newer motor vs fixing the old

[sombo]

Ok, here's the situation (my parents went away on a weeks vacation.... oh wait, wrong situation lol)

My 1994 ninjette needs some work. Some of these things are non-issues as they are easy fixes that a monkey could do. Some on the other hand are down to the core of the bike: the motor.

Here's what she needs:
cam chain replaced ($700+ in labor alone)
carb re-tuning
18k mile servicing
the bolts at the exhaust ports for the manifold replaced with 2 needing drilled out and possibly re-tapped
Total cost estimate at a professional shop would be over $1000

However, my local ninjetters gave me an idea and an option:
by a newer used motor and they would help do the transplant (minimum price on ebay is $650 for a 250 motor with shipping)

So my question is, which would be the better option as far as cost and reliability. I don't want to offend any of my local ninjetters, but the fact is I just met you and don't know your past mechanical skills. I am trusting you with a BIG job that I can't afford to go wrong. So please don't take offense to me being a little skittish about this whole deal.

[RSman]

It looks like cost alone would warrant the purchase of the newer motor. Best of luck!

[Snake]

I would recommend going with the newer engine swap. My reasoning is that with the age of your current motor the chances are very good that even after you have it fixed something else will break down. Just MHO.

[caps]

Put a 500 engine in it!

[Bosgarage57]

I'd recommend shoping around for a new bike, you can buy a good pregen for about $1000 (thats what I gave for mine and my girl did as well) That way you will have a parts bike as well. If you wanted to work on it and get it running then you can do that as well.

[oroboros]

Originally Posted by Bosgarage57

I'd recommend shoping around for a new bike, you can buy a good pregen for about $1000 (thats what I gave for mine and my girl did as well) That way you will have a parts bike as well. If you wanted to work on it and get it running then you can do that as well.

This is a great suggestion and having a parts bike would be nice.

If its just the original question that you are considering... I'l chime in with going for the motor swap. It's a hell of a lot easier to swap out motors than it is to dive into and rebuild one. I learned this with my cars. Had a vehicle with an interference engine and the top end got wiped out by a bad timing belt. Spent $$ on rebuild parts and the machine shop work. After 6 months the bearings on the water pump failed and I was back to same situation. Top end was fried. I found a used motor from a junk yard (less than 40K miles for $500) and swapped that mother in a day.

[sombo]

Originally Posted by Bosgarage57

I'd recommend shoping around for a new bike, you can buy a good pregen for about $1000 (thats what I gave for mine and my girl did as well) That way you will have a parts bike as well. If you wanted to work on it and get it running then you can do that as well.

Not in my area you can't it seems. I browse CG almost daily and there are very few pregens for sale. Even the cheapest ones would be more expensive than either option and would still require me to do a lot of parts swapping because of how my current one is setup. The one I have now has been quite modified and I like how it's been modified:

flush mounted front turn signals
integrated rear turn signals
rear fender eliminated
rear EX250-J shock
progressive springs in forks
2-1 yoshimura exhaust (being replaced with the Area P gb setup soon)
jetted carbs

So in the end it would just be easier and cheaper to do an engine swap or repair.

[Jesse8931]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/09-Ka...Q5fAccessories

I would offer 1k shipped and then do the swap to the 500

[bluepoof]

Originally Posted by sombo

Ok, here's the situation (my parents went away on a weeks vacation.... oh wait, wrong situation lol)

I have no advice about the engine but, dammit, now that song is stuck in my head.

[CZroe]

I'm in need of an expensive valve service and I'm at 24K miles and about to cross the country, so I'm considering the same thing.

[bluepoof]

Originally Posted by CZroe

I'm in need of an expensive valve service and I'm at 24K miles and about to cross the country, so I'm considering the same thing.

What's wrong with your valves at only 24K? That seems really early for a repair job to the extent of considering replacing your entire engine.

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by bluepoof

What's wrong with your valves at only 24K? That seems really early for a repair job to the extent of considering replacing your entire engine.

Nothing's wrong AFAIK, unless severely delaying factory recommended service has caused damage. Unlike the previous gen, valve services are just expensive on the current generation. So much so that I've only been able to afford ONE when I should have had THREE by now. I can't find a place in SoCal willing to do it under $500. I've seen several engines sell for far less than that. If I pay the same after labor, why not chose the option that gets me a lower mileage engine? The OP only has 18K on his.

[TeamGreen]

Originally Posted by CZroe

Nothing's wrong AFAIK, unless severely delaying factory recommended service has caused damage. Unlike the previous gen, valve services are just expensive on the current generation. So much so that I've only been able to afford ONE when I should have had THREE by now. I can't find a place in SoCal willing to do it under $500. I've seen several engines sell for far less than that. If I pay the same after labor, why not chose the option that gets me a lower mileage engine? The OP only has 18K on his.

Where have you been taking it? I just had my valves done for about $270.

[kkim]

Originally Posted by TeamGreen

Where have you been taking it? I just had my valves done for about $270.

if your bike is green, you get a discount... if it's blue, they charge you extra.

and back to the OP... who's to say the engine you install won't have something wrong with it that you'll have to pay to fix?

I'd say, sell your present bike and pick up a good used bike in the process. Move all the mods on your present bike over to the new bike.

[alex.s]

here's another solution: fix the engine yourself.

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by TeamGreen

Where have you been taking it? I just had my valves done for about $270.

$500+ is the quote from Fun Bike Center and House of Motorcycles/Kawasaki. The other local Kawi dealer closed down a day or two after they did my first and only valve service in 2009 for ~$350. They said that everything was in spec but I suspect that they didn't do it at all.

After that, I asked around at local places like Stark Cycles and they all looked in their manuals and gave me the same price: Labor rate (~$70 and hour) times Kawasaki's estimated hours in the service manual + parts = $500+ for the full service. Though I'd undoubtedly want the full service if I'm about to cross the country, the cost for the valves only is still always over $300. I even offered to take all the fairings off to speed things up but they say it wouldn't make a difference. I'm not confident removing the airbox myself but I have been told that it makes it much easier/faster to remove the coolant reservior when servicing the valves, so I'd like to get some help with that on a tech day (silly reason to remove it, I know. I'm totally cool with keeping it otherwise). I could probably save a bit more by getting all the parts and supplies myself (gaskets, sprak plugs, coolant, etc) but I don't have time to do my usual "long term" bargain-hunting (it's a waiting game). I can do the oil change myself, at least. I have a slow coolant leak too and it's well past time to flush the coolant, but I don't want to be responsible for air in the system and other such things. I am not a mechanic! I don't even own a drill.

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by kkim

if your bike is green, you get a discount... if it's blue, they charge you extra.

and back to the OP... who's to say the engine you install won't have something wrong with it that you'll have to pay to fix?

I'd say, sell your present bike and pick up a good used bike in the process. Move all the mods on your present bike over to the new bike.

Who's to say the second bike wouldn't be just as likely to fail as the second motor? That said, mileage is a good indicator that the second motor may be less likely to have a failure in the same time frame, so I guess "mileage" is "to say." *shrug* Well, you asked.

[kkim]

If the bike is running, there are tests you can do to determine engine health. With a used bike, you can at least see the bike run. Buying a used engine without seeing it run/tested is a total crapshoot.... you asked.

also, the PO of the used engine could have ignored doing valve adjustments way past their due date... most do due to finances.