So I recently purchased a 2006 ninja 250 (pregen ninja) for $900. I know it might seem over the edge... but it's my first bike and I'm really excited about it! I'm stripping it down and performing a full routine maintenance because the last guy seemed to have neglected it and it seems to have its fair amount of drops. I'm looking forward to giving this machine a new life. HER NAME WILL BE NINJASTEIN and she will terrorize the streets at how hideous she looks. I'm planning on making it into a naked bike because the fairings are cracked and scratched and tbh... im just too lazy to repair it with bondo and repaint and too poor to afford new fairings. (why the hell would i pay $100-200 for new fairings? im poor af... and thats like 1/9th the price I paid for the bike and I need to save money for the maintenance and for the parts that actually make the bike move) Here's what I'm looking at so far...


carb clean / maybe rebuild?
oil change
air filter (old one shredded to a million tiny fine particles)
new tires (last owner was ghetto af and used tape on the tires when you can clearly see the wire threads)
new brakes / brake fluid change
new clutch lines (I'll show you why)
new chain / maybe?
new turn signal lights (old ones busted from drop from previous owner)
new fork? seems to be leaking fluid but not sure if its from fork
clean detail bike
headers/exhaust wrap (for that clean detail bike look)
other misc. (for things not included in this list that I will run into because I know I will)


1st thing I did was get that nasty "plasti dip" off the headlights and clean them. I personally think it looks ugly and cheap and ruins the function of the headlight. You can see the last owner had it sprayed it to get it more of an aggressive look... I'm not here for a fashion statement... I'm here to ride safely and be as visible as I can be for cars and the plasti dip makes me less visible :x ... I've also ordered LED bulbs to replace the halogen ones... I just want to be as visible as I can be.

https://ibb.co/Xzmmppb
https://ibb.co/ByVqg6j

Welcome.

We had one of those -

https://i.imgur.com/q7i3ZAN.jpg

Looked bad - ran good.

Sounds like you are on the right track with your maintenance - especially the tires...

If it's your first bike, I would invest in some training like a MSF Basic Rider Course - and full gear - before hitting the streets.

:thumbup:

Welcome.

We had one of those -

https://i.imgur.com/q7i3ZAN.jpg

Looked bad - ran good.

Sounds like you are on the right track with your maintenance - especially the tires...

If it's your first bike, I would invest in some training like a MSF Basic Rider Course - and full gear - before hitting the streets.

Welcome!

Good plan to do the maintenance so you know it got done.

Sorry I've been busy with school and work. I've actually done plenty of things to the bike since I've had her. Here it is:


NEW Stainless Steel Brake Lines (Venhill from ebay, apparently they're pretty good quality)
COMPLETED Maintenance Brake Fluids (Prestone DOT4 of course)
COMPLETED Maintenance Oil Change with Detergents ( The bike was poorly taken care of and neglected on maintenance so I used Seafoam and Resoline in it and it runs and shifts so much smoother now. I used Rotella T6 Full Synthetic 5w-40 as recommended in this forum, but will be changing over to T5 5w-40 Semi- Synthetic due to my own research on oils. The T5 is supposed to shred less and works better throughout its lifespan although it is not JASO or MA2 approved. The JASO and MA2 for T6 is not certified btw but I've not doubt it would pass JASO/MA2 if tested. For oil filter, I ran with WIX Oil Filter 24941, which is a house brand of O'Reilly's or Kragen if your old enough to know their previous name before the company was bought out and merged. I find it an excellent filter that does the job for a fair price without the compromise of cheap materials.)
New Front/Rear Brake Pads (Volar brake pads set, I know... I know... money was tight and they seem to work fine for me 1000+ miles no issues.)
NEW OEM Clutch Line ( From Cycle Gear. Old one was shredded.)
NEW LED Headlight Bulb (generic 6000k brightness from amazon, works well very bright))
ADDED Integrated Turn Signals (generic from amazon, I didn't have the time and knowledge at the time to install aftermarket turn signals, so I went with integrated mirror turn signals. They will be coming off soona and replaced with bar-end mirrors as soon as I get the after market turn signals and mount.)
NEW Tires Front and Rear (Pirelli Sport Demon purchased from Cycle Gear. Very sticky! Excellent in rain! Highly Recommended!)
REBUILD Carburetor + Clean + Tuned (local bike shop)
NEW 520 Chain With New Front & Rear Sprockets 14T front 45T rear (No clue what brand. Again had local bike shop do it because I didn't have knowledge at the time how to do it and needed to learn how to ride and not fix my bike.)
Updated 14T Front Sprocket to 15T (holy crap! 1st gear is actually useful and I can cruise better at 70-80mph on the freeway now! Even saves gas too! Highly Recommended!)
NEW Gel Battery (Mighty Max Gel from Walmart for $28 with 3 year warranty! What a steal! My old Yuasa One died)
NEW LED Brake Light Bulb with Built-in x4 STROBE to get distracted driver attention (purchased from amazon)
ADDED Silicone Shift Boot Cover (From amazon. Got tired of shredding my shoes when I shift. I'm Pretty sure it's food grade silicone too... Shift boot cover cookies anyone?)
ADDED USB CHARGE PORT (amazon)
ADDED Phone Mount (amazon)
ADDED Wrench Set 7mm-14mm into trunk (Harbor Freight. You just never know when this simple thing can save you.)
ADDED Cargo Net (amazon)
PURCHASED! Complete and Running Ninja 250 from impound lot for $200 for parts (I'm glad I did because shortly after the starter on my main bike died, and I laid my main bike down and bent the handle bars doing jackass stuff, but we will save that story for another time.
SWAPPED FRONT FORKS (I used the one on the parts bike because my current forks were leaking oil)


The black bike is the one I ride. The picture with the painted green brake pad is the most current picture. The blue bike is the parts bike. I may think about rebuilding the blue one into a scrambler or cafe racer in the future if I can dodge these back tag late fees.

Looks like a fun ride to me... enjoy

Hello and welcome!