Ninja 250 track build

[Braden07]

So I bought a 10' 250r to track after having done track days all summer here at miller Motorsports park in SLC. Was gonna track my cbr but couldn't justify selling my special edition Leyla fairings to track her out and being in college I found it financially more sound to go with a 250 as it be cheaper and my good friend that is a mechanic races in the 250 class already so having a friend in the class would help.

Found one all ready to go on the WERA classifieds. Went down to Vegas to pick her up. Pretty much the regular modifications but lacking an after market rear shock and needing new fork seals and the carbs cleaned.



Ordered seals, shark fin foot protector to be race legal, stomp grip, and woodcraft clip ons. Everything is almost in so decided to start with fairings. Took me off, removed all the girly stickers, and sanded the white down a little to have a more ashearablr surface.

Here's a pic if my ghetto apartment hallway paint booth. Have a cheap electric sprayer. Came out pretty good for only paying. 11$ for aquart from home depot.










I know the vinyl may not hold up well but it's worth a shot to see. Gonna add some white in certain areas. I'm in nursing school so I think I'll add a few of the medical cross symbols in white in a couple places. Was thinking of putting "250mg of whoopass" somewhere on the bike too. We'll see. Gonna be at my buddies shop tomorrow and Thursday working on stuff so I'll take pics and update as it goes.

Next race weekend is labor day weekend. I don't have my license yet so I'm gonna take the new racer orientation on sat after getting my first seat time at the track day on friday and do a few races Sunday as a provisional novice.

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by Braden07

"250mg of whoopass"

[sharky nrk]

250 ml of whoopass would be more accurate lol. either way

[Sirref]

^ agreed 250ml of whoopass

I like the idea too

[Qomomoko]

Originally Posted by Sirref

^ agreed 250ml of whoopass

I like the idea too

Nice, I just painted my R6 to sell. Used Home depot Spray cans and it came out great but I think a sprayer would make a big difference so will do so when get my next 250cc track bike

[choneofakind]

250 mL of whoopass.

I don't think I took the opportunity earlier, so welcome to the forum

[Braden07]

Originally Posted by Qomomoko

Nice, I just painted my R6 to sell. Used Home depot Spray cans and it came out great but I think a sprayer would make a big difference so will do so when get my next 250cc track bike

yeah i had a sprayer from a plasti-dip kit i bought when i dipped a different e30 that i had and it worked out well!

[Braden07]

So my avatar says wanna be racer but i guess im legit now?? ha.. did the new racer certification class a couple weekends ago and then had my first race.. was an awesome experience. My race lap times were 4 seconds quicker than my fastest practice time. Something my buddy told me would happen but i couldnt believe it. During practice as i was focusing on a few specific things i would mess up from time to time but in the race it felt like it went pretty smoothly. still alot of work to do and mods to make to the 250 but its slowly coming along.. over the winter hoping to make some headway on some things and possibly make a run down to chuckwalla for some racing in our off season

[csmith12]

Yep, it happens like that, it's a good thing really.

Track day < 100%,
Practice < 100%,
Race >= 100%

And it will show in your lap times. Welcome to the club!

[Braden07]

Originally Posted by csmith12

Yep, it happens like that, it's a good thing really.

Track day < 100%,
Practice < 100%,
Race >= 100%

And it will show in your lap times. Welcome to the club!

Thanks! Yeah it was interesting to me.. and obviously i had to do with familiarity on the bike too and what not since the race was sunday and the first time i had really ridden the bike was that friday at the trackday.

In the actual race i got 4th out of 4 in the class. My buddy got first and was running 1:53s I ran 2:00s. I was with a guy the whole time tho and even passed him twice but in the end i just couldnt pull it off to come around on the outside of the last turn. It was such an experience tho. The other guys in the class came and congratulated me afterwards saying for my first race i did pretty stellar which was nice to hear. Its been a pretty awesome summer and i cant even begin to think at how much my skills have improved over the last 5 months. My bank account can attest to it tho ha.

Really wanna go down to cali where 250s run rampant!

[Braden07]

Had a race again this last weekend. Still about 4 seconds off pace of fastest guy. Not as fun this time since I didn't have a guy I was battling with but a good race and my lap times were 4-5 seconds quicker than practice. Still a freaking blast racing out there. Here's a pic of me in one of the corners.

