October 27th, 2020, 03:54 PM | #1 |
ninjette.org newbie
Name: Andy
Location: Fort Collins, CO
Join Date: Oct 2020 Motorcycle(s): 2006 Ninja 250, 1976 Honda Trail 90, 1977 Honda CB750 Super Sport Posts: 2
|
Saddest little Ninja in Fort Collins
Hello Everyone!
I’ve always wanted to wrench on and ride a Ninja 250 and now I have one! I also have a 1977 Honda CB750 Super Sport, and a 1976 Honda Trail 90. Both are great, but I wanted a fun, cheap, high MPG bike that can keep up with traffic on arterial toads better than my Trail 90 and is less of a handful than my cb750. I’ve always been blown away by the Ninja 250’s fuel economy, insane redline, great handling, chap consumables, and general mechanical toughness. So, I found mine. It’s a 2006 with 16k miles and was stolen from the P.O. about a year ago and recently recovered and returned to him after a police chase and minor crash. The bike was originally blue. The thief painted it green and then spray bombed it black; broke every lock on the bike; added a cheesy toggle switch to turn it on; and added a cheesy USB/cigarette lighter plug on top of the instruments that only fit when half the windscreen bolts are removed. The thief was a piece of work. He attached a plastic window cup holder to the front fairing with a drywall screw (wtf???). All of his electrical mods were done with wire nuts and blue wire stripped by human incisors. The shifter foot peg was broken in the crash and the belly pan was cracked in two. So, I dragged it home, transferred the title in my name and got to work. I put on a new (used) shifter foot peg, new ignition switch, and new speedo cable. I pulled the fairings and glued the belly pan together with ABS cement and built up some missing fairing pieces with bits of ABS sheet, artistically stuck together with yet more cement. I got it to run with a jump start, but it sounded really bad. I drained the filthy oil and cleaned the oil screen and it looked basically OK in there (just plastic grit from either the cam chain guides or clutch bushings and some barely visible bronze flakes that didn’t seem atypical for a bike whose oil is shared by the gearbox). So I pulled the valve cover to check valve clearances and found a slack cam chain (from a jammed tensioner) and a broken rocker arm. I bought a rocker arm from a friendly member here and can’t wait to see what happens when I get it all back together! I’m excited about getting it going again. I’m thinking of trying out putting on some really obnoxious vinyl wrap on the tank and fairings. I’m so excited that there is a forum like this that I can share the process with! |
|
October 27th, 2020, 04:14 PM | #2 |
User Title Free Since '12
Name: Floyd
Location: Barbados
Join Date: Dec 2010 Motorcycle(s): '10 Ninja 250R Special Edition Green Posts: A lot.
Blog Entries: 13
MOTM - Feb '12
|
Veloandy! Glad to have you aboard...
__________________________________________________
"Improvement makes straight roads, but the crooked roads without improvement, are roads of genius." — William Blake |
|
October 27th, 2020, 04:18 PM | #3 |
Guy Who Enjoys Riding
Name: Jim
Location: North Carolina
Join Date: Jul 2016 Motorcycle(s): Ninja 250 Posts: A lot.
MOTM - Oct '18, Aug '17, Aug '16
|
That's funny... when I got my 2005 250 it looked very nearly the same as yours. The owner had painted over the blue with black Plasti Dip. I had a fair amount of peeling and rubbing before I could start the body repairs, modifications, and painting.
Here is is after some trimming of plastic, but before the bodywork, and after. |
|
October 27th, 2020, 06:35 PM | #4 |
ninjette.org guru
Name: C
Location: Hawaii
Join Date: May 2011 Motorcycle(s): 250 Posts: 472
|
Welcome.
__________________________________________________
"It ended up being the loose nut behind the wheel" |
|
October 27th, 2020, 07:05 PM | #5 |
ninjette.org newbie
Name: Andy
Location: Fort Collins, CO
Join Date: Oct 2020 Motorcycle(s): 2006 Ninja 250, 1976 Honda Trail 90, 1977 Honda CB750 Super Sport Posts: 2
|
Thanks guys!
@Triple Jim I’m actually a fan of blitz black, but something has to be prepped properly for it to look good. Spray paint or plastidip over dirt (like our bikes came with) doesn’t cut it! ;-) Your bike looks awesome now! How’d you do it? Rattle cans? Spray gun? Pro job? I painted my cb750 with gloss black Krylon cans (after a ton of prep) and clear coated it with a 2K rattle can. It came out really well and has held up well for the last couple of years. |
|
October 27th, 2020, 07:21 PM | #6 |
Guy Who Enjoys Riding
Name: Jim
Location: North Carolina
Join Date: Jul 2016 Motorcycle(s): Ninja 250 Posts: A lot.
MOTM - Oct '18, Aug '17, Aug '16
|
Thanks Andy. I did this one using Dupli-Color lacquer spray cans with Spraymax 2K clear over it. I'll never use lacquer again though. It is everything I don't want in a paint... finicky to apply and totally non-durable. Gasoline dissolves it! The Spraymax 2K is doing a good job of protecting it though. It's the real thing.
By contrast, the Imron I put on my '72 H2 around 1979 still looks pretty good and is about as durable as it gets. |
|
October 27th, 2020, 10:34 PM | #7 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: AKA JacRyann
Location: Mesa, AZ
Join Date: Dec 2011 Motorcycle(s): CB125T CBR250R-MC19 CBR250RR-MC22 NSR350R-MC21 VF500F CBR600RR SFV650 VFR750F R1M ST1300PA Valkyrie-F6C Posts: A lot.
MOTY - 2018, MOTM - Nov '17
|
Greeting & Salutations Andy!!!
|
|
October 30th, 2020, 05:11 AM | #8 |
The Corner Whisperer
Name: Chris (aka Reactor)
Location: Northern KY
Join Date: May 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2010 250 (track), 1992 250, 2006 R6 (street/track), 2008 R6 (track) Posts: Too much.
MOTY 2015, MOTM - Nov '12, Nov '13
|
Welcome!
__________________________________________________
Goal: Shake A Million Hands | Look through the corners | Track Day Prep | Closest track? | The Mid-Ohio School |
|
November 17th, 2020, 07:09 PM | #9 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: Rick
Location: Alexandria, Louisiana
Join Date: Jan 2009 Motorcycle(s): 05 Blue Ninja 250 Posts: Too much.
MOTY - 2017, MOTM - Jan '19, Oct '16, May '14
|
Hello and welcome!
|
|
December 15th, 2020, 01:03 PM | #10 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: Kerry
Location: Ventura, CA
Join Date: Jan 2016 Motorcycle(s): Ninja650 Posts: A lot.
MOTM - Apr '18, Apr '17, Apr '16
|
Welcome!
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
[RoadRUNNER] - City Escape: Fort Collins, Colorado | Ninjette Newsbot | Motorcycling News | 0 | July 3rd, 2020 06:11 AM |
Ninja 250 at Fort Pillow,TN | memphisninja | Videos | 2 | October 21st, 2019 02:55 PM |
[RoadRUNNER] - City Escape: Fort Collins, Colorado | Ninjette Newsbot | Motorcycling News | 0 | January 19th, 2019 07:04 AM |
RIP Russ Collins | JeffM | General Motorcycling Discussion | 5 | May 17th, 2014 05:48 PM |
[motorcyclemonster] - Fort Collins, CO - Hogs and Rods for Horses Jul 12, 2014 | Ninjette Newsbot | Motorcycling News | 0 | May 8th, 2014 02:20 PM |
|
|