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MrKatharsis posted:http://gainesville.craigslist.org/mcy/1708051436.html Sounds like a combination of being cold and needing the valves adjusted. $1200 is a decent price, but you could probably get it for $1k.
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Apr 26, 2010 17:33
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Question for <'07 owners, how linear is clutch engagement? I took my wife's '02 on the road today for the first time since we purchased it. Everything seems pretty good mechanically, but I'm thinking that either the clutch springs are worn or there's some glazing. Engagement is decent in first, but going up into 2nd with even a moderate amount of throttle results in the first 70% of the engagement travel transferring very little power. The final bit of lever travel has a much more significant "hook" to it, and as far as I can tell there is no slipping with the clutch fully engaged. I haven't noticed this as much in 2nd->3rd and higher upshifts, but I'm usually not up beyond 10k for those shift points. I'm thinking either: - Clutch springs are worn. - Clutch springs are super soft in the same vein as the EX500. - There's some glazing on the friction material that's causing the slipping. Any thoughts?
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Apr 30, 2010 04:37
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Have you tried adjusting the clutch? What you describe seems pretty standard though.
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Apr 30, 2010 05:39
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Terminal posted:Question for <'07 owners, how linear is clutch engagement? I took my wife's '02 on the road today for the first time since we purchased it. Everything seems pretty good mechanically, but I'm thinking that either the clutch springs are worn or there's some glazing. Is there any slack in the clutch cable? If not, then you could probably see a big improvement by fiddling with the adjuster on the handlebars, like Z3n said. 3mm of play in the cable should be just tight enough to prevent the handle from rattling without inducing any clutch slippage. Edit: while you're messing with that, lubing the cables at the same time wouldn't be a bad idea either.
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Apr 30, 2010 06:11
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sectoidman posted:Is there any slack in the clutch cable? If not, then you could probably see a big improvement by fiddling with the adjuster on the handlebars, like Z3n said. 3mm of play in the cable should be just tight enough to prevent the handle from rattling without inducing any clutch slippage. You post like some 250 owners are neglectful or something  There's plenty of slack in the cable, wife has small hands, so I don't want her hitting the friction zone at the end of her reach. The cable action is super smooth, I drowned all the cables when we got the bike since the PO was pretty lazy on little maintenance things like that. I'll just chalk it up to Kawasaki being new rider friendly with the clutch & spring design, and maybe take a look at the spring tolerances if we have a rainy stretch with nothing else to do.
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Apr 30, 2010 22:22
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Terminal posted:You post like some 250 owners are neglectful or something This is the best reason to buy custom levers. Being adjustable for both distance from the bar and engagement point is amazing.
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Apr 30, 2010 23:57
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I've noticed some resistance on the clutch lever recently that was not there last November. I presume the clutch cable has probably never been lubricated (2003 model, and the PO did jack crap in terms of maintenance). Does this sound reasonable? It sounds like I just need to spray some lubricant in that sheath, but I've been told I need to get a little "cable lubrication tool" - do I really need the little metal bracket thing to do it right? Thanks to Terminal for jogging my memory and making me remember to ask. Sonic Dude fucked around with this message at 04:26 on May 2, 2010 |
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May 2, 2010 04:23
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I got hosed by the DMV and mine wound up sitting in a parking lot for a full month, the fuel's gone to poo poo and now it doesn't even run without the choke open. Since it's too late for fuel stabilizer, would siphoning the fuel out and letting it run on a fresh tank and some carb cleaner be likely to fix it, or am I going to have to take it to the shop? In the latter case, I won't even be able to take it to the shop for another two weeks thanks to money issues, so what would be the best way to keep this from getting worse until then? (Cleaning the carbs myself isn't an option, I have nowhere to service it at the moment) OneEightHundred fucked around with this message at 19:04 on May 2, 2010 |
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May 2, 2010 19:01
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You can give it a try. I'd also drain the carb to try and get as much fresh fuel in there as possible, and then I'd go run the hell out of it to get fuel flushing through the carbs and pray that that cleans things up.
