Today I purchased a salvage title 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 650R. I have owned 2 bikes before this but I've never really done much maintenance besides oil and spark plug change. So this project is going to be a bit of a undertaking for me.
I have an idea in mind of a cafe/streetfighter style that I'd like to take it, but first things first I need to take care of the basics and get it street legal.
The bike is a salvage title. It seems to be in mostly decent shape. The headlight is gone but the wiring is still all intact, the bulbs and wiring for the front turn signals are still intact as well, but all the plastic is gone. One mirror is still intact, but the glass is gone from the other, but the frame is still good. There is a crack in the metal piece below the handle bars that the gauges are mounted to. The radiator is shot and seems to be leaking slightly and the chain seems to need a good cleaning.
So all that aside, the bike seems to start up and run great! (Until I find more things hidden that need work)
I'm not really sure what I got myself into, but I'm excited to see where it leads me!
First things first I think I need to get a new radiator. I've found them on ebay for around $160, but if anyone has some other ideas I'm all for advice.
Like I said earlier, I'm a complete novice to all of this so I appreciate any advice and support I receive.
Thanks in advance
Dirt bars or LSL superbike low bars will feel MUCH better to you. I personally have the LSL superbike low bars from ninja650shop.
I understand you don't want to jump ahead, but it MIGHT affect where you want to place or even how you mount your gauges, lights, and wind screen if you decide on one.
I like those bar-end lights... let us know how bright they are. Usable as the only signals, or just added bling.
Also, I've seen people mount the ignition elsewhere, which would allow you to tuck the gauges in closer. It all depends on how it looks with your light though.
I was thinking of moving the ignition, but I think it's welded to the triple, so that's kind of out of the question. I'll have to look at some new bars. I've looked around on ninja650shop, but they seem to charge a LOT.
I THINK the plastic innards of the ignition can be moved, then you can either cut off the little metal "loop" that surrounded it, or just not have to worry about obstructing it.
The lsl superbike lows were ~$60 if i remember correctly. I bought them because I have full fairings and i knew they would work. Dirt or drag bars are probably cheaper. I also liked the pull back of the LSLs.
For the time being I think I'm going to keep the ignition as is. On the upside, I have a buddy who used to race semi-pro and he's been helping me out along the way. Turns out he has LOTS of bike parts, and is willing to sell the to me cheap. So I supposed to grab a new front tire and a new set of bars from him today.
Waiting is the hardest damn part! Seems like everything is taking forever to arrive in the mail.
Tax check came in, so now even more parts have been ordered. Iv'e been looking ahead a bit and thinking about painting. I was wanting to do it myself and considering using rattle cans, but I'm worried about how it will look in the end. I've read a lot of mixed results.
spdu4ia, did you do you paint with a can?
Looks great bud., but honestly that dash is sticking way out there. Personally I'd fuck it off and get something smaller, or lay that one down a bit, or make up a little screen to go in front of it...
But yeah, great progress mate...
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Frustrating part is that mounting it there seems like one of the few options I have if I want to keep those gauges (And I really do)
I'm going to do some more thinking and playing and see if there is ANY other options for mounting it.
If not I was thinking of either buying one of these
or preferably making something similar out of a sheet of kydex.
I just really don't like the windshield look *sigh*
you could pull that dash in a bit if you relocate the ignition switch. Thats not too hard to do really. Then you can cut the mount for it off the triple and move it in another in or so, and a fly screen will cover it.
More progress, minuscule, but progress none the less. I added on the bar end mirrors.
I'm still looking around for a better placement of the gauges. I'm thinking I'll find a way to mount them in the middle of the bars.
Along with that I'm not 100% happy with the placement of the headlights. They're a little far down in my opinion. But the ignition blocks me placing hem any higher, so I'm thinking of making some kind of extension I can add to the mounts to make it work.
I'm sure there will be more pics to come in the next couple of days that show these changes in action
I really had planned to take a night off, spend some time with the girlfriend and relax...so much for that! As soon as she left for the night I somehow found myself in the garage. :doh:
It has been nagging me ever since I started this project that I didn't have a really good workbench, and I was tired of laying all my tools and parts out on the garage floor. I already had some plywood around so I decided to put it to use and build a workbench.
Now to the new work done on the bike. I wasn't really sure how I felt about the lights being so low, but the ignition is in the way of them being any higher, so I built some extensions for the headlight mounts that way I can move them up a bit. I going to have to live with them for a day or so and see how I feel.
And last but certianly not least the gauge placement. These things have been buggin me FOREVER! While I was at Home Depot today grabbing the 2x4's for the bench I came across some conduit brackets
Well these things work PERFECTLY for mounting the gauges directly to the handlebars! They look so much better now!
Yeah the lights would look better a bit lower in my opinion. Also, are you going to adjust the angle of the gauges? Right now it seems like you have to have your chin on the tank to look at them
Coming along mate!
Well after a lot of bitching from everyone I went ahead and moved the lights back down, and as much as it pains me to admit it......they do look a lot better lower.
:doh:
I also did some tweaking on the gauge placement so it wasn't so low. (Now before anyone says it, I KNOW they are not straight! I noticed it after I took the picture and went back and evened them out.)
As of now I need to wait for the radiator to come back from repair, replace the front tire, wait for the bar end blinkers to arrive, wait for the new right side rear cowl, wait for the new brake/clutch levers to arrive, wrap the the wires back up and then paint. (Not to mention all the B.S. of dealing with the DMV to get all this salvage title business sorted out and get it street legal)
A lot of work so far, and a LOT more work to be done, but I have loved every minute of it!
New front tire has been added and installed.
I have done some work on the license plate bracket and removed the rear signals. Now I just need to find a good place for the rear reflector.
Started a bit of painting tonight. Had a broken fairing piece for a test piece that I plastic welded back together, sanded down and primed. Going to let it set overnight then get to sanding it tomorrow night.
Radiator should be here tomorrow, then I'm good to do some riding around the neighborhood and break this puppy in!
where do you live? Why put the rear reflector back on?
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