ninjette.org - View Single Post - White 250r w/Green Pearl - Build journal

s2kenny · August 5th, 2010, 04:52 PM

Hey guys, I'd like to share my experience on a motorcycle with you guys through this thread.. in pictures!

I'm a young college student with a bills to pay so I don't usually buy something unless it's a good deal/on sale/necessary. If you have any questions of where I get my goodies just ask and you shall receive! Bear in mind this is my first time doing anything on a motorcycle so if I'm making any mistakes please let me know.

All prices include tax and shipping
___________________________________________________________
May 2010 - Rode my first motorcycle at the MSF course located at Palomar College.

$150

____________________________________________________________
July 10, 2010 - Got my M1 endorsement! (Passed written on second time around)

$30

___________________________________________________________
July 15, 2010 - Bought my first helmet on closeout at Cycle gear (Best customer service EVER!). Don't mind the ladies

$190

At the same time I also got myself the Dark smoke shield

$35

_____________________________________________________________
I also bought some quality oil and a K&N oil filter in anticipation of my first oil change
$35

_____________________________________________________________
July 17, 2010 - Took delivery of my very first motorcycle! The guy (Joe) was delivering it all the way from Los Angeles to San Diego for me. He was making a right hand turn on a side street when a corvette tried to pass and made contact with Joe and downed his bike.

The corvette had the guts to pull over, peek out his mirrors to look at joe on the floor, and ran off. Thankfully the down was at a slow speed not on the freeway. Joe was only wearing regular boots, jeans and a tank top. He scraped his elbow and his foot was pretty bruised/swollen. ATGATT!

I picked Joe up and took him to my place for him to recover. The bike had a minor amount of damage and we deducted this from the price I was originally going to pay. I ended up giving him
$1,800

(No that's not me)

The damage was scratches on all the left hand fairings, broken turn signal, scratched mirror, scratched bar end, bent in shifter, hole in front fender.

The bike was still ridable so that's how I rode it for the next 2 weeks.

_____________________________________________________________
July 18, 2010 Saw a few people with these stickers near the tail. Swooped me up a set. I probably won't put these on though just to keep the bike looking clean.
$8

_____________________________________________________________
July 18, 2010 Called around for some basic insurance, ended up with Nationwide for my liability. I have something around 25k/50k/25k and a 25k/50k for uninsured motorists. Not bad since I have a few tickets. No coverage on the bike.
$240

_____________________________________________________________
July 18, 2010 Picked this up on craigslist for a stellar price. Alpinestars TZ-1 Leather Jacket. Brand new also. I absolutely love this thing. It's pretty comfortable, got lots of protection, looks good. The only thing is that it's a size or two too big for me. Better than nothing at this point right? $100

______________________________________________________________
July 18, 2010 I also picked up these Alpinestars SP-2 Gloves from a local seller on craigslist. Real nice guy, he upgraded to held phantoms. $40

______________________________________________________________
July 19, 2010 Won an ebay auction for a rashed front fairing. It's off a special edition ninja with some rashing on the left side. Minor damage compared to my current front end. I'll take this one instead to my paint guy.
$27

______________________________________________________________
July 21, 2010 Received a brand new Area P Replica Full Exhaust (PLM/PLMFG exhaust). This thing is AWESOME, the build quality is not the best, the header was kind of hard to put on, the holes didn't line up with the cylinder head bolts but with a little but of mustering I got it to go in. The muffler itself has some kind of carbon fiber overlay I'm guessing and the finish is not the best. But in terms of sound and performance this thing is a winner!

My girlfriend described my old bike as a Sheep screaming (BAAAAAAHHHH) and now it's more like a Zombie screaming (WWUAAAHHHHHHHH!!!)

- I know there are a few people out there that are against replica parts, but I got this full exhaust mainly because I got a killer deal on it! I found the seller on another forum and asked him for his bottom line price
$150.. for a full exhaust

______________________________________________________________
July 22, 2010 I got a set of PSR motorcycle stands. I got the rear stand and the front fork stand. Motorcycle Superstore was offering free shipping so I had them price match newenough's price. These things are pretty good for their price. I couldn't justify spending 3 times more for the all mighty Pitbull stands so these will have to do for now.