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May 2, 2010 19:47
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Sonic Dude posted:I've noticed some resistance on the clutch lever recently that was not there last November. I presume the clutch cable has probably never been lubricated (2003 model, and the PO did jack crap in terms of maintenance). Does this sound reasonable? Since the adjuster on the lever end of the clutch cable seems to be made of lightly compressed tin foil and started shredding the moment I tried to take it out, I lubed the clutch cable from the transmission end. It was as simple as loosening the adjuster, removing the end of the cable, and then spraying cable lube into the sheath with some paper towels held around the end. Cycle the clutch lever a few times, lube again, repeat until you can't feel any "dryness" when cycling the lever. If you can get the lever-end of the cable out successfully, that will be your best bet since you'll have gravity on your side. I had a MotionPro cable lube tool, tried to use it once which resulted in cable lube spraying everywhere but down the cable. Re-fastened it, this time half the lube went down the cable, and the other half spit out where the rubber channel on the tool comes together. Paper towels/rags and being light on the spray trigger will work just fine.
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May 2, 2010 20:59
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I hosed around with the interior of the throttle assembly, and this metal wire on the underside popped out. Now I seemingly can't put it back together and it is now unrideable.  I've been suspecting that my throttle is the (next testable) source of my bike's current malady, so I tried to take it apart and put it back following Ninja250.org's throttle section. I failed. Is there another guide on putting the throttle assembly back together? Can anyone explain how to do it?
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May 2, 2010 22:34
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Terminal posted:You post like some 250 owners are neglectful or something  Sonic Dude posted:I've noticed some resistance on the clutch lever recently that was not there last November. I presume the clutch cable has probably never been lubricated (2003 model, and the PO did jack crap in terms of maintenance). Does this sound reasonable? You can get one of those tools at harbor freight for <$5, and while it isn't strictly necessary, it does make things a bit easier.
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May 3, 2010 10:26
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Hey everyone, go swap in a 15t front sprocket on your bike right now. These drat things should have come from the factory with one. I was hoping for more than a 500 RPM drop in cruising engine speed, but that is easily rectified with a smaller rear sprocket. At any rate, I can now use gears other than 6th for more than just getting to 6th gear. I'm not sure how that one dude managed to get a 16t in there as the 15t comes really close to a couple of the cover mounting bosses. I don't see how a 16t could actually fit. I think he may have received a mislabeled 15t.
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May 3, 2010 15:38
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You can count the teeth on it, it's a 16. 
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May 3, 2010 16:24
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Z3n posted:You can count the teeth on it, it's a 16. Weird. There's about 3mm between the edge of the 15t and the sprocket cover's mounting bosses on my '09. Maybe he ground those down?
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May 3, 2010 16:35
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frozenphil posted:Weird. There's about 3mm between the edge of the 15t and the sprocket cover's mounting bosses on my '09. Maybe he ground those down? You can read the thread here: http://www.ninja250forum.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=26&topic=738.15 He claimed that there was no need to modify anything, it was just a tight fit. He could have not mentioned that though... From a 15 to a 16 tooth is only a ~6.5% increase in size though.
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May 3, 2010 16:41
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frozenphil posted:Hey everyone, go swap in a 15t front sprocket on your bike right now. These drat things should have come from the factory with one. I was hoping for more than a 500 RPM drop in cruising engine speed, but that is easily rectified with a smaller rear sprocket. At any rate, I can now use gears other than 6th for more than just getting to 6th gear.
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May 4, 2010 03:12
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I've been thinking about picking up a motorcycle in the next couple months. Much cheaper to maintain/fill up than a car, and honestly looks a hell of a lot more fun. I read through the thread and saw a bunch of posts about how small the Ninja 250 is which is honestly a good thing for me. I'm 5'0 and about 120lbs with a 24 inch inseam. Can I handle this bike, and if not is there any customization I can do to it to make it smaller without spending more than the actual cost of one of these used? The styling has by far made it my favorite bike, so I hope I can pull one of these off.
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May 4, 2010 08:34
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Daemoxx posted:I'm 5'0 and about 120lbs with a 24 inch inseam. Can I handle this bike You should be fine. There are lowering kits, but I'd give it a shot stock first. Daemoxx posted:thinking about picking up a motorcycle You'll have to a couple times when you start out so don't worry about it 
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May 4, 2010 08:38
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blugu64 posted:You should be fine. There are lowering kits, but I'd give it a shot stock first. Planning on picking up a cosmetically dinged up one when I get my first one so I won't feel quite so bad about that. Probably cheaper, too!
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May 4, 2010 11:46
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One other thing about going up one tooth in the front: I've had 2 or 3 fillups and I'm seeing about a 5-10mpg increase. Went from low-mid 40's to low 50's. I do a large portion of my riding on the highway though, so the drop in rpms has a more noticeable impact on my gas. Edit: Gas receipt from 3/15/10 (stock gearing): 138.7 miles/3.256 gallons = 42.60 MPG Gas reciept from 4/30/10 (+1 front): 158.5 miles/3.078 gallons = 51.49 MPG -Inu- fucked around with this message at 12:24 on May 4, 2010 |
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May 4, 2010 12:19
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Where is the speed sensor on the 250?
