99 Ex 250 project Cafe/streetfighter, The build thread.

[CZroe]

Every update makes me giddy as I imagine the possibilities. I want you to reach your goals but I also selfishly hope they are ever-changing and that you are never finished!

Keep up the awesome work and stay away from mechanics that want to set you back and slow you down!

I want to see another drawing of how you envision it ending up. Hugger? Fairings? Raised tail? Lowered tail? Alternate gauges? Clip-ons?

[lolibater]

This thread has given me so much insipration. Keep up the good work man!

Quick question, earlier someone asked about the brake return spring, and you stated that yours "came with one". Where is that piece located? I'm about to buy an 09 swingarm and wanted to make sure I have everything. Or is that spring only needed for newgen rearsets?

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by lolibater

This thread has given me so much insipration. Keep up the good work man!

Quick question, earlier someone asked about the brake return spring, and you stated that yours "came with one". Where is that piece located? I'm about to buy an 09 swingarm and wanted to make sure I have everything. Or is that spring only needed for newgen rearsets?

If it's the spring that returns the lever to the home position after using it, it should be there on any OEM rearset unless someone removed it. It's attached to the right footrest stay and the lever. Also, it has nothing to do with the swingarm.

[lolibater]

Thanks for the info!

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by lolibater

Thanks for the info!

No problem. FWIW, the spring and pedal are exactly the same on the pregen and newgen rearsets except the pedal is black on one and chrome on the other.

[cerberusrex25]

Decided that having a sprained knee was not gonna deter me from being productive; so after a few weeks full of distractions and bad weather the motorcycle gods smiled upon me and made the day perfect to mount my new engine.

Getting ready to mount it, my father decided my original rig was garbage and made it better( I love you, old man, you are still bailing me out after all this years)



All better and ready to go



All done!!!!



Close up



My pile of junk was a motorcycle all along?!?! No waaaaaaaay!!!



And there you have it, injury does not deter productivity, great saturday with my dad and I can finally start finishing this up. Stay tuned for more awesomeness in the following weeks, have to hook everything up, order my clip ons and battery and see if the beast will finally breathe.

[loz944]

looking good keep it up

[choneofakind]

YAY YAY YAY YAY YAYYY!!

Keep going Dave! I like reading good posts like this.

[CZroe]

Gotta see this with green rims and seat.

Edit: Aww, man. All the original images are suddenly gone. It seems that they were on Facebook. Still got 'em?

[cerberusrex25]

Originally Posted by choneofakind

YAY YAY YAY YAY YAYYY!!

Keep going Dave! I like reading good posts like this.

You know it dude, everything is falling into place, now is just placing the harness and hoses where they should go and get some clip ons for the controls.

Originally Posted by CZroe

Gotta see this with green rims and seat.

Edit: Aww, man. All the original images are suddenly gone. It seems that they were on Facebook. Still got 'em?

I still have them, and what makes me mad is the inability to edit my older posts, It was a FB problem but uploading them again fixes it, I could fix it but would need to edit the posts; I mean Custom fighters lets me do it, why not us? They are both V Bulletin based, should be able to do that, Maybe @Alex has a good reason for it.

[Alex]

Yes, posts > 60 days are locked. If you create a new post here at the end with all of the pics included, and want me to post that into the first one in this thread, just let me know once it is up.

[leed]

Aww man, I had to muscle mine into my frame by myself. That was a huge PITA. And then I installed the carb boots upside-down and left them that way cause I got too frustrated (upside-down because the clamps were facing the wrong way and were in the way of other things). I'm excited to see how this ends up. Certainly looks prettier than mine, haha.

[cerberusrex25]

Originally Posted by Alex

Yes, posts > 60 days are locked. If you create a new post here at the end with all of the pics included, and want me to post that into the first one in this thread, just let me know once it is up.

Okey dokey, Just post the pic links or the whole HTML'd enchilada?