They feel pretty sturdy, no rocking or swaying with the bike on the stand. Best bang for your buck I found.
$90/both

______________________________________________________________
July 22, 2010 I got some Motul chain lube, and Motul chain clean. First time cleaning chain, and it was dirty! After a thorough scrubbing and a light lubing, the bike seemed to be happier.
$21

______________________________________________________________
July 23, 2010 I bought a set of Bridgestone Battlax BT045 from Motorcycle Superstore. I bought the OEM size because I didn't want to mess with the motorcycle's engineering at this point. These things are great! I took them off and loaded 2 wheels and 4 tires into my passenger seat. I had a local guy mount them for cheap. If anyone is in the San Diego area PM me for his number, he does great work.

First time taking both wheels off a bike, it was pretty easy. The only thing that gave me trouble was putting the rear axle back up. I ended up putting it in on the right side and it was easy after that.

I had to stuff these in my 2 seater. Good thing these tires were not any thicker or else I would have some trouble.

The tires that came on the bike were way past their wear markers. They were almost slicks! But these new tires feel great, I took it easy for the first 50~ miles to scrub them in. Check out how bald the previous owner rode it to.

$190 for tires/ $20 total for mount
______________________________________________________________
July 25,2010 Started taking the bike apart for repairs. Stripped off all the fairings and started to work on them. I got a product called Plastex, and it works wonders on the fairings. There were more cracks on this bike than fingers on my hands but the kit fixed them all. I spent a lot of time sanding and sanding since this stuff dries so dang hard. Even harder than the fairings themselves.
$37

The previous owner also had done a rattle can paint job with thick paint so it was very hard cutting through it all. Spent about 10 hours total mending cracks, sanding, and repairing tabs.

______________________________________________________________
July 26, 2010 I got the Hotbodies Dark smoke windscreen for my bike. Super good deal! The fit is kind of questionable but nothing major. Great seller with quick shipping (was next day for me)
$30

______________________________________________________________
July 26, 2010 Got myself a Xentec HID kit from ebay. H7 size in a 5000k color. Slim ballasts. Install was very easy, just spent my time zip-tie-ing the heck out of everything so it wouldn't vibrate loose over time. Warmed them up for 10 minutes as recommended in the manual. Very bright lights, with a slight hint of blue. Exactly what I was looking for.
$37

_______________________________________________________________
July 27, 2010 The rear brakes were below minimum specs so I bought some new EBC HH pads to replace them before they chewed up the rotor.

I bought from http://shop.hyperformanceparts.com/ Hyperformance Parts. I orignally bought the Plastex and rear brake pads from them, but they ended up shipping only the rear pads. Long story short....... DONT BUY FROM HYPERFORMANCE PARTS. SHADY owner, SHADY customer service
$38

______________________________________________________________
August 2, 2010 Had many wellnuts broken on my fairings. I went to Ace hardware and they didn't have any metric wellnuts. I ended up going to bikebolts.com and bought a complete set from them. I also ordered for Bright White powdercoating for all the Allen/Screw heads. They should blend in nicely after my new paint job. Use "4forum20" for a nice fat discount.
$37

_____________________________________________________________

August 2, 2010 I was lurking on ebay for a while for a cowl without having to pay $100. I found this guy and made him a best offer and to my surprise he accepted. It took a while for this piece to come in, Dang USPS shipping service is horrible sometimes.

I gotta comment on Kawasaki's quality though, everything was buttoned up very nicely in the box, the plastic they used to wrap everything is super heavy duty (couldn't chew it open to rip) Even the instructions came in heavy plastic. Hopefully I won't get the alignment issues everyone else was having with their cowl. This was the last piece I was waiting for before I take her to paint
$60

______________________________________________________________
August 3, 2010 Got some OEM replacements for my spark plugs. Pretty easy job since all the body work is already out. I didn't get the spark plug took in my tool bag so I ended up using a 3/8 spark plug socket (for cars) and a 6" + 3" extension on my socket, worked fine. Little bit of anti-seize on the threads and I was done.