[Braden07]

so i have done some winter work on the bike so far and have more things to do.. the biggest work yet has been a repaint of the bike with white accents now and the wheels are currently at the powder coater to be PC'd white, Im pretty stoked about it. Other mods in the progress are rejet the carbs (done just need to install, K&N install (done, need to put airbox on), motion pro install (took off my Leyla before I sold her just need to install), and the GSXR rear shock swap (have the shock, waiting on new dog bones but getting inpatient as its been over 2 weeks now). I still have a few other things i have been toying with like a new rear, more light weight rear rotor, possibly a 420 kit (thread started on that), and redoing the wiring aka removing all the unnecessary stuff.

for the limited experience and poor quality painting tools i have i feel it has been pretty successful!

pics of tinkering





pics of last trackday in october https://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=202287

[Braden07]

oh and because i said i would.. for the last trackday i tatoo'd the bike ha

[Alex]

[Braden07]

soooooo, i got a call this morning that my wheels were done!! I headed over the the PC shop and picked up these beauties!!! went back to my buddies shop and spent a good hour getting my bearings back in just right as to be preventing the spacer from wiggling around inside too much and being too close to it to where the bearing couldnt spin freely... lets just say i had to take out the non-c-cliped bearing sides a few times on each wheel to get them just right. Then i put my new angled valve stems in (about as happy as those are on now as i am the powder coat haha) and mounted and balance the babies! look clean.





The other day i went to the mall (I hate malls) and found a vinyl shop that does custom stuff for really cheap.. i had them make a few things for me like numbers for my plates and some other goodies i will reveal later but im super happy how they turned out and how relatively easy they were to put on. I paid a little over 24$ for everything when buying racing numbers in the kits from the local shop woulda been like almost 20$ anyways and all this stuff is custom done and supports a local business. Here is the tail section with its numbers on. I rattle canned the rear yellow placard area. Then on the butt section i put my racer nickname.. I chose the gurly font due to the "gurly" nature of my job and for all the crap my buddies give me about it but hey I save lives for a living so being a murse is pretty legit. All in all extremely please and ill post more pics later of my completed decal'd bike. The "%" is a tribute/homage to one of my good friends i have made out at the track. His number plate is 115 and he added the % sign after that for whatever reason. He taught me alot this season and he is just a cool dude. He's 50, fast as fukc, and has a bangin hot wife. Everything i aspire to when i am older haha. We were gonna even do our team name percentage racing to go along with the theme but found a better name we all liked.







The

[JeffroJ]

I love white wheels, but a PITA to keep clean.

[csmith12]

White wheels always look hot for the pics... I have had them on my race bike for 2yrs now. Still spotless accept for the current tape on the weights.

The key to keeping white wheels perfect is to be a bit OCD about cleaning them. Clean them before they get nasty. It basically makes it easy to prove that... "on ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

[cbinker]

haha murse.

[Braden07]

thanks for the comments on the wheels.. im excited to get everything back mounted up. Things are on hold for the moment as i came back to dallas for the holidays. Well we are going on a cruise but while in dallas i wanted to stop by a few places. In my readings and online perusing, i found out Trex racing (they make frame sliders and other things) is based out of dallas so i wen to their warehouse picked up a set and will see if it fits or not.. I also learned that m4 exhaust is based out of dallas, not to far from where i live so i decided to stop by. I found some guys hanging out near the production entrance and talked to them for a bit about track riding, AMA, etc and then one offered to take me on a tour of the production/fab part of the warehouse. Pretty cool to see all that they do and get an inside look at their doings. I had one of their GP growler exhausts on an 09 zx6r that i owned and loved it. They offer a slip on and full set-up for new gen 250s. If i didnt already have my leo i would probably buy one. Well after going through the warehouse the guy that lead me around and chatted with me said hey, you should apply for the rider support program and throw our name out there. I was like ok.. but since they only do exhausts and i have one i felt there isnt quite a need for that but im all about supporting local businesses and race product companies, especially USA built and manufactured goods. Anyways, when leaving he took me into his office and gave me a card, turns out it was the president/ceo of the company! Super cool guy and way into club and grassroots riding and racing. Just wanted to share the experience and throw a shout-out to the m4 brand.

happy holidays and merry christmas to you guys and gals!

[Braden07]

So the temps are getting a little more on the tolerable side meaning i was able to go out and work on the bike this past weekend. My dogbones took a while to get in but they did. I followed the GSXR shock swap DIY pretty closely and found the information pretty helpful.. there were a couple things that i did differently only because it made things easier and still fit in great. Having the airbox and carbs out made working in the area much more compliant and convenient. I ended up using the stock top eyelet bolt from the gsxr shock and i added a washer on the other side and the unit fit snugly in and i used the stock bottom bolt from the 250.. the only modification i had to make to the GSXR shock was grinding the inside part of the bottom to fit over the knuckle and then i drilled out the holes where the bottom bolt goes through so that the stock 250 bolt would fit. Its not the most precise way but really all it needs to do is fit through snugly and that it does.. would it have been nicer to get everything drilled out with a drill press yeah, but dont have that luxury and from what i can tell everything fits great and should perform well. Total cost was roughly 35 for the shock, 23 for the dogbones, 27 for drill bit and needed bolts and nuts, two beers for a friend that has an angle grinder so 85 total.. not too shabby





if you can see near the coolant reservoir, i put on the mounting brackets for the trex frame sliders.. once i get everything back on the bike ill see if they fit properly through the race fairings.

[sharky nrk]

^^^ FYI my brother (MKlein3004 on here) tried to use the 10mm bolt as well in the top joint and it seemed secure, but found out it moved when under heavy load on track.

[Braden07]

Originally Posted by sharky nrk

^^^ FYI my brother (MKlein3004 on here) tried to use the 10mm bolt as well in the top joint and it seemed secure, but found out it moved when under heavy load on track.

hmmm, yeah when i was putting it in there is a few mm of play with it.. when i tightened down the bolt there was also play from side to side but i put a washer in and it tightened up real good so no side to side play..

the only thing that bothers me when it comes to that top part moving is not under compression but under rebound as it might make it unstable due to the extra little pop it could have.. i guess ill really just have to ride it to see if it is a noticable problem for me.

Ive been trying to save up a little for more parts and goodies for the 250 and we have a great suspension guy that is always out at the track. I might be able to afford a nice elka or ohlins come mid race season

[sharky nrk]

Originally Posted by Braden07

hmmm, yeah when i was putting it in there is a few mm of play with it.. when i tightened down the bolt there was also play from side to side but i put a washer in and it tightened up real good so no side to side play..

the only thing that bothers me when it comes to that top part moving is not under compression but under rebound as it might make it unstable due to the extra little pop it could have.. i guess ill really just have to ride it to see if it is a noticable problem for me.

Ive been trying to save up a little for more parts and goodies for the 250 and we have a great suspension guy that is always out at the track. I might be able to afford a nice elka or ohlins come mid race season

Yeah, didn't pay attention to see how big you were, Mitch is a decent sized guy over 6ft and 200lbs, but it caused him enough issues that before he had to change it. Just wanted to warn you.

[Braden07]

And i do appreciate the insight.. it is something that i have thought about. What did he end up doing? drilling out the eye hole or did he go with a more legit aftermarket shock?

Originally Posted by sharky nrk

Yeah, didn't pay attention to see how big you were, Mitch is a decent sized guy over 6ft and 200lbs, but it caused him enough issues that before he had to change it. Just wanted to warn you.

[sharky nrk]

First fix was to weld washers on the inside and outside of the tabs on the frame, stopping them from moving around. This worked for a season, then he upgraded to a Penske and removed the washers from the frame and used the stock 12mm bolt.

[Bigballsofpaint]

i drilled the gsxy shock, you have just enough material in the collar to do so and use the stock ninja 250 bolt.

[Braden07]

Originally Posted by Bigballsofpaint

i drilled the gsxy shock, you have just enough material in the collar to do so and use the stock ninja 250 bolt.

its what i may have to end up doing but i think it'll work out.. once i have it all back together and running ill be able to rip up and down the street here so i can see if i can get a good feel from it..

[Braden07]

Had some free time today since i wasnt working and only had school in the morning and with the nice temps that means im working on the bike.. had an idea of what i wanted to get done but i decided to get adventurous.. i was mocking up the motion pro and it wasnt going to fit with the on/off kill switch so i took that off and moved it to the clutch side. Just enough length of wiring to reach.. i dont need the light switches on the left. the only thing i used was the horn for shitz and giggles but id rather have the weight savings so off it came and a few other pieces. Got my new exhaust hanger put on too. I decided that i was gonna get the carbs and stuff back on come hell or highwater. Being smart i put on the throttle cabe carb bracket and put the cables on before putting the carbs in so i would be trying to fidget with everything once it was on cause that is a PITA.. after so trial and error and what not i eventually got the carbs back in and then the airbox.. its all back together now. It was dark by the time i finished and thankfully my roommate came home when he did and helped me.

I put the motion pro set up all together to test it out before putting it back on the bike and holy fcuk.. with the 50 reel in there it is literally a quarter turn to WOT it is gonna be nice having that.. the good thing about it is it is a pretty heavy turn so the normal bumps and what not wont make it so twitchy, will have to be a purposeful movement

Hopefully tomorrow afternoon i can get the tank back on and start her up! Gonna do some research as to the wiring i can get rid of.. whats the best way to do it? just cut it and tape it up?

[Braden07]

so i got the tank on the following morning and got the battery hooked up.. i primed the carbs a little then turned the bike over.. the sweet sound and smell of victory rang through my eyes and filled my olfactory nerve as the 2fiddy roared to life.. everything was good until i looked down at the carb. It was leaking gas out of the float pool.. i thought maybe i just flooded it too much when i primed it.. drained them and then let it to sit for a few hours then came back and started the bike back up.. within 30 seconds gas will drippin out again. Took it all apart and it appears that the float pool orings may be bad.. i think they are just worn down as the ring is completely flat with the edge of the pool lower piece, nothing for it to create a seal by. I thought maybe ill just silicone it but i am not in a rush by anymeans and wanted it to be right so i ordered some new o rings. Should be here mid next week.. i took it all apart (the float pool area.. checked the floats, they had good even movement and leveling, and then put it back together and put fuel in em and tilted it forwards and it started to leak out again so i assume it must be that.. hopefully i get them in next week and get the bike back together.. wanting to get it all together and fairings on

[Braden07]

Got the new oring in the carbs, got the bike all back together and went out for a lil ride!! Feels great.. love the motion pro on it.. take a gander =)

[gogoKawi]

Looking good. Are you going to clear coat the paint?

[rodster]

wow thats a lovely bike, i enjoyed reading this and well done with your racing

[Jason5885]

What Frame sliders are those? Bike looks great!

[Somchai]

@Braden07, please don't crash that beauty

[Braden07]

Originally Posted by gogoKawi

Looking good. Are you going to clear coat the paint?

@gogoKawi - i probably should, but i dont think i will.. this will be my first full race season so im expecting to go down a time or two

Originally Posted by rodster

wow thats a lovely bike, i enjoyed reading this and well done with your racing

@rodster - Thanks! Ive put in alot of work and i feel it has paid off!

Originally Posted by Jason5885

What Frame sliders are those? Bike looks great!

@Jason5885 - those are T-rex framesliders. I was worried they weren't going to work with the race fairings but they actually worked out perfectly and look great.. the bars stick out further than the frame sliders but the bars are pretty cheap to replace if needed.. hopefully the sliders save the fairings a little tho if needed!

http://t-rex-racing.com/catalog.php?item=270

Originally Posted by Somchai

@Braden07, please don't crash that beauty

@Somchai - not planning on it! but most likely will.. its racing!!

[stimpee]

Well done!

I need some more time at home and not traveling so I can try to make my bike look purdy so that I feel crappy when I crash it!

[Braden07]

Originally Posted by stimpee

Well done!

I need some more time at home and not traveling so I can try to make my bike look purdy so that I feel crappy when I crash it!

thanks!! isnt that funny how that happens?? get it all nice and dope lookin and then we go ride the hell out of it and crash it..

[Braden07]

not too far from my place is the hub for JakeWilson.com or better known as rocky mountain atv, anyways they stock alot of OEM stuff and have good deals on everything.. went down there and picked up some necessities.

Somethings id like to point out.. the oem filter from kawi is like 11$ and it doesnt come with the oring so that is an additional 6. The K&N is 6$ and comes with the oring! Hopefully it's a decent filter..

I was wondering if they carried a stainless steel line for it and turns out the had the galfer rear for like 26$! Picked that baby up. Probably be doing an oil change, new rear sprocket, new chain, and possibly rear brake line tomorrow

[stimpee]

Originally Posted by Braden07

thanks!! isnt that funny how that happens?? get it all nice and dope lookin and then we go ride the hell out of it and crash it..

Lucky for me, I fail at making it look good, and just barely keep it running.

All hail the rat bike!

[Braden07]

Originally Posted by stimpee

Lucky for me, I fail at making it look good, and just barely keep it running.

All hail the rat bike!

no one said it had to be pretty and fast.. just one or the other. Having both is just icing on the cake!