picked up a Suzi..

[ninja250]

Rode home a used GSXR 600 this afternoon.
Needs a few things here and there, but not too shabby.
Sounds nice and lots of power. First fuel injected bike!
Lots of miles too but price wasn't so bad.
Some tweeker went to town polishing the triple clamp too.
Need to adjust lots of stuff. Head play and new brakes etc.
Was told it had K&N air filter.
I don't see any frame damage and title was clean.
Needs mirrors, new front tire and legal blinkers. Has crappy integrated rear brake light. New battleaxe on the rear though which was a bonus.
Give me something to do.

[miks]

Nice pick up man, so whats going to happen to the 250R?

[ninja250]

She'll sit right there being ridden once a week until paid off and rebuilt!
Keeping her. She was my first bike to scrub knee. Have to keep it now.

Even though she has a bent frame she still drives around! Going to do a little solo camping and fishing off the back of the Ninjette any day now just to show her I still love her.

I don't even know what this GSXR been through. gotta rip the whole thing apart and find all the bad stuff.

I wish they didn't spraypaint the wheels but maybe can take that off with some alcohol.
Need to redo the brakes and front tire too then I'll be rockin' it.

Felt nice on the freeway. Got my lean on in the roundabout onroamps on the way home.

[alex.s]

nice bike. don't crash this one!

p.s., mind if i ask how much you picked it up for?

[Banzai]

Nice find, should make for a great weekend project bike.

[ninja250]

Must be crazy posting my price again but oh well. I'm crazy enough to do lots of crazy things.

I paid $4k for this bike.
You dont' usually find Suzuki's for very cheap.
5 years ago I paid 4k for a 1999 gsxr 600 too.

This here is a 2003.

It's been dropped a few times but has a full crash kit. Only thing that took the hit is upper fairing stay and engine cover.
Everything else look OK besides some paint issues and brakes. Prolly needs rotors and pads too.. might be a little spendy but not too bad.

Oh yeah it has some crazy HID bulbs too those are weird.

[adri99an]

I likey!! Looks HUGE!!!

If I wasnt married to my wonderful wife of 7 years with 2 kids, a house, a career as an educator---I'd be riding an R1......

When you gonna hit GMR with me so I can take her for a 5 minute spin? I may not come back though....lol

I need my brakes done soon---you got time?

[ninja250]

I have to do all kinds of work.
I missed a bunch of PM's the last few days while I did my bike search.
Let me know what needs to be done son! I can check for rotor wear and put new pads in no probs. I have extra dot4 if you need the brakes bleed to the new pads too.

Pads are cheap $25 for the HH EBC upgrade pads! If you get the right ones first.

Sorry people who sent PM's I'm heading there now~!
I gotta earn some money to buy me some parts too. lol

[Snake]

Great looking bike. I'm glad to see you are keeping the Ninjette.

[ninja250]

I like the little ninjette even though it put me in my place hard. lol

It is a good designed bike and easy to work on.

Expensive though in it's new form.

Well I only had about one question for my new fuel injected suzi and that was why the heck does it have a choke? was it really fuel injected?

Answer is yes..
and here's the explanation..
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...9105144AAZggNn

Hehe. Mine's the alstare special edition! Only 1500 made.

Looks like I can buy all the parts I need for it from cheapcycleparts.com just like the ninja.
Mirrors $50 ea
Front tire $100
$50 ea turn signals

Already found a list of stuff to adjust before I get to go ride it..
chain was way too tight and missing chain guard.

[backinthesaddleagain]

Good luck with the project. I guess SoCal is alot pricier than New England. I am seeing a ton of $4000 bikes (some at dealerships) with no drops, faily low mileage, in the 2000 - 2003 vintage. Actually just saw a fully serviced 2000 Duc M900 for 4,395 as well as a 2000 CBR600RR with 3xxx miles, and all orig for $4K.

[ninja250]

CBR's are a dime a dozen. Very common here.
Not sure about Ducs.

You're lucky to find a bike alive still out here at this age.

I think I saw a few Ducati monsters for fairly low out here. Not new though.

throw $1000 at this bike and a couple weekends work she'll be good as new.

[backinthesaddleagain]

You're lucky to find a bike alive still out here at this age.

Guess a 10 yr old RI bike is "newer" than a 10 yr old Cali bike due to our limited riding season.

[DEXSPEED]

nice ride,lakers color!

[sixer]

VERY SWAG- Nice find NIN!!!


I'm considering a 600GSXR myself gonna be a Corser Corona paint scheme to match my suit-

[CRXTrek]

Originally Posted by ninja250

For some reason i just remembered this

Link to original page on YouTube.




NICE BIKE

[ninja250]

Not too shabby at all once I get the plastics and crappy integrated tail light off.

Original estimate of $1000 to make it safe and mechanically and legally rideable again still stands. Parts have been researched and bookmarked.

Threw in a picture of the rotors I will try on it because of their price and they look crazy and the stock floating rotors are definitely floating. lol

Everything in the engine bay looks clean. No leaks discovered yet. Looks like they never changed the freakin oil though because the sight glass is practically blacked out. Dude gave me a bottle of oil with the bike that was 3/4 full like he actually did something to it but I know better by looking at how dirty the oil is dammit.









So I have a little list going and she will be sporty and legal again.

To make it run safe somewhat and legally on street I need:>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> $484
-------------------------------------------------------------
blinkers (x4) $38 each max cheapcycleparts.com
rear fender to mount blinkers to $97 cheapcycleparts.com
license plate light $20 (overestimate)
new tail/brake light housing $50-$75 cheapcycleparts.com
front tire $100 +$20 chaparral
mirrors $40 ebay, taiwan

To make it be able to stop on a dime and not vibrate I need:>>>>>>>>>>>>>>$450
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Front Rotors $350/pair ebay
front and rear brake pads $50-75 (source)
front master cylinder reservoir $40 cheapcycleparts.com (lookup actual price)
Engine mount bolts new $10

Would be pleasant to have these:>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
---------------------------------------------------
Carbon fiber chain guard $50 (stop chain lube from flying, same price as OEM) Eeeeeebay
brake levers $40 (aluminum anodized ebay jobbers)
"grips" $15
Rear fairing (big plastic expensive piece) $200-$500 (depends on where and paint)
carbon heel plates (to replace ugly dremeled heel plates) $17
carbon clamp cover (to cover ugly dremeled fork clamp) $30

Not too far off about what I figured. the new plastic tail isn't mandatory but would be nice since it's not original color. (Should be dark metallic purple)

I bent the fairing stay back into place. Once I get the mirrors and bolt them on they will hold the upper fairing on secure too even though it's a little cracked. the previous owner did a somewhat OK job glueing it back together.

[CC Cowboy]

Nice Alstars! I always liked that bike. It's kinda dated but that will make it a classic.

[BlueRaven]

You must have an extremely good paying job to afford these two project bikes.

[ninja250]

Eh they're a couple'a beaters. I can't dish all that out at once, but slowly as I get paid as would anyone else.
I figure in a year or so I'll sell them both and buy a brand spankin' new 750.
They should last me that long. I'll probably change my mind 50 times by then anyways.

No bike that I call mine and ride is a total piece though. It must work well in some way or another and not be a deathtrap like most people ride. Every bolt I can get my hands on has to be tight and secure.

I know I'm going to have to learn to do engines any time now messing with little bikes and their tiny motors too. I dread the day..

[adri99an]

Went up the canyon today.......when you gonna bring Suzi by...she's HOTTT

[ninja250]

Will be up there as soon as I make a few bucks to put this thing back together.
I haven't looked up what it weighs yet but it has to be about 100lbs more than the ninjette. I already tipped it over in the garage getting it into the stands and had a hell of a time picking it up. Caught me off guard when my foot stuck under the wheel of the stand while moving the stand forward with the bike in it. Will be making damn sure I don't dump it in the hills. Won't be able to pick it up again if it's tangled in a rail and I'm licking a wound.

I'll have it running faster than I think. I'm gonna pull that black CRX out of the garage and bolt the stereo and racing seats and nitrous back in and put it on craigslist for a couple thou for parts money while clearing up more room for bikes in the process.

Ps.. the old round GSXR's are saweet. Comfy too! It can be any color but it's the curves and the feel of these things.

Anyone every play "F'zero" and always pick the fat round racecraft? then you know what I mean.

[ninja250]

For reference..
Check out this dude's Alstare.
He even went the extra mile with the purple Corona decals and high-mount.
Beauty. Gives me some inspiration. Mine's quite a bit less attractive.

[JeffM]

KC. nice GSXR. I too am fond of some of the older, plumper, looking bikes.

[ninja250]

Well new shift pedal, mirrors and rear tail light/plate light combo on the way.
I broke the old clutch pedal trying to straighten it out (figures)

That leaves me needing a new tire, blinkers and grips. Then she's on the street.
After which, time to do the brakes.

I already flushed the entire rear brake system brake fluids and I could see they consisted of two different kinds of liquids. The rear brakes worked much better after the brake fluid flush. Also clean and lubed up the chain because it looks like it never has been. Under the sprocket cover was a nightmare in it's own.

Put my backup tender wire on the battery. Was surprised to find out it was seemingly in OK condition.

Changed the oil out too and now the oil in the sight glass looks like new cooking oil and clean.. and at the right level instead of overfull now too.

Got lots of work done on it but still a bit more to go before she's ready for some twisty roads.
Birthday coming up later this month, maybe I'll be lucky enough to have it finished by the end of the month.

I did get to ride it around the block naked. (The bike! Not me! lol) and it's very powerful and fast! It will love me after I give it some TLC.

[ninja250]

Lil more work done on 'ol yeller.

Spent last night adjusting the headset play and the fork measurements.

Then installed new engine mount bolts after using a hacksaw to chop off the old frame sliders because they had the socket buried in the plastic puck.

Also installed my new mirrors. They work great after replacing the hardware with quality hardware.

Tail light showed up. Scored it for $25 total on ebay versus $75 on cheapcycleparts.com. the old tail light mounts are broken on the rear plastic fairing so I either need to buy a new rear fairing now or bondo so new mounts on. Either that or screw the light to the subframe. I'm sorta reluctant to tap the subframe but it would work so easily and perfect. Still thinking there.

Took it around the block again. Starting to feel like a real bike now. Needs a chain guard to prevent the fresh lube job from flying everywhere next time I ride it!

Would have done the new tire already but had to order a special 24mm Allen key tool to remove the front axle. New tire will be done next week when the tool arrives. That leaves the blinkers and then I'm riding the 600 for a while!

Here's some more porn.


old crap


New bolt. Check out the damage the old frame slider did from the previous owners. No bent frame though luckly.












I like this angle even though the mirrors look funny and I have them tilted in a funny way. lol

[ninja250]

New folding clutch lever showed up. Looks more robust than I thought it would be which was a nice surprise. I noticed on the old shift pedal that I broke, the rivet for the link ball had come loose anyways so this will make things feel less sloppy in the shift area.


Also put in the order for $175 worth of stock OEM blinkers and their mounting hardware.

[Banzai]

Nice solid looking piece of hardware.

[ninja250]

Front rim tool came in the mail in two days flat! Gotta love ebay. Helping me rebuild this thing. lol

Going to get the tire done today.

Then I just need to figure out a way to mount the stock tail light, and need to wait for the OEM turn signals to show up.

I think I might need to buy a new rear tail fairing to hold the tail light. The tabs that hold the tail light housing are broken off from the tail fairing. I tried to screw it to the subframe last night but still didn't fit right. got a couple nice new tapped holes in my subframe now though.

Lots of work going into this thing. Hope it's worth it. Wonder if it's ever had it's valves adjusted or not. Will have to do that too eventually I guess. I have always heard the best time to do your valve adjustment is when you buy a new used bike.

New tires, grips, plate reflectors and oil/filter going on it today.
Wish me luck with the lights, they are driving me nuts right now trying to find mounting positions without the stock locations available.
I'll probabaly never buy used again like I already knew before I bought this bike but did anyway. who knows if every bolt on the whole bike is loose. I had/have to go over every single thing and found tons of loose stuff already.

Buying used is a bad idea if you aren't your own mechanic. These motorcycles are built like RC helicopters. If one tiny little thing goes wrong, it's all over. People ride them around without maintaining them at all like nothing will ever even happen.

Agh well at least I know what I'm doing. This thing will be ready as soon as the blinkers show up that should already be on their way, unless cheapcycleparts is lagging again. Also will probably spring for a new tail fairing. New carbon chain guard already coming too since the bike has no chain guard at all. I'm guessing someone raced this thing before by the way everything was stripped off it and the wear on the front tire when I got it. No wear in the middle, only on the sides. Like a race takeoff or something.

Getting new tire today, still need new rotors. surprisingly, the front brake pads were fine. It has to be the rotors causing the "bumpiness and uneven compression" when I apply the front brakes. Last part of the brake system that isn't new.


How I tried to mount my light without the tail fairing before I realized it wasn't going to work right when I put the fairing on.
The previous owner had the integrated tail light hung by zipties since the fairing light tabs were broken.
Probably just going to order a new tail fairing on ebay from which to hang the tail light.

[ninja250]

New Bt-016 tire on the front. It came with a 95% tread BT-021 on the rear.

Did new grips while I was at it. Some crazy Italian grips I've never heard of that the package claims are the bomb.

Oil change any day now, standing by.

Took it for a spin and all the rotors are shot. Those are next after mounting all the lights and signals!

Hard for me to tell if I got all the steering play out or not. I'm pretty sure I did but maybe still a little click there when I go down the driveway. Hard to tell because I can't take it out on the freeway yet without all the lights.



New Bt-016 almost same size as the ninja 250's.

[ninja250]

Also,
bidding on original front fender with original purple and yellow scheme.
Need to find an original rear tail fairing somewhere but that's a longshot. I think it's the first thing to hit the ground on this bike. She has hips! haha

[jonthechron]

i picked up a Suzi too last summer, but she was 100% synthetic silicone, yours i believe is oil filled

[ninja250]

Lol I don't have enough fast cars (only 1) , houses (only 2), motorcycles (only 2) or money (hmmm, or do I?) to afford those type of Silicon Suzi's you score. lol

I have to settle for the oil filled ones that don't talk back or treat me wrong until I'm yanking it (throttle) too hard/often.

P.S.. this Suzi talks through the gas tank just like the ninjette does. That little squeal to let you know she cares.
"fweeeeeeeeert!"

Man she's almost ready to ride. Some way to bolt the tail light into the fairing and those blinkers I'm waiting on and I get to wring her out a bit. Hopefully I don't highside from the funny bt-021 rear and bt-016 front tire combination. I'll have to keep my throttle hand in check coming out of the corners.

Needs the entire pads/rotors/bleed front and rear too before I'm happy to leave it alone for a bit and ride it to work every day.
Found a new rear rotor and pads for a total of $70 on ebay. Not bad. Front rotors vary a bit more it seems.

[ninja250]

Received my $175 in spankin' new OEM blinkers yesterday.
Removed the old front condensated flushmounts and slapped the new blinkers on the front.

All I need to do is get that tail light mounted and mount the rear blinkers somewhere. Will probably just drill a few holes instead of buying a new $100 rear blinker plate fender.

That leaves me needing:
rotors/pads/bleed job
levers
front wheel cowl with original decals (using repainted yellow ugly one now)
rear tail fairing with original decals. (using cracked repainted ugly yellow one now)
decals for upper fairing (have stock painted upper fairing, needs stickers to match bike)
Tune-up/valve adjustment (always assume you need this with a used bike)

But at least I can ride it around legally now until I obtain those parts.

I might even replace the HID's with stock normal bulbs too. I did manage to rewire those more suitably but still don't think I like them.

[ninja250]

Might actually be possible to get it back fairly close to it's stock form one of these days, plus a few carbon parts here and there.
The windscreen I have on mine needs to be swapped for a "taller" one too, or one more close to stock.

I actually saw one riding around the neighborhood the other day in better condition than mine while riding my 250R. (not the one in this pic I found online though)

Here's how they should look bone stock

[ninja250]

Oh baby! Finished making a mount for my tail light.
Working on the rear turn signal mounts now.

Bidding on original purple tail race cowl/cover.

Scored an original front fender on Ebay! Mint as it gets..
get rid of the painted and trimmed/crashed/cracked one that came with mine.




One day I'll have to get off my lazy butt and figure out how to clean the silver spray paint off the rims to make them gold again.

[ninja250]

Pics of the home made brake light mount.
Used two screws and some standoffs for the bottom mounting tabs and made some "rubber fingers" to hold the light in the fairing. Worked out pretty solid!
You can see inside the fairing where the old mounts broke off. Now the rubber fingers rest right where the old mounts broke. That should hold me until I replace the rear fairing with an original.








See I fit much better on a gsxr size wise.

[ninja250]

Spent the night last night mounting the blinkers until 2am and then woke up at 7am to go riding it. Hehe


Just won another piece of original Alstare plastics.
Purple tail fairing race cowl cover with original top half of the number plate stickers.

Along with the new front wheel cowl that is coming and this tail cowl, I need one more fairing piece left to have all original painted fairings on this bike.

Will post pics when they show up and I get them mounted.


I took the GSXR up to GMR with Adrian today too, to give it a test run. Five minutes down the road and it started pouring rain on me. Put at least 100-130mi on it today with no issues besides the fact that it started being reluctant to kick over later in the day. I think I'll just replace the battery and charging system now to prevent a break down in the future. Should be the last of the stuff I want to replace besides the brakes and those spiffy plastics coming from ebay.

Might need a few extra fairing screws now too.

Lots of power. Had it on one wheel today and leaned over 45*. Very fun but you better have some self control after coming from a Ninja 250R to one of these puppies.

Doesn't turn as good as the Ninja 250R but it's heavier and faster. I still like both bikes for different reasons. Gotta get to that Ninja frame soon too so they're both running top notch. Pics and vids from today's ride session coming up shortly in the ride reports section of the site.

[ninja250]

CF chain guard showed up.
Maybe new fairing pieces tomorrow.

[ninja250]

Here's the new front wheel cowl! In better condition that dude's photos would allow him to show.

Looks perfect!
I need to find/win the OEM tail firing now. (impossible?) OEM tail cowl on it's way..
This thing is gonna be sick.