To this day I have never really fully finished or enjoyed any of my vehicle orientated projects which has really bothered me so about a week ago I decided to change that. Meanwhile ill also be focusing on getting my motorbike licence, yes that's rite I don't even have a bloody licence to ride the bike that's been sitting in my shed for the past 2 or 3 years! So what's my plans with the bike once I finish it? To be honest I always hear of people who sell there little 250 supersport, and buy a big bike when years later they wish they kept there little 250 because it was sooo much more fun to ride! So without any further delay ill quickly run though the basic summery of what my intentions are... my intentions are to make this bike as safe as possible for me to ride!... So in saying that, because the bike has sat around not being ridden for most of its life I think its a sensible option to pretty much go though the whole bike and replace consumable parts without rebuilding the motor as its only got 35,000km on the odo. This means new tyres, brakes, fork oil and fork seals, chain and sprocket, timing chain and tensioner, valve adjustments, all 4 carbys rebuilt with jet kit, Aftermarket air filter, coolant flush with new thermostat, new clutch disc with plate and springs, addition of fuel filter to fuel line, taking silencer out of already installed aftermarket exhaust, new fairings with the same yellow but in a pearl, and also possibility of changing all lights to L.E.D to lighten the load on the battery n charging system... there is probably a crap load more of stuff Im forgetting rite now but please don't hesitate to let me know on things that you think may need attention! I know absolutely bugger all about bikes so this for me is a massive learning experience so I hope you all enjoy having a laugh and taking the piss out of me hahahaha thanks for reading guys!
Welcome! Don't forget the basics like spark plugs, air filter, engine oil and oil filter. Mind you if you're doing the carbs you'll probably notice them along the way!
Sound plan there sikmic. The clutch may not need replacement at the milage, the carbs would only need a seal kit and the cam chain would possibly only need looking at. The alloy bits around the water pipes may be corroded so give them a good check. I agree with you statement about regreting selling the 250 later, with the ridiculus speed limits in this country anything over 250 is wasted.
looking forward in seening this unfold. wouldnt stress about not having a licence, i dont and im 30 (i had my "L's" back home for a long time and rode bikes bigger than what i should but i must say i love my little 250's they are buckets of fun), i do all my riding on track, after so many years of riding around back home on the roads i dont fancy risking it here. plusssssssss you can go way faster on a track and learn so much more about you and your bike. but thats a different topic if you are looking at a full overhaul, check everything from your cush drive rubbers, swing arm bearings, wheel bearings, all gaskits, rocker cover, water pump ect, no matter the mileage its an old bike and you never know how well or not so well people before actually looked after the bike! best of luck!
Ok guys not much to update on... there has been a few changes in the direction of the build... first being that I will no longer be putting a jet kit through the carbs, instead I'll be sticking to factory specs with the addition of a unifilter in the standard air box, ive also decided to go full on with the build and totally rebuild the motor, and while the motor is out ill be getting the frame repainted... not sure on powder coating or 2pak though, powder coating seems more cost effective though lol
Ok so spent sunday pulling the motor, wiring harness and sub frame off the bike... so far its been smooth sailing. I know its easy to pull things apart rather then put them back together, but I honestly thought the wiring harness would have given me more trouble considering it is old and brittle... anyways this is how she sits... I hope to have the frame, sub frame, swing arm and wheels at the powder coaters by monday next week
Nice work it actually looks like this bike was already very tidy! It should make for an easier rebuild
Hahaha thanks guys... I think it was good, it didnt matter how long the bike sat for, she would always start first time with a slight choke, it would always rev to 20k nice n clean... but on start up she would blow a bit of blue smoke when cold, so id say that would of been the piston rings sticking, there were a few other things that were showing age aswell like fork seals, brakes, chain... also it had been dropped n some of the faring was damaged... by the time shes finished shes probably gonna cost me more then a new ninja but its well worth it
Well and truly worth it for the noise they make alone, better suspension, more power and lighter that plus a proper racing riding position means you will run laps around new ninjas!
good on ya mate! neice to see love been put back into the old girl. mind you she looks cleaner than my new ninja haha.
Hey man... at the moment ive got valve stem seals, piston rings, rocker cover gasket, head gasket, base gasket, clutch cover gasket, oil pan gasket, exhaust manifold gasket from a shop on ebay... i know that you can get big end and main barings from the same seller but at this stage im trying to figure out what sizings I should go for... im thinking standard size should be ok because the bike has only done 37000km and shes never been apart, having said that... the seller only sell blue main barings which is a looser tolerance. these are all genuine kawasaki parts... ill post up more details as soon as the parts arrive so I know they are the "real deal" of anybody has any advice on sizing feel free to post
Maybe leave the bottom end as is, these are pretty solid, make sure you add a cam chain and CT tensioner to your list as these are weak points on these engines.
Thanks grey import You have a valid point kiffsta... only real reason why I thought of doing the bottom end is because the piston rings need replacing... is there any way of doing this without taking the oil pan off?
Ok so the ebay seller calls himself wwwisicarcom. Not sure if he gets a regular inflow of parts for our bikes or not... I personally thought some of his **** was too expensive but I got on it just in case I couldnt find parts elsewhere. . . Good luck lol