It?s fucking yellow, alright?! altoid's Ninja 500R

Finally went to start working on the bike this Saturday, and it was a super productive day:

• Fired up the bike—she purred like the day I dropped her off at the shop! :heart:
• Replaced the bent shifter.
• Replaced the bent left handlebar.
• Replaced the aging, dry, slippery grips.
• Installed bar end mirrors.
• Reinstalled the front subframe.
• Reinstalled the stock gauges.
• Installed the new speedo cable.
• Figured out replacement front turn signal wiring.
• Ordered new headlight.

To-do:

• Install said new headlight once it comes in.
• Install said replacement front turn signals.
• Chop off fairing mount parts of the subframe so I don't impale myself.
• Buy new helmet.
• Send it!~

Some pics:

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No, seriously, it's yellow!!!

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This is where we left off last time.

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So much strength! (It's true, gravity is pretty strong.)

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Front subframe and gauges back on.

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New handlebar on.

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Old grip off the throttle tube.

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This fucking thing was incredibly annoying to install.

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Something's amiss here…

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Bar end mirrors look cool.

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I like the ridiculousness of that front subframe.

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Left turn signal wiring. Right will have gray insted of green.
 
:thumbsup:
 
looks nice
 
Updates!

I ghetto-rigged the replacement headlight and turn signals well enough to get the bike home, but not well enough to actually keep riding as it is. I'll post pics of my "engineering" work a bit later, but suffice to say that on the way home the headlight kept pointing down instead of forward and my dashboard backlight and tail/brake light were out, so I think I need to replace a fuse.

Due to the bent front subframe, enormous stock gauges, and general ugliness of the whole thing, I ordered some Trail Tech Vapor goodness. By the time that arrives, I'll also need to do some regular maintenance on the bike, but otherwise I should be back on the road soonish.
 
Too lazy for pictures right this moment, but here's an update: still not up and running.

I got a Trail Tech Vapor and figured out how to mount it, for the most part (read: needs a do-over, but works for now). The speedo works like a charm, and the stuff I already did (headlight, front turn signals) does as well. I replaced all the fuses, since they looked worn (and the new ones are easier to hold onto for future replacements), so all the lighting is in working order.

A few weeks ago I finished up all of that, leaving me with the following to-do list:
• wire up the tach (I need a resistor for the included wire to work)
• remount the Vapor to be able to connect the indicator light dashboard
• figure out indicator light dashboard wiring issues (which I think are minor)

Since none of these is a dealbreaker, I went for a ride.

And a few miles down the road discovered my shifter linkage is toast.

Fuck.

The rod connecting the shifter pedal and bike-side transmission slides out of the bike-side link with every upshift. I didn't get stuck in a gear, but it sure would be annoying (and possibly dangerous).

So, I ordered the replacement parts from Partzilla, and the rod has been on backorder with Kawasaki for weeks. Partzilla's site tells me it should be in stock in a day or two, so we'll see.

At this point I will have not riden for more than a few miles for nearly 5 entire months.

And now I can't help but wonder what other problems I'll discover once I actually do ride for a bit…
 
I'm guessing the Partzilla site is set up to always claim the part will be in stock "in a day or two" because it went from 17–18 two days ago, to 18–19 yesterday, to 19–20 today.

So "no fucking idea".

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Meaty update:

• Received the parts on Friday, hooray!
• On Saturday I replaced the rod only at first since the link requires belly pan removal and is generally a pain in the ass to get to (literally, since I sit on the ground on my parking spot while doing this).
• Still unscrewed after a while, fuck.
• Replaced the link yesterday (while tossing out the super cracked belly pan).
• Still unscrewed after a while, fuckfuckfuck.
• Applied temporary threadlocker (blue loctite) to see if it makes a difference.
• Now waiting for it to cure for 24 hours before testing.
 
OMG, y'all, it fucking worked, I can't even calm the fuck down from all the excitement!

I got home very late last night and had a busy morning, so I didn't get a chance to go for a test ride until this evening, but some 70 miles of city and highway riding confirmed all is well now.

This was the only showstopper, so the to-do list looks like this now (in no particular order):

• wire up the tach
• remount the Vapor (might need to fab up a bracket) + indicator dashboard
• make sure indicator dashboard wiring actually works
• adjust the headlight mount (points ever so slightly to the right)
• do basic maintenance (chain, oil)
• pay attention to the very minor cold start issues, which might be nothing
• correct the speedo (it's currently about 5–10% optimistic)
• renew registration
• wire up phone charger?

But you know what? None of the above matters because I can ride to work tomorrow!

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Nice! Glad you are back on the road.
 
I've been commuting on the bike since I got it back up and running, and it's been fantastic. Were it not for lane splitting and filtering, I wouldn't ride on weekdays. :D
 
*drinks*

gulp.

*drinks moar*
 
I would, but the Jet needle on my mixer is clogged.
 
Last night two different people referred to my bike as yellow.

FUCK YOU ALL!

:lol:


On a different note, I'm gonna try cleaning the bike up this weekend and posting it on Craigslist. I'm not interested in messing with the carbs or paying someone else to do it, so it's time.
 
to be honest, the last pic here is yellow bike, thought it doesn't show it being yours
 
Oh wow, this thread is way out of date.

I solved the carb issues by paying someone to do it for me. It was a bit pricey, but at least the engine is smooth as ever. Included in that work were valves, spark plugs, and oil.

I remounted the gauges, this time with a zip tie, and it's all way better. No, really!

I disconnected the turn signals while doing the above, and then reconnected them wrong. So now my right signal is on if I'm in a gear, and the left one triggers the high beam with it. I'm being really lazy about fixing it, and I'm currently not at my place with my tools anyway, so…

I adjusted the headlight better, so it now points more forward than before. It's fine, trust me.

I still haven't wired up the tach. At this point I might never get around to it.

Back in November, I actually listed the bike for sale on Craigslist. I asked for $1,500 and would've taken $1,000, but after a few $500 lowballers I took the listing down and had a shop do the aforementioned carb work. Since then I've actually been riding the bike, and it's way better.

However, I've somehow managed to lose a few thousand RPM. Since I don't have a tach wired up, I don't know for sure, but it definitely feels like WOT doesn't actually get the bike up anywhere near its 11,000RPM redline. Since I just had the engine worked on by a competent shop, I'm thinking throttle cable, throttle tube, or maybe the valve at the other end of the cable? Not looking forward to trying to diagnose this when I'm back at my place in two weeks.

Some pictures:

Lovely transport to the beach:
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I wonder why it didn't sell:
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Working gauges:
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Canyon carving with some buddies (NC700X DCT, FZ-07, FZ-07 ABS, R 1100 R with 260,000 miles):
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A buddy of mine encountered the infamous SHITFIGHTER in the wild. Look at that clean new rubber:

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IT LIVES!
 
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