For those of you who have never heard from me, I'm one of the OG members from the '08 release. I was around when kkim was posting and have even made a few contributions back in the day.
Then, life got in the way. Baby #3 was a miscarriage and we had winterized the bike with my pregnancy in 2014. A successful pregnancy later, and way too much time spent at dance, scouts, and teaching, and my poor Nightshade has spent the last 7.5 years mostly untouched. I did try to get her started at one point in there, but the battery was toast, despite the battery tender.
Thus, we now begin the process of documenting the rebuild. Today was spent on disassembly. It took a while to remember everything I learned back in the day, but I found the screwkeeper I had designed, and a friend and I got to work. And yes @
Alex I do still wrench on the bike with my wedding rings on
After working a bit, I had to go to a dance recital and be a ballerina with a mother-daughter dance. Then back to keep working.
So far:
She is pretty naked
I have gotten the tank off and some of the gas out
I am *TRYING* to get the airbox out, but not having any luck yet. I really don't want to have to remove the rear wheel, but I don't know what I still need to do here to get it out
She did run with the lawn tractor battery attached and a small shot of MAF cleaner in the carbs.
The carbs look surprisingly good. I started trying to get the airbox out to make it easier to pull them, but I did at least run them dry before storing her.
The good -
She ran!
I found all of my old info to work on her, and I remembered how to log in here!
I have my printed tutorials from the kkim days, and the service manual
The bad -
The gas is bad. Like REALLY bad. Like I'm scared to see what the inside of the tank looks like bad. It's red and chunky
The gas will not drain through the petcock at all when on prime. Decided it's better to not try.
I have not figured out the best way to get the bad gas out.
I don't know what to do with the bad gas when I do get it out.
I'm assuming the fuel filters and petcock and gas cap assembly will need a lot of work.
My to do list:
Get the damn airbox out
Pull the carbs
Figure out what is going on with and repair gas tank
Change the oil
Drain the coolant system
Inspect/replace hoses
New tires?
Does Area P still sell the amazing exhaust? If so, I might want to do the K&N air filter replacement and not put the airbox back in, and change the jets while the carbs are out...
So, wise ones. It's been a hot minute. I welcome any and all advice. Especially in dealing with the gas tank which seems to be my biggest problem.
Photo tax:
New Ninja in the snow, March '09
Current state:
Carbs:
Gas Tank:
