Neglected 2005 250. Ready to fire her up?

[lougar62]

Greetings from Mobile, AL. Just bought a 2005 ninja 250, 2900. Petcock was extremely stubborn. The tank was pretty rusty, not horrible, but enough to make me worry. Bike ran like crap. One fouled plug. Took the carbs off and right intake was flooded to the intake boot. I took off the tank, drained it, and removed the petcock. Rust everywhere. Tank, petcock, carb bowls. The bike only has 2900 miles on it, but it sure looks like it's been neglected. Evidence of being dropped on both sides once or twice. Not major, but some scrapes on the fairing and pipes.
Got the carb taken apart and cleaned out. Could not find small enough washers to raise the needles, so I left them stock. Installed inline fuel filter. Got the POR-15 tank restoration kit and it's now rust-free. New NGKCR8HSA plugs installed. I have a new petcock on the way, but would also like to rebuild the current petcock for a stand-by (anyone know where I can get a rebuild kit?).
For all you ninja 250 veterans out there...am I ready to fire her up when the new petcock comes in, or is there anything else I should do prior to?

Thanks in advance for any help and advise.

[lougar62]

Also forgot to add...smelled fuel in oil, so I changed it along with the filter.

[kkim]

sounds like you've done the basics to get her ready to run. If you have another bike, run a long piece of fuel line from it's tank to the ninja and fire the ninja up.

check the air filter to see if it's falling apart.

you should consider new tires once you have the bike road worthy.

[lougar62]

Great idea to run fuel from another bike, but it's a Vstar 950 (fuel injected). I may have trouble with that pressurized system, so I'll wait for the petcock.
The tires look like they haven't seen any road. No cracks, nicks, cuts, etc. Do I really need to worry about tires as well?

[Alex]

If they are the originals from 5 yrs ago (and with the mileage, they likely are), I'd budget for some new tires pretty quickly. They weren't great new. They are worse now.

[demp]

Originally Posted by lougar62

Great idea to run fuel from another bike, but it's a Vstar 950 (fuel injected). I may have trouble with that pressurized system, so I'll wait for the petcock.
The tires look like they haven't seen any road. No cracks, nicks, cuts, etc. Do I really need to worry about tires as well?

Yes. Yes you need to change those awful tires.

[lougar62]

Alright. Seems to be the consensus. New tires shortly. I'm 5'6, 160 lbs. Are there any tires to will lower it a bit. I'm alright on it, but another inch would put me flat-footed, which will be ideal.

[demp]

Originally Posted by lougar62

Alright. Seems to be the consensus. New tires shortly. I'm 5'6, 160 lbs. Are there any tires to will lower it a bit. I'm alright on it, but another inch would put me flat-footed, which will be ideal.

Some lowering links would do the job... don't think you'll find the difference you want from different tires

[kkim]

http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=60117

[Snake]

Congratulations on the new to you bike. The 05 was a great year, ask me how I know.

[coondog]

Originally Posted by demp

Some lowering links would do the job... don't think you'll find the difference you want from different tires

Whatever you do, don't lower the bike in any way shape or form. Buy MT75 pirelli tires which are made for the bikes rims (120/80-16 and 100/80-16). They're inexpensive. soft enough compounds, and will lower the bike for you naturally.

[wvninja]

Why not .. lowering the bike wont hurt it

do some research about lowering before you advise not doing it

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by wvninja

Why not .. lowering the bike wont hurt it

do some research about lowering before you advise not doing it

It hurts handling.

[rockNroll]

Originally Posted by CZroe

It hurts handling.

And destroys the already lacking amount of rider ground clearance.

[MiniCog]

Originally Posted by coondog

Whatever you do, don't lower the bike in any way shape or form. Buy MT75 pirelli tires which are made for the bikes rims (120/80-16 and 100/80-16). They're inexpensive. soft enough compounds, and will lower the bike for you naturally.

They are very soft, and cheap. A rear tire can be had for just over $60
and a front is just under $60. That's cheaper than stock tires. I can assure that these tires improve the handling and fit fine. I put my own tires on, and these fit the rims just fine. I've had 2 back MT75's and one front MT-75 and had no problems whatsoever. About to be on my third back and second front.

The older 250 Ninjas were sold with 120/80-60's in the back, anyway. But then Momma Kaw put those hard Dungflop K-630's that were 130/80-16 on the back.

[wvninja]

Originally Posted by CZroe

It hurts handling.

oh? what if you prefer a quicker turning bike? If its done correctly the difference in handling is minimal. Again I think your eluding the fact that sometimes saftey and control of the bike is > a VERY slight differnce in handling. Really whats the point of a bike that "turns proper" (your words not mine) if you cannot stop and hold it up correctly?

Originally Posted by rockNroll

And destroys the already lacking amount of rider ground clearance.

That's fine if your tall enough to ride it, but what if your not? are people stuck to riding moped / scooters due to height?


http://www.sportrider.com/tech/146_0...ely/index.html

I don't feel anyone should lower their bike because its "cool" looking. I do feel that unless their spending time at a track and ride smart theres no reason why you cannot alter the ride height.

[bluepoof]

Originally Posted by wvninja

http://www.sportrider.com/tech/146_0...ely/index.html

Excellent article! I'm 5'1" and have only had one of my bikes lowered, but I'm glad I did it on that one bike. It was done by a suspension professional and the handling was just as good afterwards (ground clearance wasn't an issue since I ride like a grandma ).