[Alex]

The whole enchilada would be easiest. You can get all of the text quickly by quoting your post, and editing it in wordpad or another text editor.

[cerberusrex25]

Ok, I might do that tomorrow.

[Jono]

Nice! It's finally coming together!

[cerberusrex25]

Hey sorry @CZroe, I did not upload the pics today, I got distracted mounting tha damn Airbox on, why don't you find me on FB and become my friend instead?

http://www.facebook.com/david.caceres.1042

Anybody in this thread that wants to see the old pics, just friend me and you can access my album. Make sure to mention you're from ninjette on your friend request or your forum callsign.
@Jono: yeah, I finally had time and a nice day and enough hands on deck to proceed. I need clip ons but all I see is a bit expensive,so for now I will work on hooking everything up correctly and tidy it up a bit, hide as much cables as possible.

I also would like a head light suggestion from you guys, I don't want the HUGE old school cafe/chopper headlight, somethign more compact and closer to the forks would be awesome. feel free to shoot me your ideas/ suggestions, they are much appreciated

[choneofakind]

Get something small, and with an HID projector. Much better light output, and a cool retro/modern look with the cafe style bike.

[cerberusrex25]

Wow, I have been gone for 3 months?, My project has pretty much been on Hiatus again, but for good reasons. I have been busy trying to get a better job and I finally got it( start tomorrow) what this means is more funds coming my way which I obviously will be putting to good use to get ready for spring. As a celebratory gift to myself( and since I did not get squat for XTREMEmas) I ordered a complete 09 front suspension, will be here in a few days. I'm so pumped for this, I will finally finish and won't have to worry about the financial aspects anymore.

[choneofakind]

Very cool Dave! Congrats on the new job man. I look forward to reading more about your ride.

[CZroe]

How much did you pay for the '09 suspension? I just paid $85 for bent ones that I was told were good candidates for straightening but I'm not so sure after looking at them.

[cerberusrex25]

Czroe, 300 gets you a great pair over on eBay, I know it is a bit steep but I rather not mess with anything bent, specially when it comes to my safety; If I were you I would just monitor that like a hawk , once in a while a good deal comes up. Chone, thanks I just hope I'm done building and possibly riding by spring.

[cerberusrex25]

Got my 09 Front end today, now all I gotta do is take the old bearing stuff off the triple, remove my All Balls kit from my old triple and install it. Here is to a busy Sunday( only day off)





PS: Does anyone know if you could and how to remove these plastic things from the forks? I kinda want it off for a cleaner look and dunno if it would affect the seals and all( piece circled in red)

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by cerberusrex25

PS: Does anyone know if you could and how to remove these plastic things from the forks? I kinda want it off for a cleaner look and dunno if it would affect the seals and all( piece circled in red)
*snip*

I've wondered that myself even though it's because I actually want them there, especially after having to rebuild the forks. You see, the F-model doesn't have them and they can be ordered separately as a J-model part, so I wondered if they could be added (different-sized tubes doesn't necessarily mean different sized housings for the tubes).

I stopped looking into that when I saw these:
http://www.traxxion.com/ConventioalForkGuardKit.aspx

Even so, if they can be ordered as a replacement part then I assume that they must be removable some way.

I also have a different reason for wanting them: Hiding that out-of-place chrome. Just compare the Z250 to the Z800:

Link to original page on YouTube.

Link to original page on YouTube.

Upside-down forks have barely any more shiny fork tube than the suspension travel and much of it is covered with plastic fins in a modern front fender design (the 250J has fake protector fins). The 250/300 have to have long enough shiny tubes to go all the way through both clamps, but it's normally behind a fairing and the fork guards we're talking about.

I remember seeing some of your concept drawings and I think you were interested in something along the lines of the Z-series, so might I suggest hiding as much of the silver-color as possible? Heck, you could probably get away with painting anything above the lower triple clamp. It could be awesome, and I think the fork guards help.

