2009 Ninja 250r Race Bike Rebuild!

[NINJosh.]

hello. my name is Josh. this is the first post i've ever made on any forum so if it sucks... my bad. I'll start by saying i've always wanted to build a track bike and my 5 year plan to become a professional motorcycle racer starts with a small displacement scooter so I can improve my late braking and mid-corner speeds. :P I got a little ahead financially this month so i figured why wait. let's go for it. i'm just going to post everything i plan on doing, what parts i will use, and what i've accomplished so far, AT ANY POINT PLLLLEEEEEAAASE tell me if you think i'm doing something wrong or uninformed. i want to build the best bike i can and i am completely new to these little tykes. so let me know how i'm doing and whether or not you think i payed to much for anything.

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i brought the bike home late last night from a sketchy CL encounter, which i think turned out to be the worst purchased i've ever made on CL. i got HOSED. fml.
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the bike is pretty beat.BUT the motor is bone dry all the way around. runs like a champ and aside from the clutch being WAY out of adjustment. i think the gearbox will worknicely.
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got this cute little rear tire stand at Harbor Freight for $35. the wheels will probably fall off halfway through the build but the steel frame is pretty nice and these bike aren't too heavy anyway.
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she started her diet plan this evening. i've removed all non-essential electronics and hardware. i've labeled all the electronic ports incase i ever need to put something back on, or god forbid somebody actually buys this bike after me.
and now for the twist. literally.
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how in the world did i miss that?!?! just so we're all clear here, the handle bars are perfectly straight in this photo and no, the wheel is NOT...
all in all i shelled out 900 fat ones for this crooked turd. which i thought was a better deal than it turned out to be. they seem to sell for 2-3 thousand in good condition around here idk if that's standard so i though 9 was a square deal for a good bike with no plastics. but after i got the front cowling off and got a good look at the forks she's a little more hurt than i thought. in my defense, it was dark and i was using a flashlight to inspect her, and i admit i got excited like a little school girl so there was no way i could have been properly subjective going into it. rookie mistake. well what's done is done and we can only move up from here.

right now i have on order:
Armour Bodies Race Plastics-$699 with the free shipping Revzilla ended up being the cheapest i could find for these. i found cheaper plastics but a buddy of mine had these on his CBR and he recommended them. good ratio of quality to price.
Leo Vince GP Corsa Carbon full stainless exhaust-$449 again Revzilla with that free shipping.
Xrace Reatsets-$150 ebay.
Galfer Stainless Steel brake lines front and rear-$100 ebay.
Adjustable clutch and brake levers-$27 ebay.
new OEM side panel covers R and L- $28 ebay.
Factory Pro Jet Kit-$80 ebay.
DID 520 Xring Chain "lightly used"- $39 ebay. if it ends up being too "lightly used" to put on the bike so be it, i'll buy a new one; but for $39 could i really pass it up?
Motion Pro Clutch cable-$25 ebay
used STRAIGHT front forks-$50 ebay
new fork seals-$24 ebay
Race Tech .75kg/mm fork springs-$124 race tech. i figure if i was gonna have the front end apart i mind as well check what the rating was on the spring, i've read Stock these bad boys are frontin' .44kg/mms and race tech has a spring rate calculator on their website that told me on this bike seeing that i'm 200lbs of raw muscle and huge ego. i should be using .75s so i decided it would probably be worth the money for the performance increase.

that's all i can think of for right now, i plan on removing the airbox within the next couple of days so i'll need to order some pod filters. right now it looks like i'm leaning towards the double K&N filter that straps on to both carburetors, unless someone has a different suggestion. let me know what you think!
josh.

[Mark Cook]

Good luck on the project. I'm building one up too.
Mark

[Trailerboy531]

Do you plan on riding this bike at the track or racing it? If you wish to race I suggest leaving the airbox on as most places require it.

Ditch the stock exhaust for a full race exhaust, you will drag it.

Get woodcraft clip ons to replace the handle bars.
Speaking of handle bars, keep in mind that when forks are bent it's also a good idea to get new triples; so if you still have an issue then look in to that.

