Racer X The Salt Shaker

[Racer x]

I an beginning a new project. This is a 1988 250 ninja. It has 140000 miles. I have tried to sell it and give it away. But with the milage and the price of new bikes being so low, no one wants it. So I am building a cafe Racer for the salt. Going to Bonneville with this bike and riding it on the street for testing and tuning.
I am going to get a Blue collar bobber kit. But do a lot of other custom stuff. This bike is going to be cool. Should be ready for spring.

[Racer x]

The first thing to do is strip it down and prep the frame for the kit. I don't have the kit yet. But there is plenty to do. I want to use a Koso RX2 dash and clip on bars.

[Racer x]

I have all the controls working. I need to put the engine in and crank it to check compresson.
And lay out the wiring. The wiring will be 2001 harness. I have one with a good ignition box.

[Racer x]

The paint and bodywork are all going to be custom. Little touches like the tank. Lots more to come.

[NevadaWolf]

Sub'd, this will be a fun project to watch.

[Sirref]

I like the idea and I know you're someone who will do it right. I also love the koso rx2 dash and will use it if I ever make my 250 street legal again.

sub'd

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by Racer x

I an beginning a new project...........

[c-dog]

Cool project! Will be watching this thread.

[Racer x]

I don't have the kit. Waiting on a sale to get the money together. So I have LOTS of details to sort.
Firts off I need to get the bike titles in my name. Then when I get the kit I need to put te bike on the street. So stock exhaust carbs blinkers. 100% street legal and safe.

Then I can add fuel injection. I need to ride the bike or dyno to build up maps and test the fuel injection. This will involve swaping in a gen 2 engine that I already have.
Once the fuel injection is working then the nitrous will come in and it will be preped for the salt.
That is the goal of this build. Street bike I can ride and race or even sell.

Today I sorted the wiring out. Found all the plugs and somthing to plug into them. I have to wire up a kill switch and the Koso dash. And the kit comes with a dash using the original gauges. I want to use that for inspection because of the odometer reading matches the title.

I will need to relocate the battery to the hump. And I will try to hide the wiring. But there is a lot of wiring in a small space.

[allanoue]

Blue collar bobber kit
I look forward to seeing your take!

[Racer x]

That is the 250 Rebel kit. I am doing the 250 ninja one. I like the rebel kit. They have a lot of very good kits. They are all metal and well engineered. Having built enough bikes. This is a HUGE time saver, Plus it is all metal and good quality, I could not build a better tail section for the money. And I would use fiberglass.

[Racer x]

Got a bunch of stuff done today.

GP shifting
breaks are full functional.
I ran a wet compresson test. 190 left 165 right.
I dug through all my old carb stuff and built a nice set of carbs.
Oil in the engine
All the coolent hoses are in place.

[Roark]

Looking good!!

[JohnnyBravo]

Kawi cruiser thingy mcBobber

[garth285]

That looks killer man!!!!! Keep up the great work!

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by Racer x

That is the 250 Rebel kit. I am doing the 250 ninja one. I like the rebel kit. They have a lot of very good kits. They are all metal and well engineered. Having built enough bikes. This is a HUGE time saver, Plus it is all metal and good quality, I could not build a better tail section for the money. And I would use fiberglass.

that looks badass, I think that may be the way I go with my pregen when I put it back on the street...except without the nitrous

[Racer x]

No nitrous how about turbo??
I am sizing things up and the turbo will fit without issue. I just need to change the radiator to the 08-12 style for clearance.

[Racer x]

Another photo of the turbo

[alex.s]

i've seen a 250 with dirt style split radiators on the side/fronts. maybe it could give you extra clearance? or maybe you could go with full sidemount radiators like a gp bike or like the rc51? just a thought since you have to change rads anyway

[garth285]

COPYCAT!!!! j/k lol

FYI I have no oil drain problems with my turbo being about the same height as yours, I ran that clear line on mine and I can see it just flowing just fine!

I had my welder run a 6AN bung onto the return flange and then found on ebay a 6an to M12 adapter to go back into the oil pan threw one of the oil drain bolts.

I got my oil supply from the top banjo bolt on the head and its pumping out just fine! Found a I think 10 or 12mm banjo to 4an adapter online as well. Working out pretty well.

My turbo is up and running, just have to put the chain on and hard mount the fuel system and onto the dyno I go!

I know I will have some fairing fitment issues with the way I routed my charge pipe but thats just a trim away for a fix.

BEST OF LUCK!!!! Get that sucker running so we have some fast 250's in the LSR world!!!

[Sirref]

How hard is it to install a turbo? You'd have to switch to EFI to make it work right, right?

I want to do a similar build down the line with my 250, for now though the focus is the performance parts. 17" wheels and suspension upgrades

[garth285]

EFI is much easier to tune, you can also dial in the timing to keep the motor health as well.

