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sirbeefalot posted:I bought it! And rode it home! That's a really nice-looking bike, congrats. I took advantage of the first 70+ degree day of the year, and rode around the twisty roads near my house. I also got all my stuff together to do the 6000-mile service, which I'll probably end up needing to do next weekend if the weather stays nice and I keep riding it throughout the week. I'm hoping to do the valves and synchronize the carburetors, and check/replace the spark plugs while I'm at it. Hopefully the valves will still be in spec, because I don't have the kawasaki valve adjustment tool, and I really don't want to spend $40 to get one.
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Apr 6, 2009 01:33
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 17:43 |
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I've been noticing that the bike idles rather badly when it's cold unless I have the choke most of the way on, so I dumped half a can of seafoam into the gas tank to see if it's a clogged idle circuit or something. I'm only at 5600 miles, so I'm waiting until next weekend to do the valves, which are the other thing that I suspect as a potential cause. I noticed the oil was down at the bottom of the sight glass too, so I put in about half a quart to bring it back up to the top mark. The lost oil sorta worries me, because I just changed it with rotella T synthetic back at the 4000-4500 mile mark a few weeks ago.
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Apr 12, 2009 06:06
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I finished doing my first valve adjustment on the ninjette today, and it went about as well as I'd hoped. I managed to avoid draining the coolant and removing the radiator by following the advice on ninja250.org about fiddling with the radiator and ignition coil mounts. I set all the valves to the loose end of the range. The bike seems to idle quite a bit happier now, and I can take the choke off within about 30 seconds of starting it. I also took the opportunity to change the spark plugs, which was pretty painless with the bike's spark-plug tool. I haven't gotten around to synchronizing the carburetors yet, but I plan on doing it as soon as I've warmed the bike up (which I will now proceed to do by taking it out for a spin on this beautiful spring day). I also picked up my first torque wrench, a $20 3/8-inch-drive beam deflection model, which I used to tighten the tappet locknuts.
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Apr 20, 2009 22:54
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Got new tires and put them on the bike! I ordered some MT75s on Saturday of last week, got them on Monday, and had them put on the bike yesterday. As celebration, I took the bike on a long ride up in the twistier portions of the hill roads above Portland. I was in the area surrounding Council Crest park, mostly. I noticed the tires seemed a bit grippier, a bit easier to turn in, and were generally more stable and confidence-inspiring than the old and busted stock Dunlops.
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May 1, 2009 10:04
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Washed and turtle-waxed the bike, so now it is clean and shiny. Bought a new bulb for the license plate lighting assembly to replace the old, burned-out one. I think I have an intermittent short somewhere in the line from the turn signal/hi-beam controls to the rest of the electrical system, so I'll probably track that down today or tomorrow. I also need to clean and lube the chain.
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Jun 26, 2009 01:28
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I bled the brakes for the first time (since the bike was manufactured, apparently)! The fluid that was originally in it was starting to look like Guinness, so I figured now was as good a time as any to change it. I bought 3 feet of 3/16 ID tubing and some nitrile gloves from lowes, and a bottle of valvoline "synthetic DOT3 and DOT4 compatible" brake fluid from NAPA. I put a plastic dropcloth over the fairings and tank to protect them from the supposed paint-stripping powers of the fluid, and then followed the instructions in the service manual for bleeding/replacing the brake fluid. I got fluid all over myself when the drain bottle tipped over half-way through. The brakes seem to be about the same as before I changed the fluid, in that they worked okay when I took the bike for a ride down to the store. They still seem a bit soft, though, and I don't think I'll be able to fix that without changing to stainless steel lines. Additionally, I got a 12-volt accessory socket and soldered some connectors on to it. I'm thinking of trying to epoxy or screw it on to the bottom of the instrument panel and hook it to the accessory 12v line.
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Jul 3, 2009 08:31
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Drunk Pledge Driver posted:It definitely does indeed strip paint. Ask me how I know. So uh, how do you know? 
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Jul 3, 2009 09:26
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Rode it in 14 °F weather, since I had finals I needed to get to and the jet stream is being a dick and letting Arctic air blow in from Canada. I worry about what running it in this cold weather is doing to the rate of engine wear, since even with a quarter of the radiator blocked by cardboard, it still takes forever for the temperature gauge to (barely) make it off the 'cold' needle. One of these days I need to get heated handgrips and an underarmor balaclava.
