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Old September 17th, 2022, 05:17 PM   #1
Zpatton
ninjette.org member
 
Name: Zach
Location: Bridgeport, TX
Join Date: Sep 2022

Motorcycle(s): ‘08 Ninja 250r

Posts: 50
Learning as I'm going on this '08 250r

Ok so a few have helped me out on my previous thread.

Really quick I'm Zach and I am new to both the Ninja world and this forum. Last Sunday (09/11) I bought a 2008 Ninja 250r all the way out in Amarillo, TX on a whim. Got it for dirt cheap which was nice because my budget hasn't been very high due to other concerns. The main thing is I have been looking for an introductory bike and one that'll help me commute around 100 miles a day in the Fort Worth area.

So I get the bike, PO tells me the only mechanical issues are the shifter is broken and its in first gear. Aside from that we were both in a hurry to get the deal done so I made the fatal error of not doing a better job of inspecting the bike. Plus a 4 hour drive just going out there kinda wears you out.



I get back home and start breaking the bike down throughout the week and more this weekend. The internet has been helpful but nothing has come even close until I discovered this little slice of heaven. None of the other Ninja forums are as active or useful as this one. I have already had help identify the HID headlight wiring that was driving me bonkers cause I was afraid it was something OEM that I would never be able to find replacements for.

The shifter and bracket for it are aftermarket apparently. I cannot tell where they are broken but it doesn't matter because I want them gone, so I ordered OEM replacements (used bracket from eBay and new shifter off Amazon). The PO did break the kickstand spring so a new one of those is enroute and I went ahead and took the liberty of finding out what the sensor is down there cause it looks all jacked up so ordered one of those of ebay as well. Oh and a new tie rod cause this one looks a little bent.



After some work on it yesterday, last night, and this morning this is how it looked.



There are bolts and nuts missing as I am taking the fairings apart so I defenityl want to make sure I have all of those replaced when I put everything back on. Any recomendations? I have seen how much they are through Kawasaki and that ain't cheap. The headlight assembly is pretty nasty and I'm not sure if it's worth to just buy a restoration kit or buy a new headlight housing unit. Any thoughts on that would be useful.

Here's the headers I took off. I was looking at it closer today than before and noticed it was crushed in a spot, so I looked at the whole thing, looked at the manufacturer diagrams and realized it's aftermarket also. Not entirely sure if going OEM on this is the best route but it may be the cheapest. Thoughts?





A friend of mine that used to ride, and his first bike was a '90 250, came over later today to give me some pointers and a hand. Helped me go ahead and take the tank off after we realized thats the only way to look at the plugs so another deep dive into this thing.



My question is one of these spark plug caps, specifically the left one, has some corrosion on the contact peice way up in there. Do I replace the cap all together or leave it alone?



There's been a few moments were I feel like I am already in over my head and this is too much for me to handle right now in my life. I really just wanted a bike to get on a go. I have really nasty anxiety these days, I am a full time single parent, a full time student, part time job as an instructor at a community college, looking for a house to buy, and a 100% disabled vet. Oh and did I mention the love of life dumped me last month? So yeah, not sure if this something I can handle even though it's been a form of therapy already.

Last futzed with by Zpatton; September 18th, 2022 at 08:17 AM.
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