InfiniteWhiskey's build/story thread. [Pic heavy]

[infinitewhiskey]

First post on the site. Didn't know whether to post this here or in farkles.

Anyway, I've been lurking for a while, so I'm glad I'm finally making a post.

This bike is my take on modern streetfighter/cafe racer style bikes. I pretty much finished it for right now since I'm kinda low on money and time (broke college student). The last big aesthetic change would be a new seat. Aside from that, what I have left to do is to add spoked rims, a 46T sprocket, hack off some parts, maybe a new exhaust, install new cams/gears and have them re-finished at Yoshimura, redo the underseat tray with P-clamps, chop down the front fender, and add a rear fender. I'll make a list of current mods at the bottom of this post. All of this is also documented on my instagram (yeah, yeah I know).

P.S. Sorry if the formatting sucks. I'll try and fix it if there are problems.

When I first got her, along with my buddy and his new (to him) 600rr.

I didn't like the color so I decided to plasti-dip it white.

Broken side stand mounting things. I eventually fixed this by JB-welding a bolt to the sidestand and to the mounting hole. It's been fine for the past ~4-6 months or so. I also had a stripped drain plug that had been very poorly JB-welded (it was still dripping oil). As you can probably tell, I didn't know anything about buying a used bike...

Saw a used EX250J Yoshi slip-on for $200 on CL. Figured why the hell not.

Decided to take the tank off for powder coating and to weld the fairing mounts smooth. PO had punctured the tank by mixing up the fairing bolts and very shittily used RTV sealant to close it. It would very slowly leak gas if you filled it over a certain point. I figured I should also give the carbs a good cleaning too. Plus beer, because everything's better drunk. I didn't mess anything up, thankfully.

Chopping off the left side of the exhaust to fit the slip-on. I wanted to make it "pretty" but I had a big money constraint at the time, so I just went with it.

Exhaust on nearly perfectly.

Found a nail in the rear. Decided to ride on it for a while and kinda forgot it. Bit me in the ass a bit later.

Zip-tied everything... Underseat pan to hide the electronics and zip times to mount the battery. Then I took a giant sheet of steel and wrapped it around the frame sometime later. Didn't find out about P-clamps until a month after that from browsing cafe builds.

Bought and painted a front fender.

Bled the brakes. Nasty stuff.

At this point it was about 4 weeks without the tank. I was dying to ride.

Tank finally came back. Welding job was nearly perfect, but needed some more sanding. Luckily you can't tell unless you're staring really close at it. I also forgot to tell the shop to grind off the tab on the left and to smooth out that mounting thing on the right.

Put on the painted gas cap and bolts.

New headlight and turn indicators fitted.

Upgraded to a Shorai Lithium-Ion. So much lighter and smaller than stock.

K&N pods and engine breather filter (random thing from autozone) ready to be fitted.

Wasn't nearly a perfect fit, but they were on pretty well. I used the ones recommended on faq.ninja250.org. Looking sexy.

Finally put the tank back on. You can also kinda see the aluminum water bottle coolant res I made. I wanted to use an alcohol container but they were mostly glass, and I didn't want coolant over my leg so I just went with this.

Header pipes wrapped.

First time she ran in over a month. I spent all night waking up the neighborhood rejetting her.

When I was finally done.

Mock fit of how I wanted the cafe seat to be. Still haven't decided on what I wanted.

Bought ebay clip ons, but the dude CNC'd one of the sides wrong. one side would angle down while the other would angle up. Luckily he sent me a properly made one for free.

Had to leave her for a month cause of vacation. Yes, I zip-tied the license plate on. I was too lazy to find a mount and it also bit me in the ass later. You'll see.

And here it is biting me in the ass. Didn't have zip-ties on hand and it fell off on the ride home. On the bright side, at least I got forced into buying a shiny, new, and undented plate.

Here's the nail in the rear tire biting me in the ass. Tire randomly went flat and I had to slowly ride home to take it off to get a new tire mounted.

That new tire goodness. Went with BT-45's. Not as sticky as my flat sport demons IMO.

Random bolts usually come loose... I have to recheck everything every day. Didn't take it seriously at this point though, but, again, it would bite me in the ass in the future.

Had my first lowside. Bike landed on my foot. At first I thought it was because I lost traction on the rear and cause it was a new tire. I walk through the intersection a lot, and one day I noticed the giant right turning arrow painted on the ground, and now I think it was because I started to lean as I was over the paint and it slipped. I'm thinking about starting a petition to have sand added to the marker paint. Didn't take pictures of the damage. It was a scratched headlight and seat with a slightly bent brake lever and right handlebar.

Bike getting towed back home cause I couldn't walk or even stand without crutches.

The damn hospital bill... This did not include the ambulance ride. Luckily my student insurance covered most of it or else I probably would've had to sell the bike and to start working corners.

Fortunately, nothing was fractured so I was able to walk again in a few days. Got on my bike again as soon as walking didn't involve excruciating pain. It was a good feeling to be able to ride again. Also, note the ****** mirror I have mounted... The right bar end mirror I have right now is worlds better.

Took the bike apart again to touch up some stuff and to fix the leaky drain plug. My solution was to properly JB weld it shut and to mount a EX250J drain plug assembly to where the oil catch thing is. Somehow managed to sheer a bolt with the torque wrench and had to wait about a week for a new bolt...

So about not checking bolts all the time biting me in the ass... Luckily I caught it as soon as it happened and didn't eat ****. Learned my lesson and went over everything with a torque wrench and loctite blue.

Installed a white Venhill SS brake line to the rear. Still need to do the front...

Bought some A&L rearset adjusters. They didn't fit perfectly and I had to grind down a corner with a dremel in order to get it to fit. Also installed some gold ebay foot pegs. I wanted to paint the stock rearsets black but didn't have cash for paint at the time. Now I'm too lazy to take everything apart again. I loved the new position. My only complaints are that my left foot will touch the center stand when I'm on the ball of my foot, and that the sidestand is a little bit harder to kick out since I can't just guesstimate where it was.

Got new grips and EX500 adjustable levers from rideitmoto.com. Kind of like ebay stuff since they came from china, but it was ~$80 with free grips, a year warranty, and good reviews, so I figured why not.

Mock fit on the handlebar.

Finally got a new tail light and license plate mounting bracket. Everything's now nice and snug. It's an ebay integrated tail mounted with corner braces from Ace Hardware. My only complaint is that it's kind of small.

After about a year with dealing with the ripped stock seat, I decided to reupholster it. I wanted to learn since I also wanted to upholster my future cafe seat, however I'm conflicted since I want pleats but I don't have access to the right sewing machine, so I'll probably have to get a shop. Anyway, I followed videos on YouTube (which made it waaay easier than it was) and it turned out pretty well. I stretched out the vinyl some more after the picture was taken to get rid of some of the bumps.

I FINALLY mounted the clip-ons with the adjustable levers this past Wednesday. My initial reaction was that it was toooo damn low. But after half an hour of darting around town, I got used to it, sort of. My back kind of hurts. Also, note the TT Vapor's crappy mount. It worked at the time with the stock bars, so I didn't wanna fab up a decent looking mount, but now I pretty much have to... Also, it's calibrated very horribly. Speedo is off and tach is sporadic, so I'll have to find more info on that later.

[infinitewhiskey]

I also ran into some fitment problems with the clip-ons and the tank, but everything worked out. My main complaint is that I wanted the bars more angled towards the inside of the bike (like a reverse V), but, instead, it's almost straight.

Here are pictures of it at full lock:

There was a noticeable difference in how she handled. It was a lot more sensitive and easier to control. The position was uncomfortable for street riding but for twisties, it was awesome. Plus it made the bike look a lot different.

And here she is... All done... For now. :

She's not the best but she's mine and I love her

Here's the mod list, based on what I can remember:
GS500 headlight
eBay 36mm headlight brackets
eBay turn indicators
eBay 36mm clip-ons with gold brackets and black bars.
eBay bar end mirrors
EX500 clutch perch + adjustable levers from rideitmoto.com
Grips from rideitmoto.com
Trail Tech Vapor speedo/tach
Welded and powdercoated tank with painted bolts/gas cap.
NGK spark plugs
Removed airbox and relocated electronics + random wiring.
Rejetted with Keihin jets (from jetsrus), needles shimmed with #? washers
Custom 2-1 header, wrapped, and with an EX250J Yoshimura slip-on
K&N Pods
Custom coolant reservoir
A&L Rearset adjusters
eBay gold foot pegs
Venhill SS brake line on rear
Custom wrapped stock seat
Removed passenger pegs
Electronics + battery relocation to underseat pan.
eBay integrated tail light with license plate bracket and light
Brake light modulator from superbrightleds.com (Under $10, hell of a lot cheaper than other places)
EX250J drain plug assembly





edit: For some reason, the pictures in this comment are huge, so I'll just make an imgur album and link to it.