New rear shock? Cheapest way is gixxer 600 shock with custom dog bones to adjust for the longer shock.

Stomp Grip will help a lot and you will quickly love it.

Also, for the record, can confirm Armor Bodies quality. Good stuff.

Edit: what tires are you going to run? Pirelli Diablo Rosso IIs with a 140 rear? Good idea.

Not the Pirellis? Bad idea.

[JohnnyBravo]

I love these threads

[NINJosh.]

Originally Posted by Trailerboy531

Do you plan on riding this bike at the track or racing it? If you wish to race I suggest leaving the airbox on as most places require it.

Ditch the stock exhaust for a full race exhaust, you will drag it.

Get woodcraft clip ons to replace the handle bars.
Speaking of handle bars, keep in mind that when forks are bent it's also a good idea to get new triples; so if you still have an issue then look in to that.

New rear shock? Cheapest way is gixxer 600 shock with custom dog bones to adjust for the longer shock.

Stomp Grip will help a lot and you will quickly love it.

Also, for the record, can confirm Armor Bodies quality. Good stuff.

Edit: what tires are you going to run? Pirelli Diablo Rosso IIs with a 140 rear? Good idea.

Not the Pirellis? Bad idea.

I've been told that there are clearance issues running clips-ons with the stock plastics? is this true? I was already looking at some regardless, I'll check those out.
thanks for the tip about the airbox. with that in mind, are any modifications to it allowed? and/or what's the best way to get it to take more air in?
I haven't even looked into tires yet, I'm gonna use the stock ones that are on there until it's running again! :P and on that same note the sprockets are rusty as well. but I'm going to use these for now until I can get on the bike and see if/how much I want to change the gearing. i'llprobably have to go up some teeth to get enough go juice, but I've only ridden my sister's stock 02 250r so I don't know how well that will compare to this one once I get it tuned.
where can you get the swing arm links for the new shock? that sounds like a good idea. that honestly slipped my mind, I was focused on getting the front end back together I didn't think about upgrading the rear.

on the topic of front suspensions, I was on the phone with the guys at Race Tech today. and he brought up the idea of putting an emulator on this puppy. do any of you have experience with these? he quoted me at $170, that'll be pushing the price range for getting these forks right. would the performance increase be worth it. I've already looked into inverted forks for this thing, which is what I'm leaning towards. if not for a huge performance increase just for the stouter fork tubes, my dad thinks these teeny fork tubes will be over stressed with me riding them, good brakes+good tires+stiff springs+skinny fork tubes+heavy rider=lots of torsion while going around corners. Not the ideal suspension. let me know what you guys think!

[Trailerboy531]

Originally Posted by NINJosh.

I've been told that there are clearance issues running clips-ons with the stock plastics? is this true? I was already looking at some regardless, I'll check those out.
thanks for the tip about the airbox. with that in mind, are any modifications to it allowed? and/or what's the best way to get it to take more air in?
I haven't even looked into tires yet, I'm gonna use the stock ones that are on there until it's running again! :P and on that same note the sprockets are rusty as well. but I'm going to use these for now until I can get on the bike and see if/how much I want to change the gearing. i'llprobably have to go up some teeth to get enough go juice, but I've only ridden my sister's stock 02 250r so I don't know how well that will compare to this one once I get it tuned.
where can you get the swing arm links for the new shock? that sounds like a good idea. that honestly slipped my mind, I was focused on getting the front end back together I didn't think about upgrading the rear.

on the topic of front suspensions, I was on the phone with the guys at Race Tech today. and he brought up the idea of putting an emulator on this puppy. do any of you have experience with these? he quoted me at $170, that'll be pushing the price range for getting these forks right. would the performance increase be worth it. I've already looked into inverted forks for this thing, which is what I'm leaning towards. if not for a huge performance increase just for the stouter fork tubes, my dad thinks these teeny fork tubes will be over stressed with me riding them, good brakes+good tires+stiff springs+skinny fork tubes+heavy rider=lots of torsion while going around corners. Not the ideal suspension. let me know what you guys think!

There shouldn't be any clearance issues as woodcraft clip ons have risers. If you choose to lower them some people cut the plastics away to suit them better.

