Ninja 250 Streetfighter Build

[Proteus]

Thought I'd start a build thread while I turn my bike into a streetfighter over the winter. (I was hit in a hit and run that damaged one side, and then someone knocked my bike over on the other side while parked).

Last night I started tearing everything off. Got all the plastics off, gauges, lights, and fender. I’m digging the transformation already.

Here’s the plan, like everyone else I’m trying to do this as cheaply as possible.

Need to bend the clutch lever back, I bent it enough to ride home after I got hit but it’s still a bit angled
Hide all the ugly wiring
Replace coolant reservoir with a canister
Headlight – Going to see how it looks using the stock headlights to start
Gauges - Would like to keep the stock gauges but build them into individual cans
Taillight – Will try to reuse the stock light
Have to figure out the turn signals
Replace the bars with some clip-ons
Bar-end mirrors
New grips and shorty levers
Throw some green reflective rim tape on the wheels

I’m not sure what to do with the seat/tail/passenger seat. I really like chopped short seats but I like to take my wife on the back as well so it will probably stay. I’d love to get more of the pre-gen style single long seat because the two seats will look odd without the rear plastics.

I’ll either do a slip-on or a full exhaust depending on $. I love undertail exhausts or motoGP-style where it’s short and sits under the engine. Is that possible on a 250? I’ve never seen one before but think it would be cool. Probably easier/cheaper than undertail.

I was thinking about mounting small storage boxes on the ugly fuel tank brackets. Kind of like small ammo boxes, saddlebags on the front. I saw someone else’s build on here where he mounted a coolant reservoir canister and something else on them and it looked cool.

I’ve seen a few bikes that had Kawi-green chains that looked awesome. Might look into that as well.

I spent a while tearing everything off last night. It’s weird to wrench in your house! Going to try to sell everything I tore off if I can to finance the build.

If anyone is interested in fairing pieces or other parts let me know.

As of right now, I have:

-Right side fairing, a couple of scratches but good shape
-Left side fairing, turn signal hole and scratches, probably not worth anything?
-Front fairing, couple of scratches
-Front fairing bracket, I cut the square wire parts that route cables to remove it without draining and taking off the fuel tank
-Inner fairing
-Windshield
-Rear right fairing in perfect shape
-Chopped fender assembly with license plate light
-Rear turn signals
-One front turn signal
-One front turn signal wiring and holder, missing the bulb and plastic
Probably more to come.



Before shot and progress pics.

[Proteus]

I zip-tie mounted the stock headlight to the forks to see how it will look. I think it's got exactly the look I'm going for, just have to figure out a permanent bracket.

I cleaned everything on the left side up with a rag and toothbrush and hid the electrical wires on that side. Will do the same on the other side. I'm digging the industrial tube frame look on the back and will probably leave all the plastics off.

Still have to figure out the gauges.

I've been looking at clipons, bar ends, and grips and man are they expensive! Looks like it will be around $250-$300 for clipons, bar ends, and grips. Need to see if I can find something cheaper.

[LittleRedNinjette]

[Alex]

[Proteus]

Haven't made much progress with this as I'm starting finals week for school.

I think I've decided against a trailtech vapor and would like to use the stock gauge cluster because I don't really want to splice into the wiring harness and deal with all of that.

I should be able to mount the stock gauge cluster on the same bracket as my light to sit right in front of the triple clamp. My plan is to add a fly screen to hide the ugly back.

I'm not coming up with much looking for 250 fly screens. Ideally I'd like something that comes to a point to tuck on top of the light. I think maybe the street triple fly screen would work? They're pretty pricey though. Anyone know of any others that would work?

[SPNinja]

Keep us posted, interested in doing this to mine one day.

[Proteus]

I finally got everything put back together and got back on the road this week.

I ended up reusing mainly stock parts and stuff from work (I work in industrial supply).

Mounted stock headlight with some loop clamps and brackets. I bought a Dart Manta windscreen that I was planning to use but ultimately it didn't match the look I was going for. (If anyone wants it let me know).

Hard-wired my old GPS for my speedometer and odometer, mounted it on the triple clamp bolt. It's working pretty well so far, no problems at all!

Front turn signals are LED trailer lights from Autozone, rears are stock. Waiting for the electronic flasher relay to get them blinking.

Made a rear mount for the license plate and rear signals and put LED strip lights under the tail. I ended up mounting the stock tail light upside down without the fairing bits around it.

Made my bar-end mirrors out of a blind spot mirror and swivel pivot from an inspection mirror that I got from work. They work pretty well, I have literally no blind spot with them but I kind of wish I didn't have to look slightly down to see them. Plasti-dipped the back as well as my coolant overflow and gas tank connector.

Made a radiator cover from some wire cloth from work and mounted up my Freeway Blaster horn (it's super loud and awesome).

I think that's about it - I didn't end up getting clip-ons and I'm actually glad I didn't for my daily commute. It's running well and I've been having a blast riding the last few days now that the weather is finally nice here.

I was able to sell some of the parts I stripped off on ebay and new stuff was pretty cheap so it ended up being a $0 net build. I'll probably always be a bit of a WIP, I'm thinking about a slip-on next.

It's a very different experience riding without a front fairing or windscreen. I understand now what everyone was saying about constant wind vs. buffeting. I feel like I'm flying without anything in front of me!

Here's some pics and a few instagrammed glamor shots that I like quite a bit.

[Proteus]

I have more pics but they were posting sideways and it's time for dinner.

[crazymadbastard]

Looking good.

[Proteus]

More pics

[MrAtom]

Way to make the best out of a bad situation Looks a lot nicer than stock, in my opinion.

[Proteus]

I'm going to order some new rubber today as the IRC's are getting pretty squared off and have over 6k on them. Going with the BT-45's in the stock sizes.

[alex.s]

i liked my 45s when i was commuting on them. not a bad tire. though people keep saying these new michelins last 20k miles if you're nice to them.... i wonder how true that is

[Proteus]

Commuting is my main use so that's good to hear! Hoping for something more confidence-inspiring.