ninjette.org - View Single Post - 2008 Ninja 250r Cafe Racer Inspired Conversion

bikehor · April 6th, 2014, 07:40 AM

Greetings all. I have been a long time lurker and figured it was about time to make my first post.
We've had a killer winter up here in the great white north, but it afforded me the opportunity to complete this project, so I figured I would share the process.

First of all I removed all the fairings, panels, fender, lights, gauges, passenger pegs, seats, etc. (nearly 40lbs worth)

I wanted to go for a cafe racer look, so the seat/tail section was the first place to start. My only constraint was that I didn't want to permanently modify the bike. (i.e. no cutting the frame)

This makes the cafe-look a bit of a challenge due to the high slope of the ninja's tail section. I needed to figure out how to make it appear flat/horizontal.
I first did a cardboard model of what I wanted just to get a feel for the scale of things.

After googling a bit I decided that fiberglass was going to be the easiest DIY method of fabricating the parts I needed. Before I started this project I had never worked with fiberglass before. It's as messy as smelly as it looks, but it's also fairly inexpensive and forgiving of mistakes. (Which turns out to be a good thing as you will soon see)

I bought a bunch of those florist foam blocks that they use to stick flowers into at weddings and such. It carves really easily and is cheap.
I taped up my carved shape (positive mold) with painters tape and then coated it with car wax (used as a releasing agent for the polyester resin)

I brushed the polyester resin over the positive and then added fiberglass mat to cover the entire shape. Let that set up for a bit and repeated the process. (20-30 mins)
Once everything set up well (over-night) I pulled the positive out.

Then a fair bit of sanding and filling and sanding and filling...

Cut/shape to fit and look the way I wanted.

Primed with fiberglass primer/filler

Primed with black primer.

Given that this was my first go at this stuff, I decided to go the rattle-can route for painting. If I didn't like the look it wouldn't be a big loss. And if it came out well I can get it done properly later.
As it turns out, I'm glad I went this route, because I didn't like the way it looked (too much like a mailbox on the back of my bike) so I decided to cut it up and reshape it a bit.
It totally sucked to trash the first version, but I learned a lot along the way.

After reading a bit on the web, I decided that it would be easier to take the modified version and make a negative mold and do a fiberglass pour instead of carving/wrapping another positive. I basically cut a 2 inch section out of the middle of the back-rest and molded a bump-out that would help support the tail-light as well as give it a more curved appearance.

This was easier than the first round and definitely my preferred way to go for complex shapes. Just burlap and plaster over the original. Basically it's what paleontologists do when getting dinosaur bones back to the museum. But this mold is damned heavy.

The nice thing about pouring the first layer is that it is much smoother, therefore a lot less sanding

Then, as before, I cut/shaped it to fit and look the way I wanted., primed with fiberglass primer/filler, and primed with black primer. You might notice the tail-light is the stock one. I cut the hole and made the bump-out specifically to fit. This comes into play later.

I was much happier with this attempt. So I decided to paint up the tail section and add some of the stripes I had envisioned. I stuck with black and aluminum as my color scheme.

Because I wanted to use all of the stock wiring, but do away with as much stuff as possible, I replaced the rear tail-light with an integrated brake/tail-light turn-signal. This is a plug and play replacement for the stock tail-light.

Up close.

Here it is all mounted up. You probably noticed a bit of work on the front end. While I was doing the tail section, I ordered a large 7in headlight with turn-signals and the Koso RX-2 plug and play gauges.

The Koso plug and play kit made the installation super easy.

Now I needed to tackle the front fender. I saw on this forum where someone simply wrapped the front tire with fiberglass and voila. It looked like a good idea, so I gave it a go.

I covered the section of the tire I wanted to mold to with painters tape. Then I coated the tape with car wax. I then brushed on a thick layer of resin. This time I used fiberglass cloth instead of mat for my first layer. This makes it very smooth.

Then I added a second layer of fiberglass mat for strength and final layer of fiberglass cloth.

I popped the fender off the wheel and it's now ready for cutting, sanding, priming, etc.

Rough cut

Cut to shape, sanded and filled.

Primer/Filler

Black Primer

Final paint.

Now I needed some mounting hardware. I took an old-style metal coat hangar and bent it to fit inside the fender. I needed to get a rough shape and get the distances to the mounting holes on the front forks correct.

I ended up using a couple of shelf hangars. I cut them to a rough length and shape.

Once I got one to fit nicely I just duplicated it with the second. Once everything looked good I painted them up.

Here they are mounted on the fender.

And here is the fender mounted on the bike.

Finally I needed to get the seat done. This was the one thing I couldn't DIY so I figured I would just call an upholstery shop. Turns out there aren't too many who do custom motorcycle seats. There is another cafe racer project here by Ivanrules (a beautiful job) where he does a seat pan that the upholsterer can work with, and which makes the seat easily removable. I decided to go that route as well.

I basically followed the exact same procedure I did with the front fender. Cloth, then mat, then cloth again.

Cut and trimmed.

I have the seat pan overhang a bit in the front so the seat will be nice and tight against the tank.

Here's what I got back from the upholsterer.

And here's how she looks all together.

So, there she is. Thanks to the site members for all the cool projects and ideas that were such an inspiration. I still need to get something interesting for the coolant overflow tank. If mother nature cooperates I might be able to take her out on her maiden voyage this week.