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May 4, 2010 12:28
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Endless Mike posted:Where is the speed sensor on the 250? Classic gen has a mechanical speedo gear on the front wheel.
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May 4, 2010 12:38
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-Inu- posted:One other thing about going up one tooth in the front: I've had 2 or 3 fillups and I'm seeing about a 5-10mpg increase. Went from low-mid 40's to low 50's. I do a large portion of my riding on the highway though, so the drop in rpms has a more noticeable impact on my gas. I thought I was getting poor mileage at 49mpg, mostly highway. Do you just sit on the rev limiter all day or something because I used to basically never be below 10k RPM. I'm looking forward to seeing what my mileage goes up to now that I can cruise at 9k RPM instead. Endless Mike posted:Where is the speed sensor on the 250? Same for both generations, front wheel.
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May 4, 2010 15:30
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frozenphil posted:I thought I was getting poor mileage at 49mpg, mostly highway. Do you just sit on the rev limiter all day or something because I used to basically never be below 10k RPM.
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May 4, 2010 17:37
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-Inu- posted:Yeah. Highway cruising never below 11k and in-town shifting between 10-11k and 3/4 throttle-WOT most of the time. I like to ride my slow bike fast.  The Ninja 250 has got to be the only reasonable application of a 1/4 turn throttle on a street bike outside of a poseur drag bike.
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May 4, 2010 19:01
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frozenphil posted:
DRZ400.
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May 4, 2010 19:02
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Z3n posted:DRZ400 You ride a supermoto on the street? I thought they were only allowed on sidewalks and on the curvy ramps underneath bridges?
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May 4, 2010 19:03
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frozenphil posted:You ride a supermoto on the street? I thought they were only allowed on sidewalks and on the curvy ramps underneath bridges? Touche, sir. Touche.
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May 4, 2010 19:03
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frozenphil posted:You ride a supermoto on the street? I thought they were only allowed on sidewalks and on the curvy ramps underneath bridges? The rear wheel is allowed on the street, but the front wheel isn't.
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May 4, 2010 22:23
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Painted my windscreen a couple days ago, I think it greatly improved the aesthetics of the bike.  Painted the back of it with matte black krylon fusion, total cost about 8 bucks. Only downside is you can't see out of the windscreen anymore, but I don't full tuck my ninja 250 often enough to care..
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May 11, 2010 17:28
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Even when I am full tuck I still see over the top of the tiny stock screen.
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May 11, 2010 17:51
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Just bought a 2002 Ninja 250 with about 7500 miles over the weekend, my first bike. Haven't had much time to ride it because of work but it has me grinning like a retard throughout the day. I'll try to get some pictures when I get home if I can.
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May 11, 2010 21:14
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ButtFaceMcCrackin posted:Just bought a 2002 Ninja 250 with about 7500 miles over the weekend, my first bike. Haven't had much time to ride it because of work but it has me grinning like a retard throughout the day. I'll try to get some pictures when I get home if I can. Yellow or green?
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May 12, 2010 00:41
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The GF just moved into a new apartment. This is her neighbor, sitting right there on the street. Good thing the street is heavily-trafficked by cops, I guess.
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May 12, 2010 01:06
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Green, like it's supposed to be. Click here for the full 1535x1459 image.  Click here for the full 1435x2043 image.
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May 12, 2010 01:36
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the walkin dude posted:The GF just moved into a new apartment. This is her neighbor, sitting right there on the street. Good thing the street is heavily-trafficked by cops, I guess. that is so awesome
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May 12, 2010 03:39
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How do I get the screws out of the bottom of the carbs? All of my phillips heads just shred the metal. Like its made of cheese or something
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May 14, 2010 22:08
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Ammanas posted:How do I get the screws out of the bottom of the carbs? All of my phillips heads just shred the metal. Like its made of cheese or something I think they are made of cheese, or at least a cheese-like substance that also vaguely resembles a metal. If you haven't yet, try the screwdrivers that come with the bike's tool kit, they should be the perfect sizes to fit the screws, and assuming the screws aren't totally seized should work fine for removing them.
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May 14, 2010 22:22
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That worked for most of them but two just got tore up. Bottom aint coming off now. This is giving me flashbacks to working on my GS500. Every loving screw and bolt and nut on that thing was made of soft metal.
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May 14, 2010 22:37
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