No mods to the airbox allowed, it must be stock. Simple solution for more power... don't slow down

Racers either use a Supercorsa SC1 110 front and Diablo Rosso II rear or a set of Bridgestone slicks. At least out here.

The dogbone linkages I bought from a forum member here that custom fabricated them (rexbo) but I don't think he does that any more. There are threads around here that detail the measurements required.

Like the airbox, anything other than stock fork tubes will be illegal in superstock racing. Emulators are a good idea I think, they seem to give better feel up front. I am 6' 200 lbs (your size, I think?) and also have the .75 (maybe .8 I don't remember) springs and the emulators. Feelsgoodman.jpg

[Somchai]

Originally Posted by NINJosh.

I've been told that there are clearance issues running clips-ons with the stock plastics? is this true?

You shouldn't have clearance issues when using Woodcrafts, my setup is: Woodcraft Clip-ons with 10mm Riser-Spacer - 25mm inside, 50mm deeper, 30mm more forward compared to stock and the angle is 25° back. With this setup I don't have probs.

[mgentz]

.75 is not enough for a 200 lb rider. I know.....

[Ausoi]

Originally Posted by NINJosh.

just so we're all clear here, the handle bars are perfectly straight in this photo and no, the wheel is NOT...

I can't tell but they don't look like they are bent, if they are you will have to replace them. If they are still straight just do this ----->

the fix is pretty simple, just loosen everything on the front fork and run the front wheel up against something while you're on the bike and hold the front brake. It took me 3 tries but I finally got my wheel and handlebars straight. $900 isn't that bad I payed $1200 for mine.

As far as clipons get the woodcraft ones or these: http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=102742 on the cheap.

[NINJosh.]

i pulled the forks off today and took a good look at the frame and triple trees.
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the right fork came out easily enough but the left one was a pain. i ended up having to use a small pry bar to open the fork clamps up to get it out.
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however it looks like the fork scored the inside of the clamp on it's way out. i'll try filing it down first but i might end of having to get another one.
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other than that they don't seem to be crooked.
the wheel seems pretty straight but i know the rotor is bent, it binds in the caliper at the same sport every turn. the axle bolt looks good and the bearings are smooth.
once i got the forks off i pulled out my flashlight and started going over the frame.
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the seat carrier is a little tweaked. o well.
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but the swing arm seems dead level. this picture actually makes it look a little skewed but it's pretty even. it looks like the rear tire got twisted in the swing arm when it went down though, the adjustment cap is missing off the left side.

however, going over the frame i hit two spots that caught my attention.
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the truss between the frame member and the upper seat carrier is pinched.
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the powder coating is cracked out and rusting and the truss or gusset whatever you want to call it is bent out slightly.
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the second point is the cross member between the two frame rails.
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the powder coat is chipped which i'm not worried about, but see how the left side is higher than the right? it's very subtle but to me that indicates a pretty severe impact to not just bend the first joint it came to but also kink the second one too. here's another look
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so i'm left with a predicament...

option A
i leave it the way it is and hope the frame weld underneath the gusset is strong and intact. (to this option i say if the factory put the gusset on the frame there it's probably a stress point and it probably needs to be there to support the joint. and right now, it's compromised and not doing what it should.)

option B
i cut the gusset off, check the frame weld, take the powder coat off in the area, weld a new gusset on, and paint it all black. i'm not going to pay the money to re-poweder coat the frame so that's the best fix available.

option C
buy a new frame/ bike.

what do you guys think about this, do any of you have any pictures of your frame cross member?! is it the same or is it straight? it would be pretty poor to put all this time into this bike and have the frame crack halfway around a corner at 100mph. could make for a bad day. but is it really worth pulling that off for a little kink and some rust?

[NINJosh.]

Originally Posted by mgentz

.75 is not enough for a 200 lb rider. I know.....

damn, really?
i just called the guys at race tech to double check and the guy said .72 for street and .76 for track. so it was either .75s or .8s the guy said he thought 8s would be to stiff... so i stayed with the 75s.
i'm actually 190, but i figure with clothes and a helmet i'm a little more. guess i'll just have to loose the clothes!