[csmith12]

I like it! Making her better and keep ridin'.

Originally Posted by infinitewhiskey

She's not the best but she's mine and I love her

Your comment made me think of this thread.

[Alex]

Great thread!

[UnshavenCanuck]

Looking good, get your hands on an old street sign, it's nice thick aluminum. You can work wonders on that vapour mount, it's real easy to cut with a jigsaw. My friend restored a 74 Honda 750four and you would be amazed at how many brackets are made from a sign and how good they look.

[infinitewhiskey]

Originally Posted by csmith12

I like it! Making her better and keep ridin'.



Your comment made me think of this thread.

Thanks! That was a fun thread to go through.

Originally Posted by Alex

Great thread!

Thank you!

Originally Posted by UnshavenCanuck

Looking good, get your hands on an old street sign, it's nice thick aluminum. You can work wonders on that vapour mount, it's real easy to cut with a jigsaw. My friend restored a 74 Honda 750four and you would be amazed at how many brackets are made from a sign and how good they look.

That's a good idea. I've just been using pieces of leftover galvanized steel but I feel that they're way too flimsy. I'll keep my eye out for 'em. Thanks!

[FvnnyL3tt3r1ng]

Your bike is pretty sick! Love what you've done to it!

[infinitewhiskey]

Originally Posted by FvnnyL3tt3r1ng

Your bike is pretty sick! Love what you've done to it!

Thanks!
__________________________

Last night I painted the chrome on my bucket matte white. Dunno how I found time for that and not for making a new speedo mount

[mjegan]

How did you mount the magnet and sensor for the speedo?

[infinitewhiskey]

Originally Posted by mjegan

How did you mount the magnet and sensor for the speedo?

For the sensor, I've seen pictures of people bolting it to a bracket next to the brake calipers on the right side of the bike. I was testing out the speedo so I just zip tied it there.

For the magnet, I JB welded it into one of the holes in the rotor.

Both have held up fine for the past 4-5 months, though I'm planning on bolting the sensor on whenever I decide to take off my front wheel to cut up the front fender.

[StephenA]

how is that exhaust performance wise? how does it feel etc. lol

[infinitewhiskey]

Originally Posted by StephenA

how is that exhaust performance wise? how does it feel etc. lol

I can't tell you about the exhaust specifically; I went from fully stock to pods, larger jets, the 2-1 headers, and the exhaust all at once. Compared to stock, she accelerates a bit faster and the mid to upper range is awesome. I hit 80 on the freeway a lot easier, also. Note, I'm still running stock sprockets.

And it's loud as **** whenever I go WOT.

[vanman69]

did you just cut off the header and have it going through the balance pipe?

[infinitewhiskey]

Originally Posted by vanman69

did you just cut off the header and have it going through the balance pipe?

Yup. You can see it here in the picture I posted above.

Originally Posted by infinitewhiskey

[FvnnyL3tt3r1ng]

Would you recommend the vapor tach/speedo? I'm running a naked 250 right now and I think I'm gonna lose the gauge cluster and headlight.

Are you sure you have a solid ground and the right polarity?

[mjegan]

Originally Posted by FvnnyL3tt3r1ng

Would you recommend the vapor tach/speedo? I'm running a naked 250 right now and I think I'm gonna lose the gauge cluster and headlight.

Are you sure you have a solid ground and the right polarity?

I just put mine on a few days ago and it's nice to know how fast I'm going. I used the stock gauge harness and used the positive and negative of one of the back lights to power the trail tech.

[infinitewhiskey]

Originally Posted by FvnnyL3tt3r1ng

Would you recommend the vapor tach/speedo? I'm running a naked 250 right now and I think I'm gonna lose the gauge cluster and headlight.

