Kawasaki Ninja 250

[LivinLOS]

Just had a look, first few links are listing the 09 Ninja as 3500 GBP !!! Thats only a few hundred quid less than the 08 ER6F at 3899..

[BigBikeBKK]

Just had a look, first few links are listing the 09 Ninja as 3500 GBP !!! Thats only a few hundred quid less than the 08 ER6F at 3899..

Well, who in their right mind would choose to ride in the UK vs Thailand??? How do you put a price tag on that?

[Bard]

I agree the price difference is very low in UK, but it's looking like it will be huge over here 3500 Pounds for a 250 is unreal price. Then you need warm clothing full rain kit unless you only ride for 2 weeks at a year...

Cheers Bard

[thaicbr]

OK message to all Tony Broster's black nearly new Ninja 250 has now been SOLD. and the old bugger just told me he's gonna get a Tiger250.. so congrats and keep on riding.

Allan

[Bard]

Good for him, hope the new bike is a better match for him.

You still going to buy Tony's bike Allan?

[thaicbr]

Na i think i'm gonna wait for the bigger bikes to come out. the cbr250 seems to be ok now......touch wood. oh by the way Bard i got newenough to send that helmet cos i hopefully will get it before the Bira day. Also Bard. Tony said he has a Kawasaki /carbon tank protector if you want it. let me know

allan

Edited December 24, 2008 by thaicbr

[dave_boo]

First, read this thread; there's Öhlins rear shock for sale in the States. List price is 827 USD (28 308 THB). 699 USD (23 926 THB) for the first 15 sold, and that price includes springing for your weight. If I could get firm purchase guarantees from forum members, I'd order some.

Sato has their rearsets ready, should help those of us with plus sized feet.

There's also this R9 that seems to be a fabulous deal.

If you likey bling-bling, there's angel eyes for the Ninja.

[stamrob]

Bira run is the 4th of Jan for anyone who want in, open from 08:00 to 12:00

Group for the moment looks like 6 or more guys, no chicks dammit. 3 off 250's and larger bikes, will be a bash in Pattaya afterward for some adult fun

Hi, you all ride Ninja 250's?

Been living close to Pattaya some time, but I'm still looking for some mates to ride on Bira with.

Last Sunday I did ride the KSR endurance race, though I was very slow it was great fun! It just isn't fun when you are driving alone.

BTW, what's wrong with chicks there? Always handy if you need gas, food or whatever? Besides, mine has no problem driving big bikes (she wants a CBR600!)

[Bard]

Stamrob, it will be a mix between Ninja 250's, CBR 250, Trent's 1300 and some other bikes so as Nirvana sigs "Come As You Are" I do Bira every now and then and live in Rayong so when I'm home I'm always up for a ride.

Allan, Carbon sounds very good have a price for it?

Finally I talked with Yamaha Khun Man who was very nice and told me the FZ-6 bike price 437k was included 1st class insurance, reg and road tax. IF you have a work permit they'll finance you as well. I will go over there mid Jan and look around in the showroom, I asked for a quantity discount which was doable so if someone else want's to join me for the showroom day let me know.

Cheers Bard

[JonnyF]

Just watched your video on Youtube Bard, that Area P sounds really good - the best I've heard on the 250 Ninja. I think I'll wait and see how BBB's custom conversion goes and then decide which way to go.

I just had a Christmas card from Kawasaki land on my desk. Nice touch!

[Richard-BKK]

Sorry people,

I looked at the exhaust system of R9 Racing, which has some name in two-stroke racing. I have some questions for the exhaust system they have available for the Kawasaki Ninja 250R, what is basically identical to the Suzuki Raider R 150 exhaust system they sell, with exception of the front part.

I’m not an expert, so if somebody can answer; the Indonesian Ninja is based on the American carburetor version of the 250R, which is factory tuned pretty rich in it’s fueling. The Thai or European version is a Fuel Injection version, which is factory tuned closer to the edge of being lean…

So if breathing is so much different is exhaling still the same? Somebody ever told me that the wrong exhaust mounted on the wrong engine could cause changes in the rich and lean balance?

As I was told an exhaust system from a rich fuel engine on a tuned lean engine will make the engine run even leaner… As exhaust gases can escape more easily… And a to lean engine can burn holes in pistons or even worse…

Edited December 25, 2008 by Richard-BKK

[thaicbr]

Richard. The US ninja's are on the lean side the Thai FI are optimum and the R9 racing is probably the same as the Sportisi one which has been tested on a Dyno. The FI should compensate but until Bard tries it on the Dyno we can not be sure, we believe that it's running slightly lean at present. but proberly no more so than a lot of bikes on the road.

This is the reason that you retune/rejet carb engines to compensate but FI retunes it self to an extent.

Allan

[dave_boo]

Yeah, I agree with the general sentiment; the FI system should make adjustments to offset the higher output capabilities of the new exhaust systems. However, the computer is only as good as its support components, I.E. the fuel pump's ability to provide proper pressure and volume, the injectors being able to spray enough fuel into the chamber, etc. Obviously that's an oversimplification but you get the idea. Also I have not seen any data to suggest which way the Thai Ninja version lies. And I have yet to see anything, other than on this forum, that would suggest that Kawasaki would install a different CDI on the Thai version than they'd install on the Japanese/Euro.....doesn't make much sense to me.

The reason the exhaust plays a part in the Air/Fuel ratio (and once again this is simplified) is that if your engine doesn't have as much back pressure as the engineers had planned for in order to be compliant with local emission laws. Back pressue feeds a bit of the unspent hydrocarbons back into the combustion chamber. Those amounts are then burnt. Remove that and your system is lean.

Also of concern is combustion pulses. As the exhaust leaves your cylinder head, it does it not in a steady stream but rather a series of pulses(the combustion cycle). Running down the exhaust tract, it will eventually hit a restriction which will cause it to reflect back (think about throwing a stone into the edge of a pond). With properly designed system, you can get those pulses to work to your advantage in scavenging the proper amount of exhaust gas out the cylinder. Improperly designed and you'll end up choking off power.

Having posted that, I'm going to assume that the R9 is a great system based on their work with 2T bikes. Remember that it's that first bend or two and diameter that's so important in an exhaust system.

[Bard]

For 2 strokes the exhaust system is crucial for the engine power more than any other engine, which Dave explained very well.

I also figured out why my bike appeared to run a tad lean, it's not actually the backfiring in the can happens at two occasions.

1. When it's cold and you rev it (rich mix)

2. When you run it hot and pull of the throttle breaking with the engine, I was worried about this and looked around for answers and from what I've seen it's either the fuel injected before you pull off which is burnt off at the outlet of the can when it mixes with air, or as someone claims the oil vent going into the air filter box which by change in pressure steams off a little oil which again get burnt off at the end of the can. It does not happen in stock because the catalytic converter burns it off prior to getting to the air. If you look at tuned bikes and cars you see the same thing when you pull off the throttle actually a bang with a little fireball at the end of the exhaust, I like it to be honest...

I will try to remove the oil vent and put a filter on it and bleed it to air and see, I am also really looking forward to dyno and map it with a PowerCommander to see how it behaves after that. As soon as I manage to do this I will share the info on the forum.

Right now it runs very well as is to be honest. And due to the O2 sensor in a FI engine it will not run to lean, normally the manufacturer map it to run slightly rich (generic) to avoid overheating and piston problem. I tested out if the fuel pump and injectors are sized up enough by bypassing the ECU and running it as it's cold on full rev, the entire area smelled like gasoline so the output is more than enough. The PowerCommander will map your engine specifically so it runs optimum all the time and calibrate the O2 sensor in your system to a calibrated one they put on the exhaust outlet, so the engine will be at optimum and remove the generic settings. The generic settings is made so it will fit every engine coming out of production and put in a safety factor on it so they can put a warranty for all the engines coming out. Tuning an Engine is simply optimizing your specific engine.

The Stock Exhaust is made to fit all noise and emission regulations in the countries they sell them, and when there is a 33 Hp rule in EU why aim for more in stock? I kid you not the header is square looking, goes into the O2 sensor (box) then into a Catalytic converter and ends up in a can you cannot see light trough holding it up towards the sun looking into it. There is cross plates everywhere in it, not a pipe with holes in to muffler material, just a full mesh of thin plates in it, so that is not good for flow at all.

If you want a cheap mod for the exhaust you can make the shorty can, and also remove the catalytic converter that will open it up a good deal. The Area-P open up the flow by 70%, so it's pretty clear how much the stock is restricted. The ghetto mod will not give the same since A-P uses 1.5" pipe but it should improve for a smaller amount of money. Hopefully Tony finishes his mod before we go to the Dyno, and we get someone with a stock one so we can compare and see what gives what and what you get for the money...

Cheers Bard

[dave_boo]

For 2 strokes the exhaust system is crucial for the engine power more than any other engine, which Dave explained very well.

Thanks for backing me up; I wouldn't want peopl.e to think I'm a TOTAL crackpot. For those who are still having problems understanding the conversation, go out and play with your garden hose-it provides a good approximation of the basics of exhaust systmes. After all air is just expanded liquid nitrogen (well ~75% of air is). Test bending your hose, restriciting it on those bends, etc.

I also figured out why my bike appeared to run a tad lean, it's not actually the backfiring in the can happens at two occasions.

1. When it's cold and you rev it (rich mix)

2. When you run it hot and pull of the throttle breaking with the engine, I was worried about this and looked around for answers and from what I've seen it's either the fuel injected before you pull off which is burnt off at the outlet of the can when it mixes with air, or as someone claims the oil vent going into the air filter box which by change in pressure steams off a little oil which again get burnt off at the end of the can. It does not happen in stock because the catalytic converter burns it off prior to getting to the air. If you look at tuned bikes and cars you see the same thing when you pull off the throttle actually a bang with a little fireball at the end of the exhaust, I like it to be honest...

Yeah, backfiring (although if we wanted to get technical it's actually afterfiring). Is more common than people realise. Usually it's an indication that the timing is wrong. That's what I would assume (maybe incorrectly!) was the cause of your cold start backfiring. If the timing gets retarded due to the temperature, it can fire after the exhaust valve opens and the flame can travel down your pipe until it burns all of the fuel.

Backfiring can be caused by the engine actually running rich. When you shut off the throttle the butterfly (I believe that's the style that the Ninja uses) valve shuts in the intake tract. However, it takes a wee bit of time for the injectors to stop dumping that load of fuel in. This dumps cool fuel into the chamber which is oxygen starved and not burnt until the oxygen level is increased (i.e. at the end of the exhaust tract). It isn't as big of a problem on engines that use a Throttle Positioning Sensor since the ECU should read the current and reduce the amount injected. I'd be surprised if Kawasaki didn't have one on the Ninja, but perhaps someone who's still in Thailand could trace their throttle cable to its termination and see if there's a sensor attached to there with wiring that comes out?

The claim that it's related to the PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation) is false. PCV doesn't restrict the amount of combustible gasses, but rather increases it slightly. Also removal of the system could cause issues due to the then missing lubrication and ancillary cooling that it provides. More likely you've got a leak in your intake tract if it's lean. Trust me, after having worked on plenty of E30 BMW, if you have a leak in that tract you're going to have trouble! Another concern I'd have, since you've replaced your exhaust is if it's totally sealed down to the tip. That will affect things.