I'm going to need some help reading these spark plugs though! Please check in on my other thread : http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=52169

$16

_______________________________________________________________
August 3, 2010 Finally brought my pieces to my painter. He is going to do some more prep work and smooth out the surface to make it look glossy. We went with a Bright white with a House of Kolour Green Mini-flake pearl. It should be done Saturday afternoon (August 6th/ 3 days). I'm really excited to get my parts back so I can go riding again!
$300
_______________________________________________________________
August 3, 2010 The boots I ordered finally came in. I purchased the Alpinestars SMX-Plus with the internal boot system. Haven't got a chance to ride in these yet but they are super comfortable!
$290

_______________________________________________________________
August 4, 2010 So with the bike stripped down, I figure I better do as much as I can before the fairings come back! I took the time to shim the needles. I put 3 #4 washers under each needle. I can't ride it right now but I did start the bike up with what gas was left in the carb to make sure it ran. Purred like a kitten, until it ran out of gas. Great mod for $1.50. Can't wait to test ride it.

I didn't run into any problems stripping the screws, with the gas tank out I just used my #2 12" Craftsman Phillips screwdriver. This one was a pretty new screwdriver so that helped.

I own a ton of these now so if anyone needs some just shoot me a message. I found them at fry's electronics
$1.50

______________________________________________________________
August 4, 2010 While the fairings are away at paint, I'm trying to do everything I can before I get them back. I cleared off the Kleen air system and the california emissions system. Very easy, Just need to get some plugs for the airbox/cylinder head.

$Free
_______________________________________________________________
I think.. I might be... Addicted to modding.. This dang 250r..

And that is all for now, I think I've drain my keyboard's wireless battery

Took me nearly 3 hours to put this all together neatly, I would really appreciate a word or two from you just to see what you think about everything so far.

