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Checkin in with my poor battered 04 EX250  Here's me looming over the littlest ninja just before taking it across Texas   I purchased it a year ago this month  and it seems like I'm always doing something to it. I bought it with a broken upper cowling and two broken front signals. I tried repairing the cowling, but I found out I like my bike more as a streetfighter. So, I swapped out the headlight and tossed a computer on. Hooray!My seat has started tearing lately, sadly, so my next repair is going to be recovering it. I've got a new cover on order, but the lady who sells them got hit by a car  and is out of commission for a while, delaying my order for however long it takes her to get back going again.I also need to replace the side panels, as both of them are broken in various ways.
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Aug 5, 2009 02:50
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 01:40 |
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Upside to no fairing: no side scrape (yes I had that scrape too. Everybody does) Downside to no fairing: where to put stickers?
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Aug 5, 2009 13:22
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You got your physics argument in my ninja 250 thread ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWMM7HPeTHQ Somehow its not as tasty.
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Aug 9, 2009 23:39
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I'm 6'4" and not quite so huge, and I do okay on my 250. The handlebar position is what bothers me the most about it. People have suggested risers for the bars, but its both the handlebar height and the width/angle.... they make me turn my forearms in a bit and my wrists out, which gets a little uncomfortable after 6 hours or so. I still take it out for long trips, but I'm really interested in getting a bigger bike (KLR650, V-Strom 650, BMW F-650, something like that) at some point. Until then, I'm okay with touring on the Ninjette if I have ibuprofin handy.
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Aug 11, 2009 13:26
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Tsaven Nava posted:I'm not sure how these guys who are 6'4" do it. Like this  To be fair most of my height is in my torso, and I have a 34" inseam.
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Aug 12, 2009 01:22
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My startup procedure is this: Turn bike on, have choke at about half. Adjust choke as needed to keep the RPMs below 3000. Put on helmet and other gear. Start riding, turn off choke. By the time I'm at my first stoplight (half a block) its usually warm. Sometimes it take a little longer, so I just dork with the throttle until its happy. When my valves needed to be adjusted, the thing took a long time to warm up, and was easy to kill. So, if you've put enough miles on since the last valve job, that might be worth looking into.
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Aug 14, 2009 01:08
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NoCleverName posted:Bike's new to me. 2005 with ~940 miles. quote:Is it worth trying to work on the valves myself? I've read the ninja250.org article on valve adjustment but I can't really get a grasp on how difficult it actually is.  For as often as the 250 calls for valve adjustment, its a good skill to have. Also, buy the valve adjustment tool, its worth it. quote:Would it also be worthwhile to sync the carbs? I've pulled and cleaned them twice since I got the bike.
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Aug 14, 2009 01:27
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Don't just hack it off. Take the fender off properly and replace it with something like this. Finding all the bolts to get the fender off is kind of a challenge, but it isn't rocket science. One of the idiot POs of my 04 just chopped mine and left the blinkers as is (by cutting around them) and its annoying as hell. I had to redo/clean up a lot of his work - he put a metal license plate bracket on by screwing tiny angle brackets on with wood screws into the rear plastics. I had to fab a better bracket with some aluminum strap and I reused the existing fender bolt holes after cleaning up the cut with a knife. Don't be that guy, please. Do it right if you are gonna do it. Also note that removing the fender means you no longer have a license plate light, which is illegal in most places. There are ways around that, Anyway, there's some opaque plastic on the bottom of the rear light lens that you can pop out pretty easily with a screwdriver. Pop that out, cut a CD jewel case into a rectangle larger than that hole, and get some plasticweld epoxy stuff to glue it in. If you do that, your rear light illuminates your license plate well enough to pass inspection (at least in Texas). The only weird thing is that using your brakes makes your plate brighter at night.
sklnd fucked around with this message at 23:44 on Aug 22, 2009 |
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Aug 22, 2009 23:33
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Methusulah posted:I need to check my valves this week, (desperately) what do i need to know? ninja250.org says Sears has feelers. Would autozone or o'reilly's have them? Any suggestions? 1. Don't do something silly like drain the coolant to remove the radiator. You can get by with just loosening it. 2. Go slow, and double-check your clearances once you're done. 3. The valve adjustment tool helps a ton. 4. Just follow the instructions. Its a pretty easy job.
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Aug 30, 2009 04:59
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Z3n posted:It's plausible, but you'll probably have to use trial and error to get the spacing right. Not a big deal, just a bit slower. The tool corrects no trial and error. I don't know what you're talking about. Really all the tool does is serve as a socket to loosen the tappet locknut, and a guide to make it easy to turn the tappet screw. You can do the whole thing without it, and you'll need a 9mm socket anyway to torque the locknuts down to spec with a torque wrench. Most of the good the tool does is make it super easy to tighten and loosen the tappet screw, as the socket part guides the screwdriver part directly to it. This is nice because its kinda hard to get good light on the valves and things are tiny and hard to see. Its worth the price to me if you're gonna keep the bike around.
