Well, this is kind of a combination introduction and tech thread. First the intro...

I live in the Salt Lake City area. Long time motorcycle buff. People make fun of how many different bikes I own...my wife just rolls her eyes when I bring another 'orphan' home.:rolleyes:

Last week I ran across an ad for a 1999 Ninja 250 asking $650. The wife was helping with a banquet for the cub scouts...so, why not??:) I called the guy up and asked "Why so cheap?".

"No real reason. Just want to get it out of my garage. It hasn't been ridden for a couple years. Only has 6300 miles on it!! I'm sure it will run, but the battery is dead."

"OK, do you mind if I come over and try to get it running?"

"No problem, it will give me time to look for the title; but I will only accept CASH! And be sure to bring a truck, you won't be able to ride it home."

Crap, possibly no title. Maybe not even a runner... plus it is an hour from home. I probably shouldn't...oh well, what harm could looking do??:D

About half way to the sellers house he calls and tells me that he got it started and running after charging the battery, but it won't stay running after the charger is disconnected.

Damn. Maybe a charging/rotor/stator issue? I sure don't need someone's problem child...especially if it is gonna be big $$$ to fix. Mostly I am looking for a back-up commuter bike. The Ninjette fits the bill perfectly. Low cost, low maintenance, great mileage. But none of that matters if it becomes a garage ornament because Kawi wants $$$ for the parts... hmmm.:o

When I get there I am pleasantly surprised. It looks fairly clean, except the fairing is cracked and the left front turn signal is broken off. I can feel that the motor is warm from being run. (I asked him to shut it down when he called so I could see a near cold start.) The tires are about gone...from the looks of it they are the original 1999 stock tires!!

I try to start it, but it just won't even try with the dead battery. The owner says that the charger will do it, but it takes too long and he wants to go to dinner with his girlfriend. Soon.

"I'll give you $600 cash right now, if I can throw some jumper cables on it and it runs."

"Deal!"

I hooked the cables to my truck, hit the starter and she fires right up!! Doesn't sound too bad. First gear works, but I can't get it into second and this worries me. A transmission repair would put the cost out of reality for now. The owner assures me that it shifts just fine. "Lemme take it down the street. I know it won't run right without the battery, but I just want to make sure."

It shifts fine and goes down the hill OK. Coming back up the hill is another story... it barely pulls itself back up in first gear. The smell of varnished gas had been wafting from the tank since I walked into the garage. It probably just needs the carbs gone through, I thought as I pulled it up to the back of my truck and finished the deal.

Its never as easy as you think... I bought a new battery the next day. After charging it overnight I installed it and tried to start the little beast in an effort to impress upon my doubtful wife that I had made a "good deal". :o But, for some reason, the bike did not even try to fire up.:confused::mad: Looks like crow for dinner.:(

After many hours of searching the net I found alot of great tech here and at a few other sites to get me started. First, I decided to do a compression test. #1 cylinder had 135 lbs or so.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll83/Roostre_photo/Ninja%20250/Ninja001.jpg

#2 cylinder showed a little better at 140 ish.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll83/Roostre_photo/Ninja%20250/Ninja007.jpg

Most bikes that I do compression checks on you are supposed to hold the throttle wide open, but with this cv design you really can' do that. Does anyone know the "proper" procedure?

The other interesting find is that the #2 spark plug looks nice and tan, #1 spark plug is black and fouled. I wonder if the valves are just out of adjustment??

At this point I decided to go all out and tear into the carbs, do the valve adjustment and change all the fluids. Turns out you have to remove almost every piece of this bike to accomplish this!! Familiarity with your steed is a good thing right?

After the monumental task of pulling the airbox and carbs it turns out that they are whistle clean. :confused: I pulled it apart and checked/cleaned every passage anyway.

Onto the valves! It HAS to be the issue...:thumbup: Sure enough as soon as I get the valve cover off I spot this:

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll83/Roostre_photo/Ninja%20250/Ninja012missingrockerarm.jpg

No rocker arm on the #1 cylinder outboard intake valve!! WTH? How did that fall out?

Luckily it was just laying near the exhaust valve in a bath of oil:

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll83/Roostre_photo/Ninja%20250/Ninja011Thereitis.jpg

It took some work to get the intake valve pushed down far enough to reposition the rocker. I checked the clearances on all the valves... my thinnest feeler gauge (.004) wouldn't fit in ANY of the valves!! :eek: After adjusting them all to specs using the great wiki files here and studying the Barbie demo I reassembled the bike far enough to test start it. Nervously, I hit the key, secretly wishing that no strange sounds would reveal my judgment and workmanship both unsound!!

Ninjette fired right up with a little choke!!:thumbup: No bad noises to offend my sensibilities either!! :thumbup::thumbup: Actually sounds pretty sweet...until my wife screams "What are YOU DOING?? IT IS 2 AM!!".:o Time flies when your spending quality time in the shop. No? :)

After a few hours sleep I headed back out to check on my patient. Again she fired right off and sounded great despite the sub-freezing temps.