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Dec 9, 2009 07:17
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Swapped in a 15-tooth front sprocket today. It's pretty amazing; first gear is tall enough to be useful now, and I didn't feel like I needed to upshift when I hit 60 on the highway. I haven't noticed much loss of torque either, so it seems like a pretty useful mod for the $15 (+shipping) I spent on it.
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Mar 6, 2010 08:08
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Tsaven Nava posted:Experienced full throttle in second gear on my Wee. A bit like this, right? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk7VWcuVOf0#t=1m30s On topic: Polished the exhaust with some turtle wax chrome polish to try to remove the rust spots that seem to have developed after months of riding in wet weather. It seemed to work okay as a polish, but I'm not totally satisfied with its rust removal ability. Also, rode it to the store and back.
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Mar 16, 2010 08:15
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Pulled the factory spark plugs and put in some new ones. Click here for the full 2046x1535 image. I think the general condition of the plugs means the engine is running at a healthy mixture, but then I don't look at spark plugs too often. Also, I removed and greased up the cam chain tensioner, which appeared to have had its bearing surfaces scored and its springs blued from heat, apparently due to lack of lubrication. While I should probably just outright replace it, slathering the CCT in molybdenum extreme pressure grease seems to at least be postponing the problem until some later date, as the rattling coming from my engine died down almost immediately after reinstalling it.
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May 21, 2010 06:48
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Slim Pickens posted:Replaced the cheap LG plug in the kikker with an NGK one, and I'm pretty sure it's running way hotter now. Well, if you don't mind pulling the plug again, you can figure out what the mixture is like by visual examination of the electrode and insulator. If it's running too lean, the insulator will be bone white instead of a nice golden-brown color. For my own bike, today I tried valiantly to find some kind of manual cam chain tensioner that would actually fit it on the internet, with no success. Would it be crazy to try and have one custom-fabricated? They don't look like all that complicated of a part, I imagine it wouldn't be prohibitive to whip one up given some time in autocad and access to a CNC machine.
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May 26, 2010 07:23
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Here4DaGangBang posted:Installed my pipe. I loves it! That exhaust note is amazing.
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Jun 5, 2010 08:13
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Attempted to install replacement cam chain tensioner bits, failed miserably. Now the hole in which the tensioner plunger goes is seriously hosed in some critical way, because neither the new nor the old one will fit. Fixing this will likely require either some delicate work with a dremel, or a new engine case. Possibly both, in that order  .
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Jun 11, 2010 07:28
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Z3n posted:How did you do that? Sometimes you have to angle them at a funny angle to get them in. Also, you need to make sure it's completely retracted before you try and install it. Got any pictures? .JPG) Click here for the full 1280x960 image. .JPG) Click here for the full 1280x960 image. .JPG) Click here for the full 1280x960 image. Link to huge images: http://dahak.homelinux.org/img/bikes/DSCF7630.JPG http://dahak.homelinux.org/img/bikes/DSCF7636.JPG http://dahak.homelinux.org/img/bikes/DSCF7637.JPG I tried to install the new one and didn't realize it was going in cockeyed until it had already mashed in the side of the hole, probably because Kawasaki makes their engines out of an aluminum alloy only slightly harder than warm butter. I'm considering ordering one of these, but I really don't feel like paying $60-70 for an aluminum block with a threaded hole in it, a few bolts, and an o-ring.
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Jun 12, 2010 00:51
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Installed the manual cam chain tensioner from Orient Express racing; it fit just fine and seems to be working great. Also changed the oil and put one of the stickers that the company sent with the tensioner on the bike.
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Jun 17, 2010 02:27
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Had someone back into it in the Fred Meyer's parking lot, subsequently knocking it over and messing up the paint and windscreen  . Fortunately they did the responsible thing and stayed to give me their insurance info.
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Jun 19, 2010 05:16
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 17:43 |
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Got a damage estimate from the dealer for $3134. Turns out the fairings and gas tank are made of unobtainium or something.
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Jun 23, 2010 01:24
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