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Aug 30, 2009 14:45
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the walkin dude posted:Hey guys, if I dont have the tool kit that came with my 250, how does one change the spark plugs? What tools would I need from, say, harbor freight? All you need is a spark plug socket, a ratchet, a short extension, another socket (10mm I think) for pulling the gas tank, and some gap gauges to make sure the new plugs are gapped properly. Any auto parts store will carry the appropriate spark plug socket and gap gauge. Don't get this kind of gap gauge, as they're worthless for anything but being a keychain:  Click here for the full 800x600 image. Get something like this, that has discrete gauges and a tool for adjusting the gap:  Pull gas tank. Gently pull wires off spark plugs. Remove spark plugs with spark plug socket. Check gap on new plugs (.6mm to .7mm). They'll likely be correct, but always check. Brush anti-seize compound on the threads. (optional) Being careful to not crossthread the plug, insert the new plug with your socket and extension. Hand tighten. When finger tight, give it another 1/2 turn with the ratchet. Replace wires Replace gas tank.
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Oct 4, 2009 14:50
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The random socket I picked up at an Autozone worked fine for me.
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Oct 5, 2009 01:26
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The ninja's handlebars are weird and pretty much nothing fits off the shelf that I could find. http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/I_hate_these_mirrors#Bar-end_mirrors I used the suggested Napoleon mirrors. You have to modify them to work by cutting off the part that's supposed to fit inside a hollow handlebar, and then screw them in to the bar ends.
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Mar 6, 2010 15:34
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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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I managed to get the screws in my carbs out without stripping them. The trick is to loosen them a little with vicegrips first. Do yourself a favor and replace those screws with stainless steel allen head screws. 8 M4x14 screws will only set you back maybe $5, and its worth it having float bowl screws that aren't made of butter.
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May 15, 2010 01:00
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Displacement is only loosely correlated with the power an engine generates, for a whole host of reasons. The EX250 is on the high end (as far as commonly available bikes are concerned) for power output from 250cc displacement. It has enough horsepower to keep up with most traffic up to about 60mph, and they'll get up into the mid 90s. That's plenty to do highway speed. Any bike that's ridden on the street isn't a toy, to be honest. People who consider them such are idiots.
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Aug 8, 2010 23:02
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next stop:
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Aug 11, 2010 06:20
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Yep, Napoleons. They have to be modified to work at all with the EX250's handlebars.
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Aug 13, 2010 00:26
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I always worried about that with the bar ends, but sold the bike before I could justify the anxiety.
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Aug 13, 2010 04:53
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blugu64 posted:Taking the 250 out on a little trip tomorrow... I took 40 west out of Amarillo a bit before cutting up north on 385 to Dalhart when I was out that way a few months ago. That bit of 385 is pretty nice (at least compared with the rest of the panhandle). Kinda pretty. Looks like 287 runs through similar stuff. Hope its nice. Texline to Raton is almost worth taking 25 north THE REST OF THE WAY if you're interested in pressing on and super slabbing it for a while. That bit of New Mexico is really neat with volcanos and whatnot.
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Sep 4, 2010 06:43
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All sad images are click-for-giant. The final one has the most impact. After pulling the filter my glove got oily, and then it got sparkle-y.  Hey its here too.  There's gold in them thar oil.  More as this story develops.
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Sep 9, 2010 04:51
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Yep. blugu64 didn't leave his key here, and that's limiting me on pulling the tank and dropping the engine for now. I did poke in the clutch cover a bit, but didn't see anything interesting.
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Sep 12, 2010 04:45
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giundy posted:My fairings are a mess and I really like this. Other than bar ends, there's the headlight with integrated signals. What happened with gauges/ which ones were used? I took the gauges off, as the whole headlight assembly/fairing bracket/gauge cluster is one fairly integrated thing. I replaced it with a Trail Tech Vapor that I spliced up a wiring harness connector for.
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Sep 17, 2010 00:35
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sklnd posted:All sad images are click-for-giant. The final one has the most impact. I got the key from blugu64 about a month ago, so I could disassemble the ninja (for parting out) and see what went wrong with his engine. We've had a couple warm weekends here in Boulder over the last couple weeks, so I've been taking the bike apart. Well there's yer problem:  Click here for the full 1280x850 image. Spun rod bearing on cylinder #2.  Not an uncommon failure for a Ninja 250.If anybody needs random ninja parts, I'll be posting in the marketplace thread soon. [edit] might as well throw in some more engine parts porn  Click here for the full 1280x850 image. sklnd fucked around with this message at 01:07 on Jan 24, 2011 |
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Jan 24, 2011 00:59
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 01:40 |
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Well, it is a 249cc engine.
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Apr 10, 2011 14:54
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