Are you sure you have a solid ground and the right polarity?

Yeah, it's fine. I miss having an analog tachometer, though.I couldn't get the tire size right according to the instructions (kept ending up with 1700-ish), so I just went cruising with a buddy and kept adjusting until our speeds lined up.

Yes, I'm sure. The main reason why I think the tach's off is cause I didn't get the wire with the resistor 600 ohm resistor in it. I still need to order it lol. If you do decide to pick one up, get the one for SV-650's.

[infinitewhiskey]

Here's the latest update:

Perfect plugs

Bought an EX250J rear shock and installed it along with a CBR250 rear hugger.

Sooo... How the heck are you supposed to resize these pictures?

[Alex]

If you load them as attachments, they are resized automatically.

[FvnnyL3tt3r1ng]

You can always flip those bars upside down if they're too uncomfortable. Just bought the same pair and am gonna do just that.

[infinitewhiskey]

Originally Posted by Alex

If you load them as attachments, they are resized automatically.

Ah. How come the pictures in my first post get resized? I'm still using the same method to post pictures (with the [.IMG] tag), so it's been bugging me as to why it's different.

Originally Posted by FvnnyL3tt3r1ng

You can always flip those bars upside down if they're too uncomfortable. Just bought the same pair and am gonna do just that.

I got used to them after a week or so.

They're angled downwards by 10 degrees so I think it looks awkward to have them that way. There's also this type of clip on that's a little higher. Too bad I didn't come across when I was researching this stuff. All I saw were the WC ones. I think it would've helped with some clearance issues too.

[Alex]

This site isn't doing anything to the pictures that are linked between img tags. If the pics in your first post are certain size, it is because that actual picture between the img tags is that size. If later ones are larger, it has to be because you are linking to larger pictures.

[FvnnyL3tt3r1ng]

Did you put the clip ons above the triple clamp?? I can't tell from the pics.

[choneofakind]

Dat. Header.


Likely causing poorer performance than the stock setup...

[vanman69]

Originally Posted by choneofakind

Dat. Header.


Likely causing poorer performance than the stock setup...

yeeeaaaaa, thats what i thought chone

[infinitewhiskey]

Originally Posted by FvnnyL3tt3r1ng

Did you put the clip ons above the triple clamp?? I can't tell from the pics.

They're below the clamp.

Originally Posted by choneofakind

Dat. Header.


Likely causing poorer performance than the stock setup...

Probably, but AFAIK it feels better than stock. It's a temporary set up until I find time and money to buy a welder and set up either a dual exhaust on the right side. or a 2-1 before the exhaust.

Can't even find time to glass my seat right now.

[vanman69]

dual on the right would look pretty cool man

[FvnnyL3tt3r1ng]

Is there any way to align these clip ons accurately or does everyone do them by feel/sight?

[FvnnyL3tt3r1ng]

Originally Posted by infinitewhiskey

The main reason why I think the tach's off is cause I didn't get the wire with the resistor 600 ohm resistor in it. I still need to order it lol. If you do decide to pick one up, get the one for SV-650's.

Do you know if it's compatible? How do you hook up the coolant temp sensor?

[infinitewhiskey]

Originally Posted by vanman69

dual on the right would look pretty cool man

Fell in love with it after I saw it on the ducs. Still need to decide on what I'm gonna do lol.

Originally Posted by FvnnyL3tt3r1ng

Is there any way to align these clip ons accurately or does everyone do them by feel/sight?

There's lots of clearance issues with the tank and fairings. Since she's naked, I just have them as close as they can be to the tank without it touching.

Originally Posted by FvnnyL3tt3r1ng

Do you know if it's compatible? How do you hook up the coolant temp sensor?

Yeah, it's compatible. The only difference is that you get a capacitor with your tach wire.

For the sensor, you just take your old one out and put the new one in. It's a direct fit.

[FvnnyL3tt3r1ng]

Do you know what PPR setting works the best for the Tachometer on the Trail Tech gauge?? Which method did you use to hook up the wire?

[Noobman]

Infinitewhiskey, ..... you are too awesome.

I love it when I see people passionately working away and tinkering on their bikes.

