What Did You Do to Your Ninjette Today ??

[choneofakind]

I flash when I'm about to pass. Blinker, downshift if needed, flash, pass, blinker back, resume with ride.

I figure people will at least see me. Maybe they get the wrong idea and think I'm mad or something, but they'll see me nonetheless. An FTP button would make this so much more quick and streamlined. May have to fab up my own with a momentary switch though. Not many bikes on the top of my head from Kawi that had carbs and an FTP button.

But the hazards sure would be nice for foul weather. We get some intense fog out here at times!

[Ghostt]

There you go, Thxs @InvisiBill for the answers, and of course this great safety upgrade. My 91 EX had this feature, and it does come in handy, especially in poor visibility driving conditions.

BTW this needs to be added to both Wikipedia sites for Ninjette, and EX-500 InvisiBill

[Ghostt]

@choneofakind I personally in daytime always have my high beam on, adds to greater visibility, hopefully, I've always ride this way.
Flashing cagers is a crap shoot, sometimes they interpret it totally wrong.

As far as poor visibility driving conditions, I have another modification I'm working on at the moment, that will definitely help to be seen, hopefully.

Stay tuned

[InvisiBill]

Originally Posted by choneofakind

I flash when I'm about to pass. Blinker, downshift if needed, flash, pass, blinker back, resume with ride.

I figure people will at least see me. Maybe they get the wrong idea and think I'm mad or something, but they'll see me nonetheless. An FTP button would make this so much more quick and streamlined. May have to fab up my own with a momentary switch though. Not many bikes on the top of my head from Kawi that had carbs and an FTP button.

But the hazards sure would be nice for foul weather. We get some intense fog out here at times! :eek:

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's the intention. I think it's fairly common in Europe, and maybe even bigger US cities. Out here in the sticks though, flashing your lights is only used to signal someone to go ahead, or that there's a cop sitting up ahead.

If you do manage to find something that has choke and FTP, post up the info. I'd be interested in it too, just as an extra feature to have, even if I don't use it a whole lot. Keep in mind that you may be able to swap just the back piece on, if the front of the control is similar but not identical.


I felt the same way about the flashers. It was a bit annoying that they had them on the early Gen2 but got rid of them. After buying an older control to get the button, I noticed the words/pictograms difference, and was slightly less irritated. After finding they already had a new part with the button and pictograms, I was even more upset.

The ignition switch feeds power to the turn signal circuit in Park too, so you can have them (and the taillight) on while the bike is off. Could be handy if you pull over in a storm to put on rain gear or something.

[choneofakind]

Originally Posted by Ghostt

@choneofakind I personally in daytime always have my high beam on, adds to greater visibility, hopefully, I've always ride this way.
Flashing cagers is a crap shoot, sometimes they interpret it totally wrong.

I'd blind people if I ran my high beam all the time during the day. Even behind a fluted lens, a bixenon HID set up is still bright.

I'd rather not blind people and have them come at me rather than going by me.

[NevadaWolf]

Hurm, a key in my mailbox. What toys now?

Good lordy! I ask for the fairing bolts, I get the whole kit'n'caboodle! Wow. I don't even recognize some of these. Coooool! I have supplies now!

Thanks @PartsNinja!

[Ghostt]

Originally Posted by choneofakind

I'd blind people if I ran my high beam all the time during the day. Even behind a fluted lens, a bixenon HID set up is still bright.

I'd rather not blind people and have them come at me rather than going by me.

LOL I have the DDM TUNING HID KIT 55w/6k hi/lo kit, and yes it's bright(5,000 lumens), even in the day time, but I'm not sure about the blinding part during the daytime, maybe I should try just the low from now on. Old school habits you know, if anything I always have the compact airhorn I could use, and I KNOW that wakes the cagers up for sure

[liberpolly]

Oiled the chain in a parking lot. I wish they didn't take away the centerstand! :/

[allanoue]

Originally Posted by Ghostt

LOL I have the DDM TUNING HID KIT 55w/6k hi/lo kit, and yes it's bright(5,000 lumens), even in the day time, but I'm not sure about the blinding part during the daytime, maybe I should try just the low from now on. Old school habits you know, if anything I always have the compact airhorn I could use, and I KNOW that wakes the cagers up for sure

I do not think it is blinding during the day as much as annoying and more difficult to judge speed and distance of a single very bright light. I think it is a bad idea to make drivers more annoyed and confused then they already are about riders.

[Ghostt]

Originally Posted by allanoue

I do not think it is blinding during the day as much as annoying and more difficult to judge speed and distance of a single very bright light. I think it is a bad idea to make drivers more annoyed and confused then they already are about riders.

Yeah I hear ya, I've heard numerous cagers complaining about those headlight modulators, but they do work extremely well to get one noticed.

all else fails, maybe I'll install a cellphone jammer on the bike as my next safety modification.

[allanoue]

Originally Posted by Ghostt

Yeah I hear ya, I've heard numerous cagers complaining about those headlight modulators, but they do work extremely well to get one noticed.

all else fails, maybe I'll install a cellphone jammer on the bike as my next safety modification.

a jammer would distract them more when they troubleshoot why there phone is not working

[Ghostt]

Originally Posted by allanoue

a jammer would distract them more when they troubleshoot why there phone is not working

A directional EMP????

[allanoue]

Originally Posted by Ghostt

A directional EMP????

I want one

[sh123469]

I want one too

[Ghostt]

I was going to mount my coyote repellent on the bike, but I was advised by my attorney not to, what a kill joy she is.

[Ghostt]

Or perhaps one of these beauties, BTW best Hal Needham movie ever!!!

Megaforce
http://imdb.com/rg/an_share/title/title/tt0084316/

Link to original page on YouTube.

[gantt]

Tore the carbs down in anticipation of the area p system and jet kit. Found one of the bowls had three stripped screws. And so the bowl was never removed to clean. Found a stopped up jet. Could have been a lot of my fueling issues. All work was done at a dealership from the previous owner. Carbs had been "rebuilt" twice. I bought it 4 years old with 648 miles.
Can't wait to get the exhaust on, rebuild and tune the carbs. Its never ran good while I've had it. Just waited until the 7.5k check to do it all.

[Ghostt]

Originally Posted by gantt

Tore the carbs down in anticipation of the area p system and jet kit. Found one of the bowls had three stripped screws. And so the bowl was never removed to clean. Found a stopped up jet. Could have been a lot of my fueling issues. All work was done at a dealership from the previous owner. Carbs had been "rebuilt" twice. I bought it 4 years old with 648 miles.
Can't wait to get the exhaust on, rebuild and tune the carbs. Its never ran good while I've had it. Just waited until the 7.5k check to do it all.

So the carburetors have been like that for 4 years you've been riding it????

Do yourself a favor now, and replace all the screws with stainless steel allen heads, trust me.

Personally I won't install the jet kit, I would make sure it runs properly with stock set-up first, and tune accordingly.

And then maybe, install the jet kit. You need a solid baseline of which to tune from.

Whom is doing the carburetors? Experience?

Personally I would go up one size on the main jets, and shim the needles, and tune accordingly, proper cleaning, and tuning makes all the difference.

[gantt]

I've only had the bike for two years. But yeah, I haven't put a wrench on it until now. I think some of the debris is from it sitting the past 8 months. But I did drain the fuel before parking it. I'm doing the carbs this time. I've never been inside these, though I am pretty good with holley. I'm sure I'll be fine.

[Kruse08]

I just bought my new tires, so stoked to get her out of the garage and ready for spring.

[gantt]

Originally Posted by Kruse08

I just bought my new tires, so stoked to get her out of the garage and ready for spring.

I need a set too. Still rocking the stocks. Rear is bald. Just haven't decided what tire. I want more on the performance side vs. Mileage.

[Kruse08]

Originally Posted by gantt

I need a set too. Still rocking the stocks. Rear is bald. Just haven't decided what tire. I want more on the performance side vs. Mileage.

Yeah i still have the stock tires as well and it is time to do away with them. I went with kenda k671 becaus of price. A set for 135$ shipped, I also wanted longevity over performance.

[Ghostt]

Originally Posted by Kruse08

Yeah i still have the stock tires as well and it is time to do away with them. I went with kenda k671 becaus of price. A set for 135$ shipped, I also wanted longevity over performance.

Good call on those Kenda, I run those on the EX I get about 8k out of the rear, they are excellent wear, great wet weather.

On the Ninjette I decided to try the Bridgestone BT-45, so far so good @ 4,500 miles

[gantt]

Originally Posted by cuong-nutz

@gantt and @NevadaWolf,

When you mounted the 300 exhaust, did you need to use the 300 passenger peg bracket/exhaust hanger?

I just bought a full exhaust from a 300 to see if it was a direct fit but need this clarification so I can go pick it up as well. Lol

.
I used the 300 brackets. With the 250 bracket I notched the bolt hole for the bracket on the can to fit. No biggie

[Skullz]

Michelin Pilot Street tires for longevity, i have 15k on the rear with plenty of life left for many more thousands. With any other brand i would have had to buy another set already so what you may pay up front will be saved on the back side from buying other sets of tires down the road.

Patiently waiting for the temps in the next few days to pop so riding season can begin again.

[kevheads]

since we're finally breaking winter's back here in Illinois, got the bike out of winter storage (in storage since November) put the battery back in, turned the petcock to Prime for a minute, choked her and she cranked right over. I went for 2 quick rides around town but the roads are covered in salt and the snow that's melting has little streams across the roads. Just need a couple of hard rains to wash the roads off. It's been a long winter

[ninjamunky85]

Went for the first ride of the year today. Temps were in the 40's, the sun was shining, and the wind wasn't bad, so nice enough to ride. Couldn't wait any longer and it felt really great to get back on the bike again.

Also got started on a couple little mods I plan on doing.

[ftheshack]

Cleaned, lubed, adjusted the chain. We've had a couple weeks of bad winter weather, so I took a short ride in the 50 degree rain today.

[Roark]

Shimmed the cush drive, scrubbed the rear wheel until shiny, and then synced the carbs

[Ghostt]

Originally Posted by Roark

Shimmed the cush drive, scrubbed the rear wheel until shiny, and then synced the carbs

Bench sync I hope ?

[Roark]

Originally Posted by Ghostt

Bench sync I hope ?

http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/How_do_...carburetors%3F

On the bike for me.. Worked pretty well! Cleared up the starting and idle nuances

[Sirref]

cleaned, lubed, adjusted the chain. lubed the clutch and throttle wires. Added air to the tires, the front was down to 9psi that's what I get for letting it sit in the snow for two snowstorms. Went for a nice ride through the backcountry, loved the weather but the roads were absolute ****, we're talking flooding + potholes everywhere which also means debris everywhere. Had a nice exercise of always putting the bike exactly where it needs to be at a moments notice, dodging potholes is fun and a great way to keep the mind sharp and alert towards potential hazards.

I did however realize the one thing that I forgot to do, I need to bleed my front brakes and possibly replace the brake pads, and also check my coolant levels.

[Ghostt]

Originally Posted by Roark

http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/How_do_...carburetors%3F

On the bike for me.. Worked pretty well! Cleared up the starting and idle nuances

Okay, but here's my 2¢ on the issues of doing them on the bike

You can get a reasonable sync with the carbs in hand. Back the idle adjustment off to close that carb then match the second carb to it with the sync screw. You can then turn the idle adjustment up while using a thin feeler gauge (maybe .002") between the throttle plate and the throttle bore, adjust to just fit, and then check the second one and adjust to match. If you have good feel for this it will run fine once installed.*

It would do folks well to take a minute to review and understand what a sync tool does, how it works. And take another minute to look at the carb linkage and sync adjustments available to fix irregularities that might occur. It can help take some of the mystery out of this as well as stop unnecessary carb sync screwups.*

Meaning, that the carbs were right once, the butterflies were matched and it performed well, but then changed. Undecided And the problem somehow occurred in the butterfly direct shafts, or the sync screw turned or wore that pad that it rests on, or the carburetor pairing/ bridging brackets twisted in relation to each other, and enough so that the butterflies no longer operated in sync, such that performance noticeably suffered. And a fix will be accomplished by changing the butterfly position, the only thing the sync adjustment does. Hmmm. Really? Undecided*

Meanwhile, the tool measures vacuum at each individual runner. That's all it does, how it works. And vacuum is effected by a huge list of things, butterfly position being only one of them, and the only one addressed with that tool while turning those sync screws. The rest of that list includes, valve adjustment, jetting, float level, compression differences between cylinders caused by wear as well as factory CC differences in the head, intake runner, as well as flow by port variations, etc. Variations in cams, wear or factory tolerance. Then there's the potential big one, pilot jets and pilot screw mixture settings. All of those effect the vacuum and will be read by the sync tool, accurately identifyng the difference that exists, and with the only adjustment being used to "correct" the problem, move the butterfly relationship, one to the next.*