April 6th, 2014, 07:40 AM	#1
bikehor ninjette.org newbie Name: Bob Location: Great White North Join Date: Mar 2014 Motorcycle(s): 2010 Triumph STR, 2008 Ninja 250r, 2007 VRSCDX Posts: 6	2008 Ninja 250r Cafe Racer Inspired Conversion Greetings all. I have been a long time lurker and figured it was about time to make my first post. We've had a killer winter up here in the great white north, but it afforded me the opportunity to complete this project, so I figured I would share the process. First of all I removed all the fairings, panels, fender, lights, gauges, passenger pegs, seats, etc. (nearly 40lbs worth) I wanted to go for a cafe racer look, so the seat/tail section was the first place to start. My only constraint was that I didn't want to permanently modify the bike. (i.e. no cutting the frame) This makes the cafe-look a bit of a challenge due to the high slope of the ninja's tail section. I needed to figure out how to make it appear flat/horizontal. I first did a cardboard model of what I wanted just to get a feel for the scale of things. After googling a bit I decided that fiberglass was going to be the easiest DIY method of fabricating the parts I needed. Before I started this project I had never worked with fiberglass before. It's as messy as smelly as it looks, but it's also fairly inexpensive and forgiving of mistakes. (Which turns out to be a good thing as you will soon see) I bought a bunch of those florist foam blocks that they use to stick flowers into at weddings and such. It carves really easily and is cheap. I taped up my carved shape (positive mold) with painters tape and then coated it with car wax (used as a releasing agent for the polyester resin) I brushed the polyester resin over the positive and then added fiberglass mat to cover the entire shape. Let that set up for a bit and repeated the process. (20-30 mins) Once everything set up well (over-night) I pulled the positive out. Then a fair bit of sanding and filling and sanding and filling... Cut/shape to fit and look the way I wanted. Primed with fiberglass primer/filler Primed with black primer. Given that this was my first go at this stuff, I decided to go the rattle-can route for painting. If I didn't like the look it wouldn't be a big loss. And if it came out well I can get it done properly later. As it turns out, I'm glad I went this route, because I didn't like the way it looked (too much like a mailbox on the back of my bike) so I decided to cut it up and reshape it a bit. It totally sucked to trash the first version, but I learned a lot along the way. After reading a bit on the web, I decided that it would be easier to take the modified version and make a negative mold and do a fiberglass pour instead of carving/wrapping another positive. I basically cut a 2 inch section out of the middle of the back-rest and molded a bump-out that would help support the tail-light as well as give it a more curved appearance. This was easier than the first round and definitely my preferred way to go for complex shapes. Just burlap and plaster over the original. Basically it's what paleontologists do when getting dinosaur bones back to the museum. But this mold is damned heavy. The nice thing about pouring the first layer is that it is much smoother, therefore a lot less sanding Then, as before, I cut/shaped it to fit and look the way I wanted., primed with fiberglass primer/filler, and primed with black primer. You might notice the tail-light is the stock one. I cut the hole and made the bump-out specifically to fit. This comes into play later. I was much happier with this attempt. So I decided to paint up the tail section and add some of the stripes I had envisioned. I stuck with black and aluminum as my color scheme. Because I wanted to use all of the stock wiring, but do away with as much stuff as possible, I replaced the rear tail-light with an integrated brake/tail-light turn-signal. This is a plug and play replacement for the stock tail-light. Up close. Here it is all mounted up. You probably noticed a bit of work on the front end. While I was doing the tail section, I ordered a large 7in headlight with turn-signals and the Koso RX-2 plug and play gauges. The Koso plug and play kit made the installation super easy. Now I needed to tackle the front fender. I saw on this forum where someone simply wrapped the front tire with fiberglass and voila. It looked like a good idea, so I gave it a go. I covered the section of the tire I wanted to mold to with painters tape. Then I coated the tape with car wax. I then brushed on a thick layer of resin. This time I used fiberglass cloth instead of mat for my first layer. This makes it very smooth. Then I added a second layer of fiberglass mat for strength and final layer of fiberglass cloth. I popped the fender off the wheel and it's now ready for cutting, sanding, priming, etc. Rough cut Cut to shape, sanded and filled. Primer/Filler Black Primer Final paint. Now I needed some mounting hardware. I took an old-style metal coat hangar and bent it to fit inside the fender. I needed to get a rough shape and get the distances to the mounting holes on the front forks correct. I ended up using a couple of shelf hangars. I cut them to a rough length and shape. Once I got one to fit nicely I just duplicated it with the second. Once everything looked good I painted them up. Here they are mounted on the fender. And here is the fender mounted on the bike. Finally I needed to get the seat done. This was the one thing I couldn't DIY so I figured I would just call an upholstery shop. Turns out there aren't too many who do custom motorcycle seats. There is another cafe racer project here by Ivanrules (a beautiful job) where he does a seat pan that the upholsterer can work with, and which makes the seat easily removable. I decided to go that route as well. I basically followed the exact same procedure I did with the front fender. Cloth, then mat, then cloth again. Cut and trimmed. I have the seat pan overhang a bit in the front so the seat will be nice and tight against the tank. Here's what I got back from the upholsterer. And here's how she looks all together. So, there she is. Thanks to the site members for all the cool projects and ideas that were such an inspiration. I still need to get something interesting for the coolant overflow tank. If mother nature cooperates I might be able to take her out on her maiden voyage this week.