After putting the bike all back together except for the fairings (need some work) I took it for its maiden voyage. I must say that the little bike didn't disappoint at all! Even in the cold (It was snowing very lightly, but not sticking.) I was able to get my 215lbs up to 80+ fairly quickly. The old tires had no stick and the rear washed out when I got too aggressive for it's hard, bald, decaying carcass. New MT75's have been ordered and will be installed before any serious rides re taken. Here is a shot of the ninjette after our naked ride:

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll83/Roostre_photo/Ninja%20250/Ninja013.jpg

Not too bad for $600, eh?? :thumbup:


Again, thanks to all those who have contributed to the tech here. I look forward to stealing your ideas and giving you a few of mine. I hope that this post may help someone else figure out their problem someday.

Cheers.
Corey

Congatulations on finding a great buy.

If it's not too late, change your tire order to Pirelli Sport Demons... you won't be disappointed if you hit up the twisty stuff a lot.

Congrats on the new toy and getting it running. Good find. :thumbup:

Thanks guys.

Too late for the rear tire...it shipped already. I found the MT's for $120 front and rear, so I couldn't resist.

We have some great canyon rides in the area, it will be interesting to see how the 250 handles the canyon carving. It feels real small compared to most of the bikes I ride. I do love underdog bikes though.

:thumbup:

Welcome Corey! I'm glad that you found us and were able to give her a good home :)

Do you guys think that I need to worry about that rocker arm dropping out again?

I am still not sure how it could have done that.

It is obvious that the PO didn't ever do any maintenance. She will be taken care of from now on.

The fairing needs some ABS cement patching, but it's not too bad. One crack on the left side and a split under the headlight in the center.

from what I've read the losing of a rocker arm is common on bikes that have never had a valve adjustment..if there was no obvious damage from when it came apart and runs fine now i'd run with it...I'm sure you will be able to tell if you drop a valve again

Nice job, you figured it out and then you fixed it. And the best part is, it didn't even cost you anything for parts, except a new battery which you would have bought anyway. If the dealer did all that work, it would have cost you more than you spent for the bike.
Now what about the trans? That's OK? It just wouldn't shift before because it wouldn't run right?
With the new tires, an oil change, and maybe new front brake pads, you'll almost have a new bike, just broken in. Good find and good work.

Now what about the trans? That's OK? It just wouldn't shift before because it wouldn't run right?


Thanks!

The issue was really just my unfamiliarity with these bikes. All my other bikes (mostly dirt bikes) will shift into second gear just by rocking the bike enough to line up the shifting mechanism. The ninjette wouldn't do that. I had to get the bike moving at a few miles per hour before it would click up. So it was actually no problem at all!

I read somewhere that these bikes are purposely designed this way to make it easier for beginners to find neutral and avoid hitting those "false neutrals".

:thumbup:

I read somewhere that these bikes are purposely designed this way to make it easier for beginners to find neutral and avoid hitting those "false neutrals".

Most Kawi's, from our ninjette all the way up to the ZX-14, have that "neutral-finder" feature. Comes in handy!

Corey, You did an impressive job not only diagnosing the problem, but fixing it as well. Since you have the fairing off, let me offer a couple of suggestions that could be considered "preventative medicine." You mentioned that you had gas in the tank that had become rather stale smelling like varnish. I assume that you emptied the tank and filled it with fresh gas. I would recommend using a fuel stabilizer such as Sea Foam or StaBil Marine (the blue stuff) for quite a few fillups. This will probably loosen any grunge that has adhered to the tank walls. The motion/sloshing in the tank may break some of that stuff up, and that stuff will invariably find its way into your fuel lines. A good, and also cheap, preventative would be to install one of those small transpearant fuel filters in line. Mount it where you can see it, and buy two or three. Swapping out a filter is definitely easier than taking carbs apart. I think that Kelly from Hawaii, has a DIY on that subject. Again, congratulations on your new ride--and be careful. The Green ones are the fastest:D:D:D

I would recommend using a fuel stabilizer such as Sea Foam or StaBil Marine (the blue stuff) for quite a few fillups.

Done. :)

A good, and also cheap, preventative would be to install one of those small transpearant fuel filters in line. Mount it where you can see it, and buy two or three.

Great idea! Especially because the tank has visible rust forming near the gas cap.:thumbup:


The Green ones are the fastest:D:D:D

Of course!;)

:welcome: and great find :thumbup:

Welcome Corey. Fellow SLC rider here.

There are four of us 250 riders that meet up and ride the canyons occasionally.

Good find.

it will be interesting to see how the 250 handles the canyon carving.

The '86 - '07 is nice and flickable :D

Jeff

Welcome Corey. Fellow SLC rider here.

There are four of us 250 riders that meet up and ride the canyons occasionally.


Jeff

Lemme know when you guys go and I'll try and get a ride in with you!:thumbup:

I put the new tires on, patched up the fairing and put it all back together last night, so she's all good to go.

Still have to sync the carbs, but I am waiting until I get a day that's warm enough to get it up to temp first.

Welcome Corey - great find and nice work. As others have said Green is the fastest.