What brand should I buy? Does anyone have a DIY typed/video taped? I noticed the other day when warming my tires up [ :D ] that the front was dropping too easily. Got off the bike and pressed, and the shocks seem to compress too easily. Im not whiz with motorcycles, but on a car I'd say the shocks or the seals to them are blown. What is the standard method on checking your shock seals?

Thanks guys

What is the standard method on checking your shock seals?


Look for oil leaking between the upper and lower fork tubes

The forks on the Ninja 250 are very basic keeping in line with the bikes lower "introduction" to biking price. The forks are sprung very lightly and offer decent dampening which is ok for most riders, especially new riders. The forks will compress fairly easily if you push down on the front of the bike. They are not blown or shot unless there is oil visibly leaking from the seals where the "Chromed" upper tube goes into the "black" lower housing. I tried to explain this as simply as possible so any new rider can under stand. depending on your weight and riding skill level you can do many things to improve the front forks. These are in no specific order and some will work with others while some require totally new parts. #1 you can drain the fork oil and add heavier weight oil which will increase the resistance of the fork from bottoming out. Approx cost $10-40 #2 is heavier/lighter springs which will depend on your own body weight for the proper spring value for you to use there are many post on this site which explain this so just search. Approx cost $100-200 #3 Emulators, these turn your simple forks into more complex working forks usually with adjusters for compression and/or rebound. Approx cost $250-500. #4 Aftermarket replacement purpose built forks. These totally replace the exsisting forks and are usually much better than stock but I don't know if anyone makes them for the ninja 250. Finally there are many threads on this site about swapping forks from other bikes to the Little Ninja. You can adapt many other makes and models forks to fit the ninja and again there are many threads dedicated to people who have broken this ground before you.

The first thing you should do is decide What you need and why you need better forks. Options 1 and 2 are best for newer riders and heavier rides and for people who commute mostly and just want a little more out of their forks.
#3 and possibly 4 are for serious track day riders and racers but can also work well for newer riders if they are willing to pay. The final suggestion is for the MOD guys who like something custom that works or the guys who like to tinker with their bikes and try different thing out. The advantage to the final choice is that other people have done the R&D for you and you get some idea it works and they tend to cost less than some of the other options.

Hope this helps you all this info is available elsewhere on this wonderful site!!:thumbup: