[Bskicrash1]

Day 5


Carefully took out the stock air box. This was a pain seeing as how Kawasaki designed it to fit flush against all frame tubes... So I had to split it in half by unscrewing all 9 screws and removing one half of it at a time.

This thing was heavy! (4 pounds rounded!)




Day 6

I decided to remove the stock air box snorkels and take a look at them... I then became creative and decided that I could build my own pod filters out of the stock snorkels.

I had some wire screen laying around (the stuff for your household screens)... I cut up 4 sections large enough to be able to wrap around each snorkel. The wire is strong enough to keep the foam filter from being sucked into the engine. I then sandwiched the foam filter element between two sections of wire screen and then wrapped them around the snorkel...


so the layers are as follows:

1. Snorkel that attaches to carberator
2. Wire screen to keep the foam from being vacuumed into the carberator
3. Foam filter element
4. Wire screen to protect the outside of the filter element from debris etc.


Here is one snorkel finished and one naked!

The pod filters will attach to the carburetor's using hose clamps.


When I removed the airbox... I now have my crankcase breather tube open on one end... I have to pick up a breather filter/breather element for it.


I also found a plastic shower caddy that fit perfectly between my frame tubes. This became my battery tray and electrical box. So all electrical are now nicely organized under my seat in this plastic container. (i'll have a pic next time I go into the barn)


until next post...
Rob

 

[Bskicrash1]

Day 7

Today I installed the pod filters I made and cleaned all the electrical's into one location under the seat. This is what it looks like so far

what I have left to do:

Make my tail light braket, turn signal brackets, and wire them into the wire harness.





I would have made more progress today, but yesterday my dirt bike busted a hole in the stator cover... So i had to fix that today. Tomorrow I have a trail ride...

 

[Bskicrash1]

Day 7 part II

I went back through the electricals and zip tied loose wires together to make it neat and tidy. I made a mount for my rear brake reservoir... I moved the reservoir forward compared to where it was stock.


My coolant reservoir tank seems to be big, bulky, plastic and is a huge eyesore...

I took one of my paintball CO2 20 ounce canisters and mocked it up... thought it looked like a neat and original idea... But 20 ounce is way to large... i would want more like a 5 ounce bottle...

My dad suggested to get a small white nitrous bottle with the chrome badge on it and use that as my coolant reservoir...

I like that idea, so i may be calling my local filling station to see if they sell the small cannisters empty.

 

[switch263]

cool build, like where its goin. good work!

 

[Punkbrad]

sweet. i love a budget DIY build. im doing the same with my grenaded SV650. ima do all the work myself in a garage with minimal tools and storebought goodies... rat bike for sure...

now, ditch that front fairing and strap on a round light!

well done man - PB

 

[Bskicrash1]

Day 8

Today I mounted my rear lights. I had to make a mount for my running light/brake light. It fit securely to the frame underneath the rear lip of my seat. I started my quick splice and quick connects on my signals and brake lights. Now I just need to hook up the battery, cut my old wire harness for the rear lights and quick connect my new lights into the harness.

I made a new mount for my rear brake reservoir... the old mount made the reservoir stick out and was an eyesore.

The lights and seat are mocked up and the coolant reservoir will be replaced with something more creative.


Things left to do on the tail section: (so that I can use this as my commute bike again! It's been a long two and a half weeks without it)
1. Secure the seat
2. Connect my lights to the wire harness
3. Glass my under tail
4. Sand and paint the under tail
5. Find that nitrous canister for my coolant overflow tank

 

[Bskicrash1]

Don't know where to mount my license plate... suggestions?

 

[Double Glow]

Don't know where to mount my license plate... suggestions?

ziptie to upper shock moutn behind rear wheel? idk about legalities in your area.

 

[Bskicrash1]

Day 9

I Decided to fiberglass the electrical box to the frame and all my welds and support rails for the subframe... I like the look this gave me. I used the bondo brand of fiberglass that had the two inch long strands of fiberglass in the putty. Needless to say it was crap to work with. So once I started I realized it was going to need a lot of sanding... about 2 hours of rough elbow action...


Here's a pic of the nasty bondo crap before I sanded it...

I also decided to remove the rest of the fairings off the bike... took off the mainstay, stock headlight and guage cluster... reducing more weight off this bike...

 

[Bskicrash1]

Day 10

I remounted the stock gauges to upper triple ... I removed them from the stock mainstay and took off the plastic bezel that was covering them... When I saw the gauges without the big plastic shroud... I thought they looked pretty neat... so I began placing them all over till I found a spot I liked. I like this off center look...

Here's a pic....

Playing with the off center look of the gauges, I decided I'd mount two headlights... and place them off center... the large headlight is wired in for high beam and the small headlight is wired in for low beam.. I made a bracket out of steel and mounted it to the lower triple.

It gives it sort of an off centered cyborg look...

I have to do something about the front fender... I'm going to cut it and free up the tire and rim a bit... let it breathe... it just seems out of place... almost as if its an eye sore, too restrictive.



so far I've remained to a low budget build... I am at about $110 included new H H front brake pads.


Now I need to wait for the humidity to lower.. it was raining today.. then I will begin the flat black swing arm, frame, engine, exhaust.


And the bike is incredibly lean... won't even rev above 6,000... so I need to order some jets and spacers for the needle... i'll play with that next.

 

[Candyman]

Cutting that fender down is a great, and simple mod for the 250. If you happen across one cheap, EX 500 fenders are slick looking, would work great for any fighter really.

 

[Bskicrash1]

thanks Candyman... i like how the ex 500 fender is minimal... and sharp in front... I will have to look at the fender until something pops into mind... wanted to keep part of the fork leg coverage, but open up the tire and rims...

 

[stuntninja]

Thats got to be a bitch to work on the carbs now...

 

[Bskicrash1]

Thats got to be a bitch to work on the carbs now...

yeah, it will be... I had the carbs adjusted to the exhaust... then i decided to make pod filters... and well... it sucks way too much air... so i'm ordering kawasaki 108, 110, and 112 main jets... and some # 4 spacers for the needles...

The stock main jet is a Kawasaki 105... but basically with the high flow setup 108 and 110 main jets tend to be the ballpark and then playing with idle air mixture screws and the height of the needle jets...

so its going to be a pain, but i'll take my time and play with it till its right... its my daily commute bike, so I have to make it right! I'd rather only play with two barrel carbs than 4 barrels like some of the bikes on this site!

 

[stuntninja]

Or 6. See BBQ's cbx

Well they're not horrible to tune, you just have to be real careful. They're a little bit of a bitch to get right but once you do they're a dream. I've got a set of carbs for every exhaust I've run on mine, but then again, I'm an uber parts whore.

 

[Bskicrash1]

Just ordered kawasaki Main Jets #110 and #112 from Ron Ayers... first time doing business with them b/c denniskirk didn't sell the jets I wanted... (didn't want dynojet). I have to wait 10 days for the jets... i'm not a patient person... hope the order process's faster than expected.


The stock jets are Kawasaki #105... won't rev above 6K out of 14K... so I skipped the next size main jet since more than likely it would still sputter at high RPM's...

110's may be my key... but 112's if it will handle the gas without bogging down.


I'll pick up #4 metric washers so that I can raise my needle heights in the carbs once i've found the right main jet

i'm replacing all the fuel lines with a larger diameter high flow fuel line to increase my fuel flow to the carbs along with a larger see through in line fuel filter...

idle air mixture will be adjusted third and then possibly float bowl adjustments will be made along with synching the carbs...

I just hate the fact that I have to pull carbs... I find it very annoying.

 

[stuntninja]

Just ordered kawasaki Main Jets #110 and #112 from Ron Ayers... first time doing business with them b/c denniskirk didn't sell the jets I wanted... (didn't want dynojet). I have to wait 10 days for the jets... i'm not a patient person... hope the order process's faster than expected.


The stock jets are Kawasaki #105... won't rev above 6K out of 14K... so I skipped the next size main jet since more than likely it would still sputter at high RPM's...

110's may be my key... but 112's if it will handle the gas without bogging down.


I'll pick up #4 metric washers so that I can raise my needle heights in the carbs once i've found the right main jet

i'm replacing all the fuel lines with a larger diameter high flow fuel line to increase my fuel flow to the carbs along with a larger see through in line fuel filter...

idle air mixture will be adjusted third and then possibly float bowl adjustments will be made along with synching the carbs...

I just hate the fact that I have to pull carbs... I find it very annoying.

Good call on the dyno jets, they suck ass on these bikes. I've used 1 of each stage 1,3, and 7 and still had problems with all of them. Out of the kawi jets though, you can make a pretty healthy screamer out of the 114 jets and a set of the dynojet needles on the third step. I set mine up for this with a highflow exhaust and v-stacks and never had any problems. My current setup is a 118 jet with a deburred and smoothed bore and custom slides, but with the ported head and light regrinds, it makes a huge difference.

 

[Bskicrash1]

I've got my coolant reservoir!

Not sure if I want to paint it another color, or leave it black like the rest of the bike.


I also was digging around through my paintball gear... i thought this mask would be a nice addition to the front end...



what do you think?

 

[Bskicrash1]

Bought some truck bed coating for my swingarm and forks... some high heat paint for my engine case... two sets of LED license plate bolts... i'll use one set on the license plates and one set as eyes inside the paintball mask.

waiting for the temp to rise so that I can actually paint... its snowing in NY today ...

 

[Bskicrash1]

I drilled the C02 cannister for the coolant overflow... that is set, just need to mount it


I mocked up the facemask to the triples... it looks really good... I added two white LED bolt lights to simulate eyes... it's gonna make kids cry.

I had to make a new headlamp mount for my high and low lights...


i'll post pics tomorrow.