[NINJosh.]

Originally Posted by Ausoi

I can't tell but they don't look like they are bent, if they are you will have to replace them. If they are still straight just do this ----->

the fix is pretty simple, just loosen everything on the front fork and run the front wheel up against something while you're on the bike and hold the front brake. It took me 3 tries but I finally got my wheel and handlebars straight. $900 isn't that bad I payed $1200 for mine.

As far as clipons get the woodcraft ones or these: http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=102742 on the cheap.

unfortunately they are. i didn't take a good picture of it before i took them off but the wheel was crooked AND stuffed up into the bike. like the guy must have ran it into the tire of a parked semi right in front of him...
here's them off the bike though!
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thankfully i got new ones on the way! $50 bucks on ebay!

[NINJosh.]

and the parts have started rollin' in.
first up, Leo Vince GP Corsa exhaust.
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packing was nice. what you'd would expect from a manufacturer. the first thing i noticed when i picked the box up was how light it was. even with all the packing material (cardboard and plastic, but still! ) the box was extremely light.
the parts are wonderful. the welding is jewelry, the hangers, the bevels, the spring loops, the joints.

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the actual silencer is wonderful. the carbon fiber looks great and it cannot weigh but a lb or 2.
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the directions are really only one page and they're in Italian.
but let's be honest, it's an exhuast, how hard is it really?
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so far so good. can't wait to hear what it sounds like!

[NINJOSH'S#1FAN]

everything youre doing is amazing. i am in love with this build. keep going.... and definitely try and get some shots of you in those pictures....

[mgentz]

^ :confused

[NINJOSH'S#1FAN]

hes a friend of mine... i was just trying to mess with him lol

[JohnnyBravo]

[mgentz]

Originally Posted by NINJosh.

damn, really?
i just called the guys at race tech to double check and the guy said .72 for street and .76 for track. so it was either .75s or .8s the guy said he thought 8s would be to stiff... so i stayed with the 75s.
i'm actually 190, but i figure with clothes and a helmet i'm a little more. guess i'll just have to loose the clothes!

I had emulators and .75 springs at first. This setup allowed me to bottom out the forks often and hard. Even with the firm emulator spring cranked in.

Now I have a custom setup from Ed Sorbo at Lindemann Engineering and it rarely bottoms. When it does it is not harsh and only when hitting large sharp edged bumps at high speeds. I love this setup and could not expect more from a damper rod fork.

Good luck with your build. Plenty of us have experience so ask if you have issues. As for the frame problem, I don't think that piece should be angled.

[NINJosh.]

Originally Posted by mgentz

I had emulators and .75 springs at first. This setup allowed me to bottom out the forks often and hard. Even with the firm emulator spring cranked in.

Now I have a custom setup from Ed Sorbo at Lindemann Engineering and it rarely bottoms. When it does it is not harsh and only when hitting large sharp edged bumps at high speeds. I love this setup and could not expect more from a damper rod fork.

Good luck with your build. Plenty of us have experience so ask if you have issues. As for the frame problem, I don't think that piece should be angled.

hmm. and you weigh about 200? that sucks. the guy was pretty adamant about not going up anymore he thought they would be too stiff. well i'm interested to see how they ride. i also purchased a GSXR600 rear shock today on ebay for $38. so that should help stiffen up the rear. can't wait till the rest of these parts get here!

[mgentz]

I weighed 190 at the time....yikes

[NINJosh.]

Originally Posted by mgentz

I weighed 190 at the time....yikes

bummer. well we'll see how they turn out. i don't plan on racing this one forever so if it's a little off oh well. thanks man!

[NINJosh.]

I removed the Carburetors today so i'll be ready when my Jet kit gets here.
at first i tried to remove them without messing with the airbox but this was just stupid. and frustrating. so instead i pulled the battery box and the ONE bolt holding the airbox to the frame
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the bolt hole is right in the center of the picture on the left side of the airbox.
and the whole thing just slid back 2 inches and the carb boots popped right off.
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loosen both straps on the left carburetor boot and just pull it out completely to give the carbs room to come out, the right boot you can just loosen on the carburetor.
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[NINJosh.]

Took the countershaft cover off this morning. the two alignment pins were so seized i though i was missing another bolt to take out.
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it ended up taking me about 20 minutes with a rubber mallet, a pry bar, and some patience just wiggling it back and forth. ridiculous.

the sprockets are both pretty rusty but the teeth don't look too dished out. i'll keep em for a while. the chains gotta go!
also, pulled the bent kickstand and the kickstand switch today. i just unclipped the switch from the wiring harness, does anybody know if the bike will run like this or do i need to put the plug back in and connect the wires to close the circuit? not really a big problem, just curious.

[Trailerboy531]

Gonna have to close the circuit homie.

[mgentz]

^yep

[NINJosh.]

not entirely sure where i left off. or what direction i was going in. the holidays put a quick hold on all my projects. gotten a little work done here and there but nothing significant. HOWEVER. all my parts are in so things should go pretty quickly from here on out. i have a track day coming up on the 2nd and i want to be ready for it. so without much ado.
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i cleaned and jetted and drilled out the idle air screws on my carbs. i could have sworn i took photos of this process but this is the only one i can seem to find. oh well, it was a big bucket full of carburetor parts and lots of dish soap and carb cleaner. you know what that looks like. i replaced the main jet with a 110K the needle is on the 3rd clip with 2 washers i believe. and i replaced the pilot jet with a 40k. we'll see how she runs once i get my new key from kawasaki. HA! i bought a bike without a key. what an idiot.
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carbs are back in the bike.
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patched up the wiring to the ignition switch and the starter relay and kill switch. the previous owner cut them open to see if the bike would run instead of ordering a new key. he also. cut them like 3" from the ignition so it was impossible to stagger the barrel crimps. now i have this giant bundle right up next to the ignition hopefully none of the connectors break with the turning of the handlebars. oh well. could have turned out worse.
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earlier i had discussed concern over a weld joint on my frame being cracked and whether or not i should weld it up. i chipped the powder coating off to get a better look at it and the metal looks to be tip top. it was just stress cracks in the coating. i'm not very worried about this anymore.

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i also was advised to look into replacing my triples due to how bent my forks were so i delved into taking a better look at them. using a flashlight one night out in my garage you can clearly see how tweaked the lower triple is. starting with the flashlight above and pointing down into the tube holes and moving the flashlight down in front of the triple you can see how the shadow of the front edge cast onto the back of the tube holes is uneven and you can see MUCH more of the inside of the right side.
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so alas. new triples it is.
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i got a new/used lower off ebay for something like $30. if came with a stem and a lower bearing race already pressed on it which was perfectly fine with me. after a little inspecting i decided to use the new races for the bike, they look great. you can see in this picture that the shadows on the fork tube holes are dead even, this makes me pretty happy.
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i put a walmart bag under the stem when i pulled it out. this made sure i didn't loose any bearing balls. wouldn't want that. i've heard of people just pulling them out and then trying to catch all of them or going looking afterwards. i like my idea better.
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pull the stem straight down and put the whole thing right in the bag to make sure you don't miss anything.
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put a ziploc at the bottom of the stem housing and then just knocked all the balls down the hole.
i pull the rest out of the walmart bag and transfered them to the ziploc to count em up. i counted 37. did a double take. got super pissed off. and then looked back in the walmart bag and found two more stuck to the side. good day.

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cleaned the races all up for inspection. the races in the stem, which were the original ones seemed to have a little discoloration at intervals like the balls were wearing into them from vibration. but i couldn't feel any denting or damage. seems good to me. the new races that came with the stem were gorgeous. i don't see any harm in mix-matching the bearing parts like this, correct me if i'm wrong. but everything seemed smooth enough and that's what i felt was important.

greased up the lower races for each bearing and stuck the balls on.
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packed a little more grease on top there
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shoved it in and bolted her up.
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i'm still waiting on a spanner wrench in the mail so i haven't torqued the stem, set the bearings, or tightened the top nut. everything is just on there hand tight.
tomorrow it's time for the forks. new seals, springs, spacers, and preload adjusters.