August 5th, 2010, 04:52 PM	#1
s2kenny Lean in Name: Ken Location: San Diego, California Join Date: Jul 2010 Motorcycle(s): Pearl White 250r, Raven R6, Black 600RR, Silver Ninja 250 Posts: 111	White 250r w/Green Pearl - Build journal - Picture intensive Hey guys, I'd like to share my experience on a motorcycle with you guys through this thread.. in pictures! I'm a young college student with a bills to pay so I don't usually buy something unless it's a good deal/on sale/necessary. If you have any questions of where I get my goodies just ask and you shall receive! Bear in mind this is my first time doing anything on a motorcycle so if I'm making any mistakes please let me know. All prices include tax and shipping ___________________________________________________________ May 2010 - Rode my first motorcycle at the MSF course located at Palomar College. $150 ____________________________________________________________ July 10, 2010 - Got my M1 endorsement! (Passed written on second time around) $30 ___________________________________________________________ July 15, 2010 - Bought my first helmet on closeout at Cycle gear (Best customer service EVER!). Don't mind the ladies $190 At the same time I also got myself the Dark smoke shield $35 _____________________________________________________________ I also bought some quality oil and a K&N oil filter in anticipation of my first oil change $35 _____________________________________________________________ July 17, 2010 - Took delivery of my very first motorcycle! The guy (Joe) was delivering it all the way from Los Angeles to San Diego for me. He was making a right hand turn on a side street when a corvette tried to pass and made contact with Joe and downed his bike. The corvette had the guts to pull over, peek out his mirrors to look at joe on the floor, and ran off. Thankfully the down was at a slow speed not on the freeway. Joe was only wearing regular boots, jeans and a tank top. He scraped his elbow and his foot was pretty bruised/swollen. ATGATT! I picked Joe up and took him to my place for him to recover. The bike had a minor amount of damage and we deducted this from the price I was originally going to pay. I ended up giving him $1,800 (No that's not me) The damage was scratches on all the left hand fairings, broken turn signal, scratched mirror, scratched bar end, bent in shifter, hole in front fender. The bike was still ridable so that's how I rode it for the next 2 weeks. _____________________________________________________________ July 18, 2010 Saw a few people with these stickers near the tail. Swooped me up a set. I probably won't put these on though just to keep the bike looking clean. $8 _____________________________________________________________ July 18, 2010 Called around for some basic insurance, ended up with Nationwide for my liability. I have something around 25k/50k/25k and a 25k/50k for uninsured motorists. Not bad since I have a few tickets. No coverage on the bike. $240 _____________________________________________________________ July 18, 2010 Picked this up on craigslist for a stellar price. Alpinestars TZ-1 Leather Jacket. Brand new also. I absolutely love this thing. It's pretty comfortable, got lots of protection, looks good. The only thing is that it's a size or two too big for me. Better than nothing at this point right? $100 ______________________________________________________________ July 18, 2010 I also picked up these Alpinestars SP-2 Gloves from a local seller on craigslist. Real nice guy, he upgraded to held phantoms. $40 ______________________________________________________________ July 19, 2010 Won an ebay auction for a rashed front fairing. It's off a special edition ninja with some rashing on the left side. Minor damage compared to my current front end. I'll take this one instead to my paint guy. $27 ______________________________________________________________ July 21, 2010 Received a brand new Area P Replica Full Exhaust (PLM/PLMFG exhaust). This thing is AWESOME, the build quality is not the best, the header was kind of hard to put on, the holes didn't line up with the cylinder head bolts but with a little but of mustering I got it to go in. The muffler itself has some kind of carbon fiber overlay I'm guessing and the finish is not the best. But in terms of sound and performance this thing is a winner! My girlfriend described my old bike as a Sheep screaming (BAAAAAAHHHH) and now it's more like a Zombie screaming (WWUAAAHHHHHHHH!!!) - I know there are a few people out there that are against replica parts, but I got this full exhaust mainly because I got a killer deal on it! I found the seller on another forum and asked him for his bottom line price $150.. for a full exhaust ______________________________________________________________ July 22, 2010 I got a set of PSR motorcycle stands. I got the rear stand and the front fork stand. Motorcycle Superstore was offering free shipping so I had them price match newenough's price. These things are pretty good for their price. I couldn't justify spending 3 times more for the all mighty Pitbull stands so these will have to do for now. They feel pretty sturdy, no rocking or swaying with the bike on the stand. Best bang for your buck I found. $90/both ______________________________________________________________ July 22, 2010 I got some Motul chain lube, and Motul chain clean. First time cleaning chain, and it was dirty! After a thorough scrubbing and a light lubing, the bike seemed to be happier. $21 ______________________________________________________________ July 23, 2010 I bought a set of Bridgestone Battlax BT045 from Motorcycle Superstore. I bought the OEM size because I didn't want to mess with the motorcycle's engineering at this point. These things are great! I took them off and loaded 2 wheels and 4 tires into my passenger seat. I had a local guy mount them for cheap. If anyone is in the San Diego area PM me for his number, he does great work. First time taking both wheels off a bike, it was pretty easy. The only thing that gave me trouble was putting the rear axle back up. I ended up putting it in on the right side and it was easy after that. I had to stuff these in my 2 seater. Good thing these tires were not any thicker or else I would have some trouble. The tires that came on the bike were way past their wear markers. They were almost slicks! But these new tires feel great, I took it easy for the first 50~ miles to scrub them in. Check out how bald the previous owner rode it to. $190 for tires/ $20 total for mount ______________________________________________________________ July 25,2010 Started taking the bike apart for repairs. Stripped off all the fairings and started to work on them. I got a product called Plastex, and it works wonders on the fairings. There were more cracks on this bike than fingers on my hands but the kit fixed them all. I spent a lot of time sanding and sanding since this stuff dries so dang hard. Even harder than the fairings themselves. $37 The previous owner also had done a rattle can paint job with thick paint so it was very hard cutting through it all. Spent about 10 hours total mending cracks, sanding, and repairing tabs. ______________________________________________________________ July 26, 2010 I got the Hotbodies Dark smoke windscreen for my bike. Super good deal! The fit is kind of questionable but nothing major. Great seller with quick shipping (was next day for me) $30 ______________________________________________________________ July 26, 2010 Got myself a Xentec HID kit from ebay. H7 size in a 5000k color. Slim ballasts. Install was very easy, just spent my time zip-tie-ing the heck out of everything so it wouldn't vibrate loose over time. Warmed them up for 10 minutes as recommended in the manual. Very bright lights, with a slight hint of blue. Exactly what I was looking for. $37 _______________________________________________________________ July 27, 2010 The rear brakes were below minimum specs so I bought some new EBC HH pads to replace them before they chewed up the rotor. I bought from http://shop.hyperformanceparts.com/ Hyperformance Parts. I orignally bought the Plastex and rear brake pads from them, but they ended up shipping only the rear pads. Long story short....... DONT BUY FROM HYPERFORMANCE PARTS. SHADY owner, SHADY customer service $38 ______________________________________________________________ August 2, 2010 Had many wellnuts broken on my fairings. I went to Ace hardware and they didn't have any metric wellnuts. I ended up going to bikebolts.com and bought a complete set from them. I also ordered for Bright White powdercoating for all the Allen/Screw heads. They should blend in nicely after my new paint job. Use "4forum20" for a nice fat discount. $37 _____________________________________________________________ August 2, 2010 I was lurking on ebay for a while for a cowl without having to pay $100. I found this guy and made him a best offer and to my surprise he accepted. It took a while for this piece to come in, Dang USPS shipping service is horrible sometimes. I gotta comment on Kawasaki's quality though, everything was buttoned up very nicely in the box, the plastic they used to wrap everything is super heavy duty (couldn't chew it open to rip) Even the instructions came in heavy plastic. Hopefully I won't get the alignment issues everyone else was having with their cowl. This was the last piece I was waiting for before I take her to paint $60 ______________________________________________________________ August 3, 2010 Got some OEM replacements for my spark plugs. Pretty easy job since all the body work is already out. I didn't get the spark plug took in my tool bag so I ended up using a 3/8 spark plug socket (for cars) and a 6" + 3" extension on my socket, worked fine. Little bit of anti-seize on the threads and I was done. I'm going to need some help reading these spark plugs though! Please check in on my other thread : http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=52169 $16 _______________________________________________________________ August 3, 2010 Finally brought my pieces to my painter. He is going to do some more prep work and smooth out the surface to make it look glossy. We went with a Bright white with a House of Kolour Green Mini-flake pearl. It should be done Saturday afternoon (August 6th/ 3 days). I'm really excited to get my parts back so I can go riding again! $300 _______________________________________________________________ August 3, 2010 The boots I ordered finally came in. I purchased the Alpinestars SMX-Plus with the internal boot system. Haven't got a chance to ride in these yet but they are super comfortable! $290 _______________________________________________________________ August 4, 2010 So with the bike stripped down, I figure I better do as much as I can before the fairings come back! I took the time to shim the needles. I put 3 #4 washers under each needle. I can't ride it right now but I did start the bike up with what gas was left in the carb to make sure it ran. Purred like a kitten, until it ran out of gas. Great mod for $1.50. Can't wait to test ride it. I didn't run into any problems stripping the screws, with the gas tank out I just used my #2 12" Craftsman Phillips screwdriver. This one was a pretty new screwdriver so that helped. I own a ton of these now so if anyone needs some just shoot me a message. I found them at fry's electronics $1.50 ______________________________________________________________ August 4, 2010 While the fairings are away at paint, I'm trying to do everything I can before I get them back. I cleared off the Kleen air system and the california emissions system. Very easy, Just need to get some plugs for the airbox/cylinder head. $Free _______________________________________________________________ I think.. I might be... Addicted to modding.. This dang 250r.. And that is all for now, I think I've drain my keyboard's wireless battery Took me nearly 3 hours to put this all together neatly, I would really appreciate a word or two from you just to see what you think about everything so far.