There is also a relationship between the displacement, fuel system, lenght of the exhaust tract, and a few other factors that will let you have those fireballs. Generally the larger displacement engines are more likely to have nice fireballs simply because they are going to dump a larger amount of fuel into the tract when you have a sharp roll off of the throttle. You can still get the smaller displacement engines to afterfire if their exhaust system is short enough to not contain enough residual oxygen to burn off their unspent gasses. Obviously carb'd engines are going to be more prone to this afterfire (and actual backfire which I've seen videos of actually blowing intake manifolds off engines!) than the computerised systems not widely in use.

I will try to remove the oil vent and put a filter on it and bleed it to air and see, I am also really looking forward to dyno and map it with a PowerCommander to see how it behaves after that. As soon as I manage to do this I will share the info on the forum.

I wouldn't recommend doing that to try and fix afterfire. As I mentioned earlier removal of the PCV will not fix your problem and there's a good chance it will aggravate it. But since it's an easy job, try it and prove me wrong. You'll also have to consider that those oils are going to have to go somewhere since you've diverted them from your intake; hope you don't mind cleaning more, and if you do mind you don't care that the hot oil may cause problems on whatever it lands on.

Right now it runs very well as is to be honest. And due to the O2 sensor in a FI engine it will not run to lean, normally the manufacturer map it to run slightly rich (generic) to avoid overheating and piston problem. I tested out if the fuel pump and injectors are sized up enough by bypassing the ECU and running it as it's cold on full rev, the entire area smelled like gasoline so the output is more than enough. The PowerCommander will map your engine specifically so it runs optimum all the time and calibrate the O2 sensor in your system to a calibrated one they put on the exhaust outlet, so the engine will be at optimum and remove the generic settings. The generic settings is made so it will fit every engine coming out of production and put in a safety factor on it so they can put a warranty for all the engines coming out. Tuning an Engine is simply optimizing your specific engine.

Well your experiment answers my question about the stock setup not being able to keep up with mods....

The Stock Exhaust is made to fit all noise and emission regulations in the countries they sell them, and when there is a 33 Hp rule in EU why aim for more in stock? I kid you not the header is square looking, goes into the O2 sensor (box) then into a Catalytic converter and ends up in a can you cannot see light trough holding it up towards the sun looking into it. There is cross plates everywhere in it, not a pipe with holes in to muffler material, just a full mesh of thin plates in it, so that is not good for flow at all.

And it weighs as much as Godzilla's left nut.

If you want a cheap mod for the exhaust you can make the shorty can, and also remove the catalytic converter that will open it up a good deal. The Area-P open up the flow by 70%, so it's pretty clear how much the stock is restricted. The ghetto mod will not give the same since A-P uses 1.5" pipe but it should improve for a smaller amount of money. Hopefully Tony finishes his mod before we go to the Dyno, and we get someone with a stock one so we can compare and see what gives what and what you get for the money...

I'll be home end of Feb.

Cheers Bard

[BigBikeBKK]

The Stock Exhaust is made to fit all noise and emission regulations in the countries they sell them, and when there is a 33 Hp rule in EU why aim for more in stock? I kid you not the header is square looking, goes into the O2 sensor (box) then into a Catalytic converter and ends up in a can you cannot see light trough holding it up towards the sun looking into it. There is cross plates everywhere in it, not a pipe with holes in to muffler material, just a full mesh of thin plates in it, so that is not good for flow at all.

And it weighs as much as Godzilla's left nut.

If you want a cheap mod for the exhaust you can make the shorty can, and also remove the catalytic converter that will open it up a good deal. The Area-P open up the flow by 70%, so it's pretty clear how much the stock is restricted. The ghetto mod will not give the same since A-P uses 1.5" pipe but it should improve for a smaller amount of money. Hopefully Tony finishes his mod before we go to the Dyno, and we get someone with a stock one so we can compare and see what gives what and what you get for the money...

I don't know as much about the technical details being discussed but I do agree that the stock exhaust is heavy as a mofo (the can alone has to weigh close to 5kg) and you can tell just from the sound (or lack thereof) that it's very restricted. That's why I'm going to chop my stock exhaust and make a glass pack "shorty" like this:

Looks like the stock exhaust, but actually it's been cut open, the can shortened nearly in half, the baffles and cat removed, and repacked with fiberglass wrapped perforated steel:

Should be fun and will definitely cut weight and add power and volume. In the unlikely event it sucks I'll just buy a new stock can from Kawasaki and start saving for a Yoshimura.

Happy Trails!

[Bard]

Or you can buy my stock can

Would recommend you to chop out the catalytic converter at the same time Tony, there is gain right there as well.

When are you coming down to mod the can?

Cheers Bard

[Bard]

Thanks for the input Dave I believe you're right about the fuel dump. Maybe the fetish side of me but I like it when I get the bang at the end, how to do it is to go full throttle let go when the bike is hot and you get a nice little bang with a flame sticking out in the back. Just like my old race car

Anyway I will dig around and find out more probably when I dyno and get full mapping it goes away.

End of Feb I should be home at the very end myself so we could check out the dyno, hope they have it running sooner but TIT

Cheers Bard

[BigBikeBKK]

Or you can buy my stock can

Would recommend you to chop out the catalytic converter at the same time Tony, there is gain right there as well.

When are you coming down to mod the can?

Cheers Bard

Hi Bard,

I'll be touring Europe (NOT on a motorcycle) for a few more weeks, returning to Thailand on Jan 19th. Knowing my luck that will be the day you go off to work again Happy Trails!

[Richard-BKK]

Sorry people,

One thing I not understand, and yes, I'm aware of the difference between a two-stroke and a four-stroke exhaust system, still I wonder how the little brain in the Kawa Ninja 250R knows about exhaust changes? I agree that the system has a excellent compensation capability for the intake, but maybe I missed something there is no second sensor... Only one at the intake, which is doing a superB job...

The claim that exhaust systems not really matter on a four stoke is a bit based on old fashion low revving American motorcycles. Considering that for something like a CBR600RR a set of pipes used from a previous year model can actual lower the horsepower, and it is not much different for other revving engines, depending highly on electronics, with preset expectations of exhaust capabilities.

And therefore again I say as a person, please people do not use exhaust systems build for carburetor designed bikes... the fueling is just not the same and it is a sure ticket to problems, for a Fuel Injection model sold in Thailand.

But people, as I showed in the past I has no knowledge about Thai build Kawasaki motorcycles so feel free to do what you think...

Edited December 26, 2008 by Richard-BKK

[Bard]

First of all Tony,

No I leave the Kingdom 30th of Jan so we can have some good fun before I am forced back to work, 5 weeks off this time

Richard, there is two sensors on the Ninja, one at the intake and one in the exhaust system, there is the Lambda or O2 as it's referred to in the exhaust system bolted onto the O2 bung. This sensor measure the combusted gas and sends the data to the ECU (brain) who adjust it for fuel mix in combination with the intake sensor who feeds in the airflow to the engine data to the ECU. So with these two inputs the ECU adjust the fuel injected to the bike. Consequently when you increase the airflow it auto-jet for the changes...

Cheers Bard

[dave_boo]

Sorry people,

One thing I not understand, and yes, I'm aware of the difference between a two-stroke and a four-stroke exhaust system, still I wonder how the little brain in the Kawa Ninja 250R knows about exhaust changes? I agree that the system has a excellent compensation capability for the intake, but maybe I missed something there is no second sensor... Only one at the intake, which is doing a superB job...

There's an airflow meter device in the intake and a Lambda sensor (0₂)sensor in the exhaust. What the ECU does is figure out how much fresh air is coming in. It then compares that to the map it has stored in memory. Depending on the amount of air it increases the rate at which the fuel is injected. It then reads the Lambda sensor and compares that to a set value. If the reading from the Lambda sensor is high it means that it's dumping too much fuel into the chamber. It then readjusts its settings to 'lean out' the mixture. If the value read from the Lambda sensor is too low it does the opposite. And remember it's doing this hundreds of times a second.

The claim that exhaust systems not really matter on a four stoke is a bit based on old fashion low revving American motorcycles. Considering that for something like a CBR600RR a set of pipes used from a previous year model can actual lower the horsepower, and it is not much different for other revving engines, depending highly on electronics, with preset expectations of exhaust capabilities.

That claim made in this thread was without merit. If doubt is there, consider what's called 'log headers' (at least in the States). Basic C shaped with as many pipes to the head as needed. Ok for evacuating the gasses, but terribly inefficient. Now compare that to a tuned length header. Think about those beautiful exhaust headers that look like a bunch of snakes wrapped around each other. Reason they're like that is because they've figured out that keeping the pulse waves correct by introducing the right bends and lengths INCREASES power. That's why you see them on high performance machines.

And therefore again I say as a person, please people do not use exhaust systems build for carburetor designed bikes... the fueling is just not the same and it is a sure ticket to problems, for a Fuel Injection model sold in Thailand.

You're incorrect about that; once the Lambda sensor is installed, the system will still work fine. Remember that the basic engine is the same; just the part that gives fuel is different. There's still X number of cc's (sorry I'm American so it's actually CFM) of exhaust gas that need to be removed each second from you cylinder. Whether you have a petrol can dribbling the fuel in or you have a direct injection system, once its job is over, it ceases to be important and you have to worry about the next step in the chain. For this reason you usually see no changes between a FI and a carb'd version of the engine's pistons, heads, etc.

But people, as I showed in the past I has no knowledge about Thai build Kawasaki motorcycles so feel free to do what you think...

It's not Thai built motorcycle's that are special (unless they're sprinkling magic fairy dust on them); it's your self admitted lack of understanding of the technology that is causing the confusion.

[dave_boo]

I'm also including a snippet from this page:

A word about exhausts

There are more performance questions about the implications of switching exhausts on injected engines than any other fuel-related topics, and with good reason. There is plenty of confusion surrounding what happens even with a carburetor and it's all about back pressure.

When we talk about a lack of back pressure, we are actually talking about the management of reverse pressure waves echoing up the exhaust system. These pressure waves reflect up and down the pipe both resisting and pulling exhaust gases from the engine but you need to know that any back pressure, or restriction in the exhaust reduces gas flow through an engine at some point in its cycle. The physical barriers in the exhaust system generate a variety of pressure waves and the time at which these pressure waves arrive at the exhaust valve can improve airflow by pulling air into the cylinder or reduce airflow by pushing against the air coming from the intake. This effect changes with the engine speed. A well designed exhaust system either minimizes these pressure waves, or tries to control their timing to improve power by pulling air into the engine.

The fuel injection system is not directly affected by the exhaust system, but the amount of air getting into the engine is. More air needs more fuel, but if the system cannot sense the change in the airflow, the proper air/fuel ratio will not be provided. Since none of the systems used by Harley-Davidson use airflow sensing to establish the fuel mix, the fuel map needs to be altered to ensure a proper mix.

When an EFI bike is modified with an improved airflow filter and a performance exhaust system, the EFI fuel map needs to be modified to compensate for the increased air getting into the engine. Slip-on mufflers, conventional 2-2 and 2-1 exhaust systems all allow more air into the engine by reducing the exhaust restriction but they do not significantly alter the pressure waves in the exhaust system - unlike when drag pipes are used, because the restrictions in the exhaust system are decreased and the management of the pressure waves is altered dramatically. The pressure waves that are generated by drag pipes actually reduce airflow into the engine at low/mid power ranges.

A carburetor and injected engine react to a change in pipes in an identical manner. The difference is in how you resolve the situation. In a carburetor engine, you alter the jetting to compensate for changes in airflow through the engine, and many people don't realize that there are multiple fuel circuits that must be re-jetted in order to compensate for changes in pipes.

With a fuel injection system, the fuel map must be altered to reflect changes in airflow at various engine speeds. It sounds worse than it is because the carburetor's jetting is a compromise to match the jet to the engine speed and load, but when remapping fuel injection, the fuel is altered for a very specific speed/load condition allowing much better power across the entire range of the engine.

[Richard-BKK]

Thanks Bard,

I'm again not that technical, but if the Ninja 250R with Fi has a Lambda sensor, sure you know it, as you say in a previous posting Lambda sensor (page 10) need to mod it for the lambda sensor ... so that will take some time though. Can you enlighten us all how you foul the sensor?

[dave_boo]

The sensor can get fouled from carbon build up if your engine runs too rich. If it runs too lean it can overheat and damage the wiring. A particularly unlucky rock can get kicked up and cause physical damage.

[Bard]

After I modded the exhaust system to have a O2 bung (took me 1/2 day) Area-P started to make headers which includes the O2 bung so now you can order it with O2 bung and do not need to modify the header anymore, unless you order wrong header. It is not a big deal, and this time when I come home I will help tuktukracer to install his Area-P which he ordered without O2 bung, I will take photographs and post a how2 on the forum so it's simple to see how to install it, will also help him with the Targa No-Cut fender eliminator so I will do the same there. That should make it easier for everyone who is interested to see.

Probably when Tony comes to my place to make the shorty mod, I'll do the same for that mod. So bear with me I am traveling from tomorrow on a 3 day hellbent journey home so it will be after new year before it will be posted.

I never ran the bike without the Lambda, that will run the engine as it is cold and give way to much fuel.

The sensor is well protected so damage is not likely on it, but everything can happen...

Cheers Bard

[Richard-BKK]

Lets say I pay for import and purchase of a R9 Ninja exhaust set who is willing to test. I bet I have a few laughs ...

Edited December 26, 2008 by Richard-BKK

[Bard]

Need a Ninja 9 first then I'll take you up on it, you can't just put something on and think it works eyh

Every time one changes on the bike ensure you do it right or not at all

Cheers Bard

[tuktukracer]

Hi Chaps.

I fitted the Targa fender eliminator kit myself by following these detailed instructions: http://www.kawiforums.com/showthread.php?t=121552

One less job for you there Bard ;-)

One thing worth noting is that I didn't find it necessary to cut & shorten the stock indicator cables nor did I fit the ABS plastic accents as they didn't fit (whether I received the wrong ones I don't know). Anyway, it looks great and I'm really happy. A vanity mod but it must have shaved a bit of weight off the bike.

Can't wait to catch up with Bard and the rest of the BIRA mob on the 4th. It will be my first track day so will be taking it real easy.

I'm thinking about changing my tires before doing BIRA. These stock tires are horrible. Will research this thread again in a mo but I think the consensus was that Bridgestone 140s were the best option.

I'm thinking about getting some eyes in the back of my head http://www.motionaleyes.com/home.html so I can spot these mad Vigo & Minius drivers that love flying up your arse at silly speeds.

This thread is getting awfully busy. I was thinking about starting a forum so we can structure these discussions a little better. I've just registered ninjette.co.uk & babyninja.co.uk. Why .co.uk I hear you ask, well it's because I'm a UK registrar and it was the easiest ccTLD for me to reg. Anyway, I have a VBulletin license and server to host this, so all I need are some knowledgable moderators. PM me if you're interested in helping. Also, out of the two domain names, which do you think is best?

Cheers! Simon

Edited December 27, 2008 by tuktukracer

[dave_boo]

Lets say I pay for import and purchase of a R9 Ninja exhaust set who is willing to test. I bet I have a few laughs ...

Nice to throw a picture up, but what's the complete story? Guy forget to rejet his carb? To much timing? Many things could have caused that....

None the less, I'm going to order that muffler I linked to; will let anyone who wants to ride it and check out the change.