[infinitewhiskey]

Originally Posted by FvnnyL3tt3r1ng

Do you know what PPR setting works the best for the Tachometer on the Trail Tech gauge?? Which method did you use to hook up the wire?

I'm assuming you got the tach wire with the 600 OHM resistor, right?

The PPR setting was either 1 or 2... don't remember. If you search, I believe there's a thread where someone clarifies.

As for the tach cable, I don't remember which colors were which, so bear with me. The ground is connected to a bolt on the radiator that I sanded down to bare metal for a better grounding. The tach wire itself is tapped into the power wire for my left coil.

If you wait until Monday-ish, I can get back to you with my PPR setting and pictures of my set up.

Originally Posted by Noobman

Infinitewhiskey, ..... you are too awesome.

I love it when I see people passionately working away and tinkering on their bikes.

Thanks! That means a lot I love messing around with everything I own to improve it in some way.

I originally wanted to save up and buy a rolling shell of the old Datsun 240z's and do a twin-turbo RB26DETT build but money is/was a huge issue. I think the total cost of my bike and the stuff I bought for it plus gear and insurance is less than half (maybe even a quarter) of what I'd probably spend on the Datsun project.

[slickt0mmy]

This is an awesome thread! If you don't mind me asking, how much was it to get your tank fixed? I didn't realize it until after I bought it but mine has the exact same problem. Previous owner punched through it with the wrong fairing bolt and very crappily patched it up with something or other. I've been keeping the same long bolt on it because it holds most of the gas in, yet still leaks a little if I fill it above a certain point.

[infinitewhiskey]

Originally Posted by slickt0mmy

This is an awesome thread! If you don't mind me asking, how much was it to get your tank fixed? I didn't realize it until after I bought it but mine has the exact same problem. Previous owner punched through it with the wrong fairing bolt and very crappily patched it up with something or other. I've been keeping the same long bolt on it because it holds most of the gas in, yet still leaks a little if I fill it above a certain point.

Thanks! You could just thread it with RTV sealant (or whatever works with gas) as a temp fix. It cost me $75 for the welding and $75 for the powder coat.

You have to make sure that as you empty the tank, you get rid of all the gas vapor also because it may blow up from the welding. Some (lower-end) welding guys don't double check this, and I've heard some bad stories. There's a way to do it somewhere, I'll try and find it and get back to you.

When you get it repainted, either get a color that won't significantly show imperfections, or make sure the welds are bondo'd/JB weld'd as smooth as possible. With a matte white powder coat, you can see some imperfections when you look at it up close.

I think the guy who welded mine didn't really do a good job because there are 1-2 tiny bubbles that seem to be from the gasoline leaking out. So I recommend that after you get it welded, you should do a tank lining to make sure it doesn't leak out.

[infinitewhiskey]

Haven't really done much with the bike since the last post, but I've got a bunch of stuff waiting for me to use. Anyway, here we go!



Don't waste your time on this. Left a really cloudy coat and wore off really easily. If you're putting it on something that doesn't really come in contact with anything, go for it I guess. But unless it's white, it's gonna look like crap. Or maybe you could apply it to concrete before you do an oil change, but IMO cardboard is cheaper and better unless you spill a bunch.

Got the material for my seat. Just need to finish designing and then glassing.

I wonder what I'll do with this?

Picked up rear and front stands. Super cheap off CL and plus they match the bike!

Painted the valve cover gloss black, since the silver stood out so much. I wanna wet sand it and paint again whenever time permits. I also want to paint the swing arm when I take it off to do maintenance and replace the sprockets and chain.

Here's a recent shot from the front. Need to take one from the side. Besides from the painted valve cover, can anyone spot a difference from the older pictures?

[Sirref]

what stands are those? I'm looking into getting some so I can do proper maintenance on my bike(s) and I don't really have a ton of cash for it

[infinitewhiskey]

Originally Posted by Sirref

what stands are those? I'm looking into getting some so I can do proper maintenance on my bike(s) and I don't really have a ton of cash for it

LP racing stands. IMO if you buy wanna them brand new, you might as well spring for pitbulls.

[FvnnyL3tt3r1ng]

Did you have to mount any spools for those stands?

[infinitewhiskey]

Nope, it's lifted up by the swing arm. It looks like this: