Saving a ninja from a tarded owner

[7oxSin]

so thursday i bought me a 2003 250, this is my 2nd 250 and 3rd bike all together. i built my first 250 from scrap and i wanted something i could just buy and ride this time w/o having to break em down and fix ****. so picked him up with 6k miles on em and light body damage, for 1400 with a manta tank bag <3 and a full muzzy. ok so down to the meat, this poor bike was COVERED in *gulp* walmart 1990s barb wire stickers... every line and corner on the bike had barbwire stickers, the bike was also wired like some one packed strobe lights and wire into a shot gun and took a shot under the seat. it has also been painted a bright yellow and the original color was the standard yellow and on top of that the person painted the inside of the headlight yellow. thats not all the bad things the last owner did but ill mention others as they come up, and ill post pics soon. so far this is what i have done with 0$ and a few small things i had on hand:

• Sticker Removal
• Nail polish remover bath (for the sticker residue)
• Blinkers re wired into the tail
• Circumscribed the back fender
• removed back strobe crap
• re wired and moved improperly installed low profile front blinkers
• trimmed down the front blinkers to fit in the indention
• removed single leds from small custom blinkers
• touched up a bunch of chips with some spray paint
• took off 90% of custom vinyl words
• tented all lights on the bike (with spray tint that my lil bro gave me)
• removed all screws and sanded off any rust
• repainted screws black and reinstalled
• removed the dot 4 plate sanded the paint off of it and painted it yellow for the time being :P
• duct tape on the seat
• repainted parts of the handlebars
• rewired the front blinkers to work right with the small reflector blinkers
• and replaced screws that didnt match with spares i had around the shop

now im new here but i have been lurking for a while, and i know there are some very smart and crafty members here, so im hoping yall can help me with a thing or two:

(1) gap under the back of the seat sits up about and inch (checked frame and raised the back fairing, didnt help)

(2) there is a hole in the back of my full muzzy exhaust (was thinking about ways to patch it, im a sheet metal worker by day)

(3) and last but not least i have a pile of strobe lights with around 20 feet of wire and a few boxes, i was wanting to know if any one knew how to make them stay on so i could make a ghetto white glow kit. or if any one wanted to trade a white or green kit for a bunch of strobes lol.

Thanks for reading and thanks to the admins for making a place like this possible, ill check back in tomorrow morning wife will kill me if i stay up till 8 am working on the bike like i did the first night.

as i said before im going to post pics, im just waiting on some before pics the owner is suppose to send me.

Sorry for the lat pics, i lost all of my close up pics from before phones memory card crashed. here is what i have so far.

Before






those where all pics i had to have the old owner send me cuz i lost all of my before pics. the solid lines u see are barbwire -_-

here is all the wiring i took out i took out


and the muffler before


After

hit the muffler with Mothers mag and aluminum polish. cost, Free


replaced the brake and clutch levers. cost, 11$ and 10$ shipped



Tented all lights on the bike with VHT. Cost , Free




Chopped off the fender thingy to make my own fender eliminator kit. Cost Free


Used a wire wheel on a table grinder and took the paint off the brake fluid cap, then painted it yellow to match the bike until i paint it. cost, Free




Problems

Seat wont sit Flush, and has rips in it. if any NASHVILLE 250 owners have a seat that i can try out on the bike just to see if it sits flush i will pay u for gas to meet me, cuz i dont want to buy a new seat and it sits the same way.

[Racer x]

Aww come on. We want a before photo of that mess. Maybe a before and after photo.

Thank you for the rescue. People don't believe me . But it will not be long before you will not see first gen bikes cheep.

[the big mike]

And welcome to the forum

[7oxSin]

ok, pics are up, any one ever had that seat problem before? and how easy is it to reupholster the seat? i have used a staple gun and redone a few chairs before, is it any different? and if you have done it where to i get the material?

[Monkeytofu]

Originally Posted by 7oxSin

ok, pics are up, any one ever had that seat problem before? and how easy is it to reupholster the seat? i have used a staple gun and redone a few chairs before, is it any different? and if you have done it where to i get the material?

I've reupholstered mine with a thicker winter vinyl. I did it during the winter so it was a real bitch, but if you can heat up the vinyl outside for an hour or so or toss it into your dryer you should be good. You just have to take your time and work those corners or be lazy like me and live with the flaps. You can buy lots of cool vinyl a joanns but make sure to take some 40% off coupons from michaels because they will match them.

It should be a lot easier with a thinner marine vinyl if you're not worried about the cold. I just like to make life harder on myself. I can upload pics if you would like.

Edit: Is the paint banana yellow or is it just your camera? Kawasaki never ceases to surprise when it cam to color choices for this bike haha.

[7oxSin]

Originally Posted by Monkeytofu

I've reupholstered mine with a thicker winter vinyl. I did it during the winter so it was a real bitch, but if you can heat up the vinyl outside for an hour or so or toss it into your dryer you should be good. You just have to take your time and work those corners or be lazy like me and live with the flaps. You can buy lots of cool vinyl a joanns but make sure to take some 40% off coupons from michaels because they will match them.

It should be a lot easier with a thinner marine vinyl if you're not worried about the cold. I just like to make life harder on myself. I can upload pics if you would like.

Edit: Is the paint banana yellow or is it just your camera? Kawasaki never ceases to surprise when it cam to color choices for this bike haha.

i would love pics, and yes T_T it is banana yellow but it wasnt the original color. the bike originally was the yellow style but the previous owner took of the decals and painted it that banana yellow. i hate it lol, im going to repaint it gunmetal and green here over the next month or 2.

Ment to ask, how much did the vinyl run you and how much is the marine vinyl?

[Monkeytofu]

yhlU7.jpg

It's not exactly the most visually appealing seat cover, but it does the job and was better than then the previous cover which had at least 3 holes in it.

I used "arctic marine vinyl" which ran me about 14 dollars for a yard before the 40% coupon. Regular Marine vinyl will run you maybe 8 or so dollars a yard. Maybe cheaper if you get something plain like black with no special "exotic" faux animal leather styling.

I'm not sure if Michael's sells a nice range of vinyl, but I know Joann's does if you have one near you.

Looks like michael's has a 50% off coupon so if you take that in with you to Joann's they'll honor it and you just saved about 4 dollars.

http://weeklyad.michaels.com/stores/1304/coupons

Give it a shot, now that the weather is warm you'll probably do a lot better than I did. I'm thinking about adjusting mine if I finish with some other motorcycle related projects.

[7oxSin]

doesnt look bad, and i like the paint on ur bike. i just called a Joannes by my work and they have it for 14-19$ a yard. and ur right they will match that coupon so u ****ing rock!!! few questions:

did you leave the old cover on and just go over it?

How many yards did you need?

did you use a regular staple gun?

and how did it hold up against rain ect? (i keep my bike inside, just wondering)

[Monkeytofu]

Originally Posted by 7oxSin

did you leave the old cover on and just go over it?

Took it off, it'll come of with ease. Kawasaki uses a pretty weak adhesive spray on their seats since there isn't much pulling on the covers.

Originally Posted by 7oxSin

How many yards did you need?

You might be fine with 2/3rds of a yard, I think that's how much I used if I remember correctly. They'll show you how much a yard is before they cut it so just try and get a mental image of seat (or just bring it in with you haha) when you go to buy it.

Edit: Make sure to buy either Marine or Arctic vinyl (Thicker, treated for winter marine vinyl) as they are made for outdoor applications. Any normal vinyl materials will discolor and get damaged extremely quickly in the sunlight and outside environment.

Originally Posted by 7oxSin

did you use a regular staple gun?

I actually used a really crappy electric powered one with a air pump inside of it. I wouldn't recommend it especially if you decide to take the arctic vinyl. I think a normal staple gun attached a compressor should be good.

Originally Posted by 7oxSin

and how did it hold up against rain ect? (i keep my bike inside, just wondering)

I on the other hand don't keep it inside :P It works absolutely perfect, just like a stock cover does/should. The foam stays absolutely dry. You may get some water kick up because of your fender eliminator, but your seat won't let anything through.


Oh, I couldn't tell from the pictures but if you have pitting in your foam take some some of that gray dense packing foam that comes with computers (or any other dense foam) and try and roughly shape it to to the hole.

Super glue it down and take an old disposable razor and shave the foam to your desired shape. I filled a couple pits up with that and they've held up OK, I think you might be able to find better foam because it seems mine may have compressed slightly.

This site helped me and may help you as well:

http://www.diymotorcycleseat.com/index.php

[7oxSin]

Originally Posted by Monkeytofu

Took it off, it'll come of with ease. Kawasaki uses a pretty weak adhesive spray on their seats since there isn't much pulling on the covers.



You might be fine with 2/3rds of a yard, I think that's how much I used if I remember correctly. They'll show you how much a yard is before they cut it so just try and get a mental image of seat (or just bring it in with you haha) when you go to buy it.

Edit: Make sure to buy either Marine or Arctic vinyl (Thicker, treated for winter marine vinyl) as they are made for outdoor applications. Any normal vinyl materials will discolor and get damaged extremely quickly in the sunlight and outside environment.



I actually used a really crappy electric powered one with a air pump inside of it. I wouldn't recommend it especially if you decide to take the arctic vinyl. I think a normal staple gun attached a compressor should be good.



I on the other hand don't keep it inside :P It works absolutely perfect, just like a stock cover does/should. The foam stays absolutely dry. You may get some water kick up because of your fender eliminator, but your seat won't let anything through.


Oh, I couldn't tell from the pictures but if you have pitting in your foam take some some of that gray dense packing foam that comes with computers (or any other dense foam) and try and roughly shape it to to the hole.

Super glue it down and take an old disposable razor and shave the foam to your desired shape. I filled a couple pits up with that and they've held up OK, I think you might be able to find better foam because it seems mine may have compressed slightly.

This site helped me and may help you as well:

http://www.diymotorcycleseat.com/index.php

thanks for all your help! now i just need to find out why my seat wont sit flush lol

[Monkeytofu]

take a picture of what's under the seat. It looks like your tank was dented so maybe your seat is being put at a weird angle by a bishapen tank?

[conrya5]

Nice looking bike!! Do you or anyone else know where I can find front signals like the ones on your bike?

[CZroe]

I keep reading from other pregen owners complaining about problems with a gap on the other end of the seat. Strange. It still locks, right?

[7oxSin]

Ill take a pic tonight and post it monkeytofu.

thanks conrya5 these turn signals came on the bike from the old owner but u can get them off of ebay or amazon, but they won't be tented, I did that myself.

CZroe, my seat still locks, and I use to have a 01 and the seat on it was perfect, so I'm not sure. But I have seen atleast 6 pregens with perfect seats going from 92 to 03
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[CZroe]

Originally Posted by 7oxSin

Ill take a pic tonight and post it monkeytofu.

thanks conrya5 these turn signals came on the bike from the old owner but u can get them off of ebay or amazon, but they won't be tented, I did that myself.

CZroe, my seat still locks, and I use to have a 01 and the seat on it was perfect, so I'm not sure. But I have seen atleast 6 pregens with perfect seats going from 92 to 03
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It could be that the tail frame is bent down in the rear. @gilmorec61's newgen was like that and it created a gap on the seat.

[7oxSin]

The first night I got it me and a friend stayed up till 8 the next morning going over it and during that time I tried to find out what was going on with it, first I took all the wires n crap out thinking that they kept the seat from going down, nope, then I took all the body off and looked for signs that the tail was bent and didn't notice any, the only 2 things I can think of now, is that the seat got warped in the heat some how, or its a seat from a different bike like maybe the old 500s and so its just a little off.

Sorry for punctuation, I'm trying this while hiding from the boss on my crackberry
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[Monkeytofu]

How's the bike so far? Your wanted ad and a post in another thread reminded me of this thread.

No idea if you're just trying to cover up the holes or really want the block off plates, but you could cover them with panel fasteners. You could probably paint them if you wanted to as well.

[7oxSin]

Originally Posted by Monkeytofu

How's the bike so far? Your wanted ad and a post in another thread reminded me of this thread.

No idea if you're just trying to cover up the holes or really want the block off plates, but you could cover them with panel fasteners. You could probably paint them if you wanted to as well.

on the first one i built i used zip ties and the black rubber things that are under the mirrors. i am wanting plates this time for the structural stability, and a little bit better looks. i have bunch to do but i had to work 60 hours this week . i posted a walk around vid covering all of what ive done so far excluding the seat that i re upholstered last night.

http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=108120

with the rain down here tomorrow i want to bust out the plastic welder and start fixing cracks, i also got all my led bars to so my under glow. i want to make vids of these mods but lacking a willing cameraman. i also need to check the tires, change the oil (got the oil and filter), and i want to add some stuff to lower the temp. here are some pics.

Plastic Welder


oil and filter


6 Green light strips at $2.30 each shipped >=)


coolant enhancer


ill make a post semi soon with pics and details on the seat, and hopefully a vid on the plastic welder, and the LEDs.

[espacef1fan]

I'm in Clarksville if you want to meet up and check seat fitment?

[7oxSin]

You will have to let me know when ur around nashville, I have the ninja in pieces right now sanding em down for a paint job so I can't take him far. But hit me up if you find yourself around town.
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