[MiniCog]

My dad and I made/makes lowering links for the V-Strom 650/1000. You're also supposed to lower the front forks so that the bike still handles the same as it did before the raise. I have a 32-33" inseam, and I can flat foot the V-Strom with the links/forks lowered, my dad can almost flat foot the bike.
Before the links/fork drop, he couldn't reach the ground with both feet at the same time, only on his toes. So he decided to make programs for lowering links.

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by wvninja

oh? what if you prefer a quicker turning bike? If its done correctly the difference in handling is minimal. Again I think your eluding the fact that sometimes saftey and control of the bike is > a VERY slight differnce in handling. Really whats the point of a bike that "turns proper" (your words not mine) if you cannot stop and hold it up correctly?



That's fine if your tall enough to ride it, but what if your not? are people stuck to riding moped / scooters due to height?


http://www.sportrider.com/tech/146_0...ely/index.html

I don't feel anyone should lower their bike because its "cool" looking. I do feel that unless their spending time at a track and ride smart theres no reason why you cannot alter the ride height.

Hey, all I did was answer your question. You said "Why not" and I gave one reason why not. rockNroll gave another. We aren't saying that it's impossible to minimize those drawbacks, we are simply pointing them out because you asked and didn't do so yourself.

[CynicalC]

Originally Posted by CZroe

Hey, all I did was answer your question. You said "Why not" and I gave one reason why not. rockNroll gave another. We aren't saying that it's impossible to minimize those drawbacks, we are simply pointing them out because you asked and didn't do so yourself.

If I had to guess from the attitude, he's just short and had to lower his own bike.

[wvninja]

Originally Posted by CynicalC

If I had to guess from the attitude, he's just short and had to lower his own bike.

No attitude, just think people have a right to the facts not opinions.

[FrugalNinja250]

Black and white view: Lowering changes handling, don't do it.

Shades of meaning view: Lowering changes the handling, but likely only a very experienced rider pushing the bike hard will be able to tell, and more importantly, the change may not be detrimental. Just being different doesn't mean bad. The existing suspension, though nice, is by no means the epitome of perfection.

In the real world, has anyone here who's actually lowered their bike made any comments on any perceivable changes? For instance, it steers quicker, or slower, or it rubs the ground coming out of turn nine, that sort of thing? I'd be curious what the actual experience has been. Given the number of people that have lowered their bikes and the lack of negative observations, I'm inclined to believe it isn't noticeably harmful to handling.

[wvninja]

http://www.ninjette.org/wiki/Lowering

Also mine is lowered and was done under the watch / help of a 20yr+ honda tech (Which actually suggested it to begin with, as I too had heard it was "bad"). Once it was lowered we also tuned the suspension. I ran the bike maybe 2 / 3 months stock with about 1500 miles on it. I put perhaps another 1000 miles after the ride height had been lowered and saw no notable difference in cornering. I actually HATED it stock once I saw how great life could be with just an inch drop. Not only was it 100x more comfortable, but I could easily stop on a hill or even move my bike if need be in a traffic situation where someone may back up towards me for unknown reasons. I knew something had to be done when I almost lost it at a stop light just standing there. I moved my planted foot about an inch from where it had been and some oil in the road almost caused me to let the bike drop. I also ride agressive at times in the twisties and it still corners like a dream. The 250 I owned was stock and stayed stock as I had no issue's with a firm foot to the ground. I never had any of the said issues on my 250 so felt no need to alter it.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by FrugalNinja250

For instance, it steers quicker, or slower, or it rubs the ground coming out of turn nine, that sort of thing? I'd be curious what the actual experience has been. Given the number of people that have lowered their bikes and the lack of negative observations, I'm inclined to believe it isn't noticeably harmful to handling.

If people aren't noticing any problems with their lowered bikes, then that's the only results that matter for them, and that's fine all around. It comes down to how much lean angle to people use, their aggressiveness in braking and acceleration coupled with their weight, and the way they set up the suspension (preload, at least on a stock shock).

But seeing how many trackday and club race folks need to grind off the kickstand mount, as even that is too low when running at full height; any lowering from even there will make the bike drag at less angle. A number of folks with lowered bikes here have damaged their exhaust when it interferes with spools mounted on the swingarm. Some folks have damaged the undertail portion of the bike when lowered too low, and a spring rate that doesn't keep the rear wheel from interfering with the plastic after a large impact.

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by FrugalNinja250

Black and white view: Lowering changes handling, don't do it.

Shades of meaning view: Lowering changes the handling, but likely only a very experienced rider pushing the bike hard will be able to tell, and more importantly, the change may not be detrimental. Just being different doesn't mean bad. The existing suspension, though nice, is by no means the epitome of perfection.

In the real world, has anyone here who's actually lowered their bike made any comments on any perceivable changes? For instance, it steers quicker, or slower, or it rubs the ground coming out of turn nine, that sort of thing? I'd be curious what the actual experience has been. Given the number of people that have lowered their bikes and the lack of negative observations, I'm inclined to believe it isn't noticeably harmful to handling.

The bike we were discussing is a pregen. No one thinks their shock is "nice."
It's notoriously soft and not adjustable.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by CZroe

The bike we were discussing is a pregen.

Oops, I skipped right by that fact on my latest reply.

[MiniCog]

Originally Posted by CZroe

The bike we were discussing is a pregen. No one thinks their shock is "nice."
It's notoriously soft and not adjustable.

Agreed!