[cerberusrex25]

Well, for those paying attention, it's been a while since I posted and update; I have been busy with my new job( that I just quit for a better one selling motorcycles) so I have not had much time to work, just stockpile parts like a crazy bike part hoarding squirrel getting ready for the apocalypse. Well, the last two weeks I have been slowly putting the 08+ front end together( installing a bearing kit is a PITA, and worse the second time around) and today being a great day and my first saturday off in months I just decided to install it on the frame, now without further ado, here it is, the bitch finally looking like an actual motorcycle( pics for proof that it happened)







Hand switches and controls on, now to fit them to the harness and adjust the throttle and choke cables

[CZroe]

*sniff*
That looks absolutely great.
*wipes tear*

It looks like you need spacers or a speedometer gear sender on the front. Too bad the spacing between the forks is not the same between 250H/250J.

[alley]

Originally Posted by CZroe

*sniff*
That looks absolutely great.
*wipes tear*

It looks like you need spacers or a speedometer gear sender on the front. Too bad the spacing between the forks is not the same between 250H/250J.

I'm sure he just threw that wheel on to make it a roller/ take pics.

[cerberusrex25]

Originally Posted by CZroe

*sniff*
That looks absolutely great.
*wipes tear*

It looks like you need spacers or a speedometer gear sender on the front. Too bad the spacing between the forks is not the same between 250H/250J.

I ordered them last week, I figured that seeing I'm going to have those nice VRossi rims on it, I would have to do the entire front 08+. I am aiming for this to be on the road by no later than the end of may, I'm so close to a finished product is tantalizing. All I need now is gear and a license, and then I will be set.

[cerberusrex25]

look @wandyhee, They got here safe and sound, OH YEAH!!!! going to my local shop friday to get some rubber on this badboys ASAP.

[wandyhee]

glad to see that pic, I'm happy for you man

[cerberusrex25]

Spent all day today figuring out how to plug the harness and placing it on the frame, after like 4 hours of work and fastening and double checking with my manuals( Clymer has done an excellent job with their essential 250 manual BTW) I got a good portion of stuff plugged and mounted. This is how it stands as of now, it's all downhill from here and I hope to be riding it by end of may mid june.

[lolibater]

nice work man! Looking good. Can't wait to see it completed

[KawiKid860]

Forgot about this thread, glad to see progress though. This bike has come a long way!

[cerberusrex25]

Small update, finally got the Vrossi's together( I can't thank @wandyhee enough) and I mounted them on the bike; it looks good with the new shoes on.

[choneofakind]

****. I think you might be the first to do a full newgen suspension and wider tire conversion. I know a few guys on the ninja250 forum have done weld-up wider rims, but that was back in the hayday of the pregen.

Looking good there Dave!! Good to see you making some progress again. I envy you for your tire choice now. I wish I could do the newgen wheel conversion by making some spacers. I'd love to be able to run 110/140 Pirelli's

[cerberusrex25]

My back is a 150, and there is still plenty of space. The plug and play Sportissi or The Vrossi will work fine.

[choneofakind]

I'd go 140. 150 is overkill. I've barely come within 2-3 mm of the edge of my 130 by dragging knee at Mid-Ohio, and my bike is raised a ton, so that's even further than most pregens lean to drag knee. She's still got plenty of lean left in her!

[cerberusrex25]

I kinda wanna raise the tail a bit more, somehow the way that rear wheel sits right now is worrying me a bit, I guess I need some new dogbones or a taller shock.

[cerberusrex25]

Well, it was sunny and nice outside, all my parts had arrived and were ready to be installed, so I decided to DO WORK!!!!

Installed all my EBC brake hardware( new pads and Rotors), and it now has a working brake system.

here is what it looks like now

[FvnnyL3tt3r1ng]

Nice! Upgrading those front brakes is a great idea. I would go with stainless steel in the future though. One of the best 250s i've seen for sure.