[PJocko]

Hell, my first bike, period!

Folks, as my Newbie post states, I'm James and I hail from Twin Falls, Idaho. I'll save the intro for that post. This is about Saeko, my 2005 Ninja 250R.

I bought her in need of recommissioning. She sat for two years or so, was laid down at least twice in her life, though not by the previous owner so details are scarce. The wiring repairs were pretty ham-fisted (twisted-and-electrical-taped connections that fell apart as I removed fairings) but I got her running this past weekend after having her sit in my living room all winter, gradually swapping out bad bits for good bits.

My goal is a first actual ride by my birthday, July 17. So far, we're on track for that! Anyway.. PICTURES!

She started out as an essentially stock 250R. The entire build started with the headlights. Love at first sight, and whatnot.. but the fairing of course had to go. The gauge cluster housing turned out to be cracked and needed replaced. While planning for that, I decided on a minimalist install with just a tachometer using aircraft instrument range markings to show what 35mph is in each gear as a visual reference for around town not-speeding. Looking for a suitable 15k tacho was not encouraging but then I got this great idea while at T.J. Maxx to buy this cheapo mug (the lettering is wonky so it was in the discount section. 2 BUCKS!) and God bless Kawasaki for making separate gauge faces in lieu of one solid plate. The tacho guts and face plate fit PERFECTLY in the mug! Backlighting and everything! All I need now is to fab up a suitable mount. The ends of the handlebars are chewed up so I can't fit bar end mirrors (no stock fairing/headlight bracket = no stock mirrors) until I get some clip-ons. The Tacho mount will utilize the mounting point for one of the stock handlebars.

The tail light unit (20 buck unit from SpeedMotoCo) is great as a temporary place holder until I decide upon a rear-end treatment. The taillight is not working as it should but DannoXYZ is proving very valuable guidance in troubleshooting soooo... putting a pin in that one for the time being.

I cannot praise DannoXYZ highly enough as a per for this community. He's got a few beers on the house if he ever makes it up to Twin.

Bit more work to do this week - correctly-sized headlight clamps (my stupid arse ordered too big) and cleaning up the wiring now that I have a good test fit. This year is about getting her running safely and reliably. Next year will be about cleaning up the aesthetics.