Hi,

Took my new (to me) 250 for a ride today. My first time on a bike in 10 years and after 20 minutes I was exhausted. Muscles I haven't used in years.

I'm trying to get some time on the bike before it goes away for 5 months (Frozen North of New York). Over the winter, I'm going to do some major maintenance, paint, etc, etc, on the bike and change it from Suicide Black to something a bit more visible. There's no aero bodywork left on the bike and it now has a round headlight, so I'm going to go with a classic cafe style cowl.

On my short ride, it seemed like the front springs/shocks were extremely soft and bouncy and the riding position for my legs was cramped. I'm open to all and any suggestions as to improvements. FWIW, I'm 6' 2" tall with a 35" inseam and weigh 230.

BTW-I build 2 stroke racing engines for karts and have a lathe, mill, tig and gas welders so I can fab stuff.

The older gens front end nose dives like crazy. You may want to try a heavier oil to take some of the bounce out. As far as legs being cramped some adjustable rear sets may help. Post some pics when you get a chance. The round headlight sounds interesting.

Oh, Welcome to the forum btw! :thumbup:

some very good pregen info here (http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/Main_Page).

Your going to have fun fab. n that bike into a cafe style bike

Welcome to the forum and please post pics.

Welcome to the forums.

The suspension is a usual complaint with the pre-gen ninjettes. For the rear, you can do a simple swap to a J-series shock (takes like 15mins at most) or use a 500R shock. For the forks you can also get the internal springs changed out to a heavier spring. You could get springs from a 500R to put in them or get new springs that are even stronger then them if you want. Go to the pre-gen ninjette wiki to find the links for all your questions.

Welcome John - glad to have you with us.

I reccomend you get a set of Pirelli Sport Demons. Very sticky and long wearing.

Welcome to the forum! I think rearsets will probably cramp you up a bit more, but some peg adjusters should give you a bit more. Let us know what you come up with as far as fab'n stuff.

The pregen owners can probably help you much more than me, but welcome to the forum!

I think i went to a 15w oil in my forks, and the front feels pretty good, I might try a 20w next summer though. The rear i m buying the 250r shock. And for the cramped riding..... let me know what you find out, as I am in the same boat.. I dont see why someone doesn't make rear sets, or at least some sort of relocation brackets.. I would love more legroom..

Hi,

Took my new (to me) 250 for a ride today. My first time on a bike in 10 years and after 20 minutes I was exhausted. Muscles I haven't used in years.

I'm trying to get some time on the bike before it goes away for 5 months (Frozen North of New York). Over the winter, I'm going to do some major maintenance, paint, etc, etc, on the bike and change it from Suicide Black to something a bit more visible. There's no aero bodywork left on the bike and it now has a round headlight, so I'm going to go with a classic cafe style cowl.

On my short ride, it seemed like the front springs/shocks were extremely soft and bouncy and the riding position for my legs was cramped. I'm open to all and any suggestions as to improvements. FWIW, I'm 6' 2" tall with a 35" inseam and weigh 230.

BTW-I build 2 stroke racing engines for karts and have a lathe, mill, tig and gas welders so I can fab stuff.

well i'm not sure it ever will be comfy for us big fellas, but i intend to redo my front suspension soon...maybe we can swap ideas

Thanks Everybody!

I did some speed reading over the last couple days. I was going to change the fork oil over the winter so the 500R fork springs like a good and cheap way to go. On cars, generally, when you go to a stiffer spring you should add stiffer shocks to dampen, so going to a 15 weight shock oil sounds like a good start.

The rearsets I found move the foot pegs up as well as back. The Buell footpeg conversion looks good, except that you have to grind them down too much. Here is a Newbie question: Why do footpegs fold up? Is there any real advantage? Making a new set of lower footpegs would be much easier without the folding part......

My rear tire is pretty worn so at least one Sport Demon is coming. Any issue with just doing the rear? MT75 on the front.

Thanks for all the input!!!!

John

footpegs fold so that if you drag them, they will give and you won't end up pivoting on them and crashing.

you should be okay mixing the tires, but the optimum setup is to use two of the same brand/model of tire.

As far as the front tire goes like KKim said you should be fine but I would also take the age of the tire into consideration. As a tire ages it gets hard, brittle and and starts developing cracks. After inspecting it if you see any of these conditions I would think about changing the front as well. I may have missed this in your posts but year is your bike?

Thanks everyone,

I think that I'll try machining up some pegs similar to the Buells.

OK, I can see why you'd want them to fold up if you lean too much. I was confused because the racing rearsets don't fold(?)

Its a 2004 and definately not worth photos at this point.

John

Thanks everyone,

I think that I'll try machining up some pegs similar to the Buells.

OK, I can see why you'd want them to fold up if you lean too much. I was confused because the racing rearsets don't fold(?)

Its a 2004 and definately not worth photos at this point.

John

Well at least take some photos and save them so you can do a before and after post.