You can do it with Carbs though, there are plenty of people who have done it before but I'd rather swap over to EFI before trying to dial in the carbs

[Racer x]

Copy cat ???yes I am a copy cat, you are a Ginny pig. Haha The idea with clear oil hoses is brilliant.
I can use the second gen radiator with minimal modifications. The big part is the radiator mounts to the engine front hanger. Minor fab job there.

EFI is a must and I will add that after I get the bike on the road. I am just going to take thing one step at a time. But the hose routing and turbo setup Garth is using is great. I will be copying it for sure.

Tonight I made noise. I put in the wiring and exhaust the carbs are fresh. With new jets and gaskets. A spray of gum cutter, and it fired right up. Totally ready for the kit.

[Racer x]

One thing I learned tonight. The wiring at the right hand controll. The starter and kill switch is different from 88-94 and 95-2007. The plug is the same. But the pins are on a different order. When you squeeze the brakes the engine cranks

[garth285]

Ha! That is funny, if you need any manuals PM me and I'll shoot them over. I'm sure you have them but you can check the pinout on the switches possibly and just switch over the pins you need to.

And thank you for the clear tube idea, I actually saw that on some youtube video with a small turbo and a 5hp motor I think it was and this guy was checking the flow. I had some spare 6an to 3/8 barb connectors so just gave those a try but I have braided line and fittings that will go there this week.

This will be a great project! Cant wait to see another 250 turbo rolling!

I just put my new sprockets on and a DID ERV3 chain on, just have to do some more things and I'm going to try to get on the dyno possibly by the weekend but not sure with the holidays coming up.

[garth285]

BTW I found this real nice intake for the VZ21 turbo. I think he will take $35 shipped, I offered $30 and have not heard back yet

http://www.ebay.com/itm/321584967124...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[Racer x]

I made a cafe racer fender out of an old first gen front fender. Still need to find the brace and bolt it in.I'm not sure if I should cut the little edges off the top. We will see.
The kit comes with a larger front tire and a new fender. But I have this and old one. So I thought I would see what I could do.

[Racer x]

I got the fender mounted and somewhat trimmed. I kinda like the little fork hooks. Still don't know if I will use this or not but I will paint not anyhow.

[Racer x]

As I wait on money for the kit. I am doing a lot of other things. This is the turbo setup. Because this is a street bike I need to make the tubing a little different than before.
The radiator is up front in the normal location. I will use a 08-12 radiator because I have one and it is narrow enough to clear the turbo.

Garth285 has done a terrific job sorting out the oil system details. And also a link to the flanges. Now I don't have to make my own.

The engine is a second gen 250 with a 285cc big bore kit. Compresson around 12 to 1.

[garth285]

I think your turbo location will be perfect for the oil return line if you bring it low enough. I'll shoot ya a pic of the fitting I have going into the oil pan, might work out for you.

Hey could you let me know where I can get that breather filter?

[Racer x]

The filter came from auto zone.
I rotated my intake housing and made some other changes. I might just use the pump and have a separate oil system from the engine. Still use warm engine oil but not the pressure oil from the engine oil pump. I could just pump it from the bottom of the engine,through the turbo and back to the crankcase. Just a thought.

[garth285]

OK cool, I'll find one there next time I'm there. Those are fine for LSR purposes I take it?

I am going to hook up my scavenger pump shortly and see how the turbo acts. I just wish I could find a smaller one but I think I can mount it out of the way and maybe do a return to the oil cap.

[j98sprint]

That is one bitchin' project! Good luck bro. Did you say that the original engine had 140,000 miles?

[Racer x]

The frame has 140,000 miles. The bike was ridden by Bill Hoddnott and he documented the milage on 250ninja.org. The bike used three engines to attain the milage. I inspected the original engine that he said had a rod knock. After inspection I found only a worn clutch basket. The next one had the same problem. The last engine came from a 2001 salvage bike. Also the green fairings.
What I did was strip the 1988 bike down and replace every part with new parts from 2001 -and 2003 bikes that had very low milage. This bike as it sits is like new.

[LittleRedNinjette]

[Racer x]

I mixed up a couple gallons of fuel with stabilizer in it. I use stabul marine the blue stuff.

Just removed the fuel from my 07 and it was stinky. So I put some of this in ran it up t temp and ran the carbs dry. Now I can run it anytime and not worry if it sits.

The cafe bike I just hooked up a little bottle and ran it up to temp for the first time. It is amazing that a bike made out of scrap parts can start right up and run perfect. I also ran the carbs dry so it can sit till I finish.

I spoke with Lance at blue Collar Bobbers about some details. What a great guy. I can't wait to get this bike going.

[scorch]

this should be a great thread.

[Racer x]

I am making some progress on the bike. The custom tank is getting there. I have the bike running really well. I have the Koso Rx2 dash wired in. And I have the bracket for the dash.

I found hand grips and secured the bar ends. I don't like bar ends but I need them to mount the meteors.
Going to be a long winter.

[Somchai]

[Racer x]

This bike was sold.