[gantt]

Looks great. you got me thinking too. go from a not-so-cool pregen to a retro naked with a touch of cafe on the side. haters will always hate. i happen to like it a lot. i saved a picture to my phone. haha. personally i like the trimmed fender before you trimmed the sides off. but that my opinion.

 

[Arizona Streake]

Trimmed the fender a little more:

Added a Venhill SS brake line. BIG improvement over stock:

You nailed it with the front fender, well done sir! I normally like the no front fender look on that type of bike, but looking at all the pics I preferred it with the modified fender vs. no fender, and now it's even better. Just don't go getting drunk and thinking you can make it even smaller - you'll kick yourself.

 

[chicagobob]

My daughter is out of town, so I've been riding her bike to work - a blast, plus 70 mpg and free parking. Oh, and I blacked out the passenger peg brackets and the front fender mounts:

 

[Vinhtvu2]

That look AWESOME!
I hated the way the older 250 look, but this got me thinking!!!

 

[brenthedtke83]

that's really awesome what you've done with the bike! What tail light did you use for it?

 

[chicagobob]

that's really awesome what you've done with the bike! What tail light did you use for it?

An inexpensive LED light from Amazon.com. Very bright, but I had to take it apart and fix a broken solder joint.

 

[brenthedtke83]

was the wiring for the light really difficult? It seems like it would be. Also, have you thought about chopping the rear frame support and adding in a tire hugger from a cbr 250 or something along those lines?

 

[chicagobob]

was the wiring for the light really difficult? It seems like it would be. Also, have you thought about chopping the rear frame support and adding in a tire hugger from a cbr 250 or something along those lines?

Wiring was easy, just the usual 3 wires (but not the usual wire color scheme, so if you get one, check the leads with a 9V battery before you hook it up to your bike). We would have cut the frame more if we had welding facilities, but our idea for this bike was an easy, inexpensive project, so we didn't want to spend more than necessary to achieve that goal. That's why we've kept the original seat, too, although the frame lends itself to aftermarket cafe or flat track seats. Anyhow, cutting the frame would require different seat bracing and different mounts for the exhaust cans.

Note: our wiring may look complex because we had to extend the taillight and turn signal leads after we moved the ECU from its original location, but it's the stock wiring scheme.

 

[Matticus650]

This is still by far my favorite 250.

 

[s2000]

This bike looks incredible. I'm in the market for a cheap Ninja 250 and i have found an 06 for cheap, and I hate the way they look with all of the plastics on. I plan on using your bike as inspiration for mine. Quick question: Where did you find your clip-on bars and digital speedo/tach? Thanks!

 

[chicagobob]

The clip-ons are from Woodcraft. They come in different sizes for different fork diameters. The pregen Ninja 250 has 36mm forks. The speedo/tach is a Trail Tech Vapor, from trailtech.net, with Trail Tech's indicator light "dashboard." $129 for the gauge, $50 for the dashboard. If you use it, make sure you call them and get the correct resistor for the tach wire.

I have posts on ninjette.org/forums about how it was installed.

Trail Tech also has a new, smaller, cheaper (about $70) speedo (no tach, but several other features) called the Endurance II, that is very good and very compact, but doesn't have an indicator light surround.

 

[chicagobob]

We've long wanted to switch to a tubular handlebar for this bike, so we could lower the front end a little, and take advantage of all the different 7/8" bars that are available. Also, we wanted wider bars than stock.

We had a Renthal ultra-low handlebar in the shop, and a pair of Outlaw Racing bar mounts, so after a lot of measuring, we drilled the triple clamp and got to work. There's not much to work with on the pregen triple, unless you are able to fab something to translate the stock mounting holes to 7/8" bar mounts, so we decided to just drill two holes in the center section and mount the risers there. We placed a couple of nylon buttons under the mounts, and rubber spacers under the nuts that secure the risers under the triple clamp.

Seems to have come out well, and I like the feel and look (my daughter hasn't tried it yet, but she thought the clipons were "a little reachy," as she put it. If we decide to switch back to clip-ons, we can plug the new holes with plastic covers.

The Renthal bar is lightweight and has good vibration-absorbing properties, so the absence of bar-end weights doesn't seem to be an issue. The width feels good. The bike is probably too sensitive to rider inputs with the front this low, especially with wider bars, so ee'll probably raise the front an inch from what is shown in the pics. We wanted to see the maximum before making final adjustments.

 

[blueknight]

this thing looks 1000 times better then a stock ninja :righton:

 

[Conmar]

I've got an '03 sitting in the garage I bought off my stepson so he could got get a bigger one. I've got the replacement front fairing, windshield, signals and mirrors just waiting for paint and me to find the time. But I like the look of this!

I've also thought about changing the rear frame to look either more like the newer version, or maybe even something like this: (in next post)

 

[Conmar]

Something like this:

 

[Thew]

I know your daughter says the clips were reachy... But I can't help thinking clubmans would look totally beachin' on your set up. Makes me start looking at the ninja 5 I've got out in the door yard...

 

[808NINJA]

Sorry for the noob question, but what brand and size are both your tires?

 

[gantt]

Love the new handlebars.

 

[hellboy7]

This bike looks incredible. I'm in the market for a cheap Ninja 250 and i have found an 06 for cheap, and I hate the way they look with all of the plastics on. I plan on using your bike as inspiration for mine. Quick question: Where did you find your clip-on bars and digital speedo/tach? Thanks!

Pretty much my exact same dilemma right now too. I want to see what options I have available... I love the price of the 250s though, if this can all easily be done... I'm game to try this too!
a

 

[808NINJA]

We've long wanted to switch to a tubular handlebar for this bike, so we could lower the front end a little, and take advantage of all the different 7/8" bars that are available. Also, we wanted wider bars than stock.

We had a Renthal ultra-low handlebar in the shop, and a pair of Outlaw Racing bar mounts, so after a lot of measuring, we drilled the triple clamp and got to work. There's not much to work with on the pregen triple, unless you are able to fab something to translate the stock mounting holes to 7/8" bar mounts, so we decided to just drill two holes in the center section and mount the risers there. We placed a couple of nylon buttons under the mounts, and rubber spacers under the nuts that secure the risers under the triple clamp.

Seems to have come out well, and I like the feel and look (my daughter hasn't tried it yet, but she thought the clipons were "a little reachy," as she put it. If we decide to switch back to clip-ons, we can plug the new holes with plastic covers.]

Did you ever check out these risers that attach to forks? Ninja EX250, all years, Im torn between a ex500 and a 250 doing this kind of project. It will come done to availability and how much cash I have...