2006 250 Ninja Motor Swap UTV

myates92 · March 24th, 2021, 08:58 PM

Backstory:

One of the neighbor kids had brought over an old go-kart frame and a wrecked ninja, wanting help with getting the motor swapped into the go-kart frame. I don't think he quite understood the amount of time and money doing a swap like that could take! After both the bike and go-kart sat around in the garage for about six months, I finally talked him into selling me the bike for $75. I had a perfect candidate for the motor sitting back behind my shop, an old UTV we used at the farm for shoveling horse sh!t out of the barn. It was almost like it was made for the ninja motor, and is going to be a pretty big upgrade over the old worn out V-twin Briggs it had. I really haven't run into any issues with mounting the motor itself. Fit like a glove! Once I got the motor mounted, I had the electrical harness ahead of me. Fast forward about a year and the birth of my twin boys later... my wife is onto me about getting that thing out of the shop!

Present:

I just recently finished up fitting the old bike harness to the UTV. Everything that was on the bike electrically functions on the UTV. I ran into some issues with getting the starter solenoid to close. I had ran the neutral switch for the transaxle in series with the neutral switch on the ninja motor. I could ohm to ground through the switch on the transaxle but wasn't ohming to ground through the switch on the motor. Pulled it out, cleaned it up, put it back on and just like that, the motor turns over! (Had to short the kick-stand switch and the clutch switch too, will fix the clutch switch later). I also had an issue with the turn signal circuit. The ninjas turn signal circuit and brake light circuit use separate bulbs. I had ordered a set of Jeep tail lights to mount to the bed of the UTV. Problem is, the LED bank for the turn signal and brake light are the same. I ended up having to use a set of DPDT relays to get that to work right with the on-off-on switch I was using for the turn signals. (pic of schematic in album on my profile).

Current Issues:

-The carb that came off the bike is in less than ideal condition. Is missing the fitting for the main fuel line to go into the carb (looks like some kind of press fit fitting, no threads in the port on the carb body {KEI HIN CVK}). The carb and the fuel tank sit at relatively the same height, so gravity feed is kind of not an option? There is some sort of diaphragm housing on the side of the carbs.. Is this some kind of vacuum fuel pump? Need to figure out how to incorporate some sort of vacuum ..or electric.. fuel pump and regulator to feed this thing. Need to figure out how to make a control cable for the gas pedal and the choke... Might run into jetting issues with using little K&N airpod filters, wasn't enough room for the stock airbox.

-Need to find someone capable of making a set of exhuast pipes for this motor... was going to use the original pipes and run them down through the frame and under but might have some clearance issues with the muffler installed... It will be easier to run them out the side and to the back...

-Need to mock up a linkage system for shifting.. shouldn't be to hard, just haven't made it to that yet...

-BRAKES!! The old UTV has brakes, but they barely worked when it was running and moving at the speed of smell... they definitely won't cut with this ninja motor powering it! Thought about figuring out a way to find another front ninja caliper and mounting the up to use them. I'll have to figure out the fitting needed to run new lines and probably mount a new master cylinder.

Future:

After all that, I should have a fully functional Ninja 250 swapped UTV!

I have an Album of pics on my profile here, if anyone wants to check out the progress. Thanks!

March 24th, 2021, 08:58 PM	#1
myates92 ninjette.org member Name: Michael Location: Vine Grove KY Join Date: Mar 2021 Motorcycle(s): 2006 Kawasaki Ninja, Haulmaster Huskee UTV Posts: 19	2006 250 Ninja Motor Swap UTV Backstory: One of the neighbor kids had brought over an old go-kart frame and a wrecked ninja, wanting help with getting the motor swapped into the go-kart frame. I don't think he quite understood the amount of time and money doing a swap like that could take! After both the bike and go-kart sat around in the garage for about six months, I finally talked him into selling me the bike for $75. I had a perfect candidate for the motor sitting back behind my shop, an old UTV we used at the farm for shoveling horse sh!t out of the barn. It was almost like it was made for the ninja motor, and is going to be a pretty big upgrade over the old worn out V-twin Briggs it had. I really haven't run into any issues with mounting the motor itself. Fit like a glove! Once I got the motor mounted, I had the electrical harness ahead of me. Fast forward about a year and the birth of my twin boys later... my wife is onto me about getting that thing out of the shop! Present: I just recently finished up fitting the old bike harness to the UTV. Everything that was on the bike electrically functions on the UTV. I ran into some issues with getting the starter solenoid to close. I had ran the neutral switch for the transaxle in series with the neutral switch on the ninja motor. I could ohm to ground through the switch on the transaxle but wasn't ohming to ground through the switch on the motor. Pulled it out, cleaned it up, put it back on and just like that, the motor turns over! (Had to short the kick-stand switch and the clutch switch too, will fix the clutch switch later). I also had an issue with the turn signal circuit. The ninjas turn signal circuit and brake light circuit use separate bulbs. I had ordered a set of Jeep tail lights to mount to the bed of the UTV. Problem is, the LED bank for the turn signal and brake light are the same. I ended up having to use a set of DPDT relays to get that to work right with the on-off-on switch I was using for the turn signals. (pic of schematic in album on my profile). Current Issues: -The carb that came off the bike is in less than ideal condition. Is missing the fitting for the main fuel line to go into the carb (looks like some kind of press fit fitting, no threads in the port on the carb body {KEI HIN CVK}). The carb and the fuel tank sit at relatively the same height, so gravity feed is kind of not an option? There is some sort of diaphragm housing on the side of the carbs.. Is this some kind of vacuum fuel pump? Need to figure out how to incorporate some sort of vacuum ..or electric.. fuel pump and regulator to feed this thing. Need to figure out how to make a control cable for the gas pedal and the choke... Might run into jetting issues with using little K&N airpod filters, wasn't enough room for the stock airbox. -Need to find someone capable of making a set of exhuast pipes for this motor... was going to use the original pipes and run them down through the frame and under but might have some clearance issues with the muffler installed... It will be easier to run them out the side and to the back... -Need to mock up a linkage system for shifting.. shouldn't be to hard, just haven't made it to that yet... -BRAKES!! The old UTV has brakes, but they barely worked when it was running and moving at the speed of smell... they definitely won't cut with this ninja motor powering it! Thought about figuring out a way to find another front ninja caliper and mounting the up to use them. I'll have to figure out the fitting needed to run new lines and probably mount a new master cylinder. Future: After all that, I should have a fully functional Ninja 250 swapped UTV! I have an Album of pics on my profile here, if anyone wants to check out the progress. Thanks!