It's that clear understanding that has me of the opinion and long time practice to not touch the sync screws on a set of carbs that were right once and were never dismantled from the rack. And jet cleaning as well as float needle changing doesn't require that they be dismantled. And further, if I DID dismantle a set of carbs, I just matched the butterflies on the bench at assembly, using a feeler gauge, and then never touched them again, never gave them another thought.*

That method, properly executed, will have THAT portion of the complete equation, balanced flow to each cylinder in a multi-cylinder/ carb application due to butterfly position, satisfied entirely adequately. And in fact, it has worked for me every time I've done it on every bike (as well as individual runner/ butterfly V-8 intakes, all eight) that I've ever owned or any that I've fixed for others. And the times I fixed for others was usually after an attempt by others to sync the carbs, chasing a problem, or sometimes not even chasing a problem, but one they created wth a sync tool, chasing a problem from that list, that was never a butterfly position change problem. Those linkages are so direct and simple that they don't know how to screw themselves up. Not enough to care about.*

I'm sure this will start a lot of controversy so I won't argue it, just offering it for those who understand the whole picture that I outlined and might make good use of it. It is what I've done, on every engine I ever worked on, including blue printed racing engines as well as regular old, high mileage street stuff. I've had at least four, four cylinder bikes with over 100,000 miles that ran quite well, the whole time, and never had a carb sync performed. When they did finally get a total disassembly, this is how I set them up, on the bench. Over the years I've straightened out at least a half dozen messed up ones, probably more, and on the bench, after fixing the original problem which was fouled pilot jets.*

I only posted this because it seems like its coming up fairly often, especially with problems from a sync gone bad. One I would suggest was never a sync problem to begin with. A big or sudden change in performance is NEVER a sync problem. NEVER. Remember that. Cool If there is a problem, and you connect the gauges? YES, there will definitely be an imbalance indicated. But because that hole has a problem that is from the rest of the list. A bad plug, a plugged pilot jet, a screwed up float, a bad valve or setting, etc. Every one of them effecting the vacuum in the intake but NOT from a sudden move of a butterfly position, a sync adjustment.

[Roark]

@Ghostt, I suppose the only true way of properly syncing carbs would be to remove, clean, and rebuild them.. Excellent information, as always!

My Ninja's only a 2007, so I'm not too worried about it yet, but when I have to adjust the valves again in a few years, I'll pull the carbs and use this information as guide!

[Ghostt]

@Roark,

Under ideally conditions, the carburetors should only need serviced to replace the consumables parts, like the float needle valves and verify the settings, especially float height.

The last picture shows the difference between old Vs new float needle valve, note the tips.

I highly recommend a fuel filter, below are pictures of my carburetors after 4,500 miles, with a fuel filter installed, this is how the looked when I just removed the fuel bowls. Note the bottoms of the fuel bowls, and how clean they are, no sediments.

And yes I run my reserve for a few miles on every tank.

[Roark]

What fuel filter do you run on your Ninjette?
@Ghostt

[Ghostt]

Originally Posted by Roark

What fuel filter do you run on your Ninjette?
@Ghostt

I have one that's similar to this one,


http://www.bikebandit.com/aftermarke...g-fuel-filters

One must keep in mind that the fuel is gravity feed, another excellent choice is a fuel filter for a Briggs&Stratton motor, readily available at any small engine repair shop.

Most motorcycle & scooter repair shops have the small cone style, they are cheap enough, buy a few, keep one in the OEM toolkit as a spare just in case.

SIDENOTE: NewGens have a fuel filter(49019) installed in the fuel inlet elbow, unfortunately the I.D. on the PreGen is just small enough so it won't fit, or so I'm told, but I will be trying one soon enough to verify.

[Roark]

Good stuff. I'll put it on the list!

[Ghostt]

Originally Posted by Roark

Good stuff. I'll put it on the list!

It's a must have part, unless you enjoy removing the carburetors.

[Ghostt]

I do know for a personal fact that fuel filter 49019-1085 does not fit, not even close.

This is the OEM rail filter upgrade we use on the EX500 http://www.ex-500.com/index.php/topic,24823.0.html

http://www.partzilla.com/parts/detai...9019-1085.html