She's a Beauty :3

[DeletedUser81336]

This doesn't exactly pertain to graphics but meh, I need somewhere to spam brag. :icon_redface:

Just 2-3 weeks ago I bought a sports bike (2012 Kawasaki Ninja), it's only a 250, but if you know me I'd probably kill myself on anything bigger lol. Anyways I bought it brand new with 0 miles on it, but ever since I bought it it's been rainy and in general scrapy out. Mother nature can suck it. I've manged to get 200 miles on it already anyways though.

Since it's been nasty out I haven't had a chance to take any pictures of it or anything, and with the weather how it's being forecasted (is that a word?) I won't be able to for at least another week....

Here's a picture of what the bike looks like though: [SPOIL]

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I plan on doing a couple mods to it and making it look sexier than it already does. These mods probably won't come around for a while so I'll post what I plan to do with it now.

Tank Protector
I've got a couple I'm looking at right now (listed not in any special order, but I'm leaning towards the last one).

1) [SPOIL]

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2) [SPOIL]

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3) [SPOIL]

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4) [SPOIL]

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Rim Tape
Obviously I'm looking at yellow rim tape which I think makes the bike look a lot better. Here's a picture of the same bike I have but with yellow rim tape.

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LED Glow Lights

I'm thinking these would be a pretty sick addition to the bike. Yellow LED's on it would make it sick at night, and surprisingly it's legal where I live.
Possibly something like this set up: [SPOIL]

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I'll have to do some more research on what I'd like to do before forking out the money for a kit.

New Exhaust

I don't like the stock exhaust that comes with the bike, but they can be pricey to replace so I'll see what I can do (I'm a bit short on cash atm). I was thinking of getting a fairly pricey under seat exhaust (two pipes), that's a bit pricey though and advanced for someone who's never done a bit of mechanical work. More research required.



I plan on doing some other things too, possibly getting yellow brake/clutch levers, idk though. It would make the bike look sick or bleh. :icon_confused:
Anyways I'll be posting pics of the bike soon (as soon as the weather is nice and it gets a second waxxing). :lol:
I'll update this thread with new pics of the bike as mods come out, or as I take more.

 

[DeletedUser81336]

Reserved for special st00f.
What are your guys' opinions on the tank protector? Anyone that you like more than the others? I'm fairly confident I'm going with #4, but I might order a couple as they're fairly cheap ($25 a piece).

 

[DeletedUser]

I officially envy you more than anyone from TW.

First thing you should do with that bike is get neon's all over it. That makes it look ultra awesome, do it before you get any other modifications done. Next thing get the rim taped too. No one's going to look at those chinese marks when your driving them on the street. They can be done later.
Exhaust imo is a cool stock to add to your bike too. Makes it more fancy!

Just one thing, how pricey will it be if you plan on changing the whole colour to some other one. Like changing it to a red-black theme? And will you be able to choose type of color easily, or spray painting (whatever method used) is actually messy and tough?

 

[DeletedUser81336]

Haha I used to envy everyone who rode a rocket so I saved up and bought one.

I want to get neon/LED lights on it as soon as I can, but I still owe my parents $800 for various things so the expensive things will have to wait. :S That's one of the reasons the rim tape and tank protector are at the top of the list. However the reason the tank protector (the chinese marked one) is not because of looks, but to protect the tank from scratches from my pants, belt, hoodie, or jacket. I read up about a lot of people's riding jackets/hoodie's zippers scratching the tank badly and I don't want that to happen to me. :S

Umm good question. Spray paint won't look good, if I repaint the bike (which I've considered doing in the distant future) I'll do it right and do it expensively with the right pant and stuff. Spray paint can be used on some parts of the bike (painting the tiny windshield, brake handles, and such), but I don't really like spray paint as an option. I imagine it'd cost $200+ to repaint the whole bike by myself though. I've heard painting bike's is one of the hardest things to do though so I will be putting that off. If I repaint it I'm thinking I'd go with a white color scheme; more maintenance, but white bikes are haawwwwtttt.

 

[DeletedUser92094]

My mate had a Kawasaki Ninja.

He crashed, and died.


but he lived to tell the story!

 

[DeletedUser]

#3 is best, you won't get #4 to look right and the slightest offset will bug you all day every day. A 250 is underpowered for someone that is heavy, but a 'worked' 250 will scare a grown man, trust me I've been on one. Feeling the frame twist under you in some s turns will change you ;p
Skip the rim tape, rocks and chips will look bad within a few weeks of hard riding, imo. I'd get a steering stabilizer before I got anything else and maybe a new rear sprocket, depending on what you like, speed vs. accel.
It's a really nice looking bike man.

 

[DeletedUser81336]

I'm not quite sure what you're saying Norm.

I might order them both Geremy lol. I've done my research about the 250s and beginning riders getting on bigger bikes and such or else they won't be manly. Idiots. I'm only 120-130 pounds so the bike is perfect for me, especially since I've never rode a bike (besides dirt bikes here and there) before. It still has some kick to it and for 70+ milesa gallon who could complain?

Does the rim tape really go that quickly? I've heard it does, but it looks sick in my opinion. Is it easy to remove/replace if it chips?
I never considered a steering stabilizer, infact I'm not even sure what that is *googles*. :3 A new rear sprocket's a possibility. How much does it actually effect the bikes performance?

 

[DeletedUser]

Rear sprocket will effect it significantly, actually either for acceleration or top end, depends which you want. Link for more info. If the rims are aluminum I would suggest a good enamel spray paint instead. Do some research before you do it though or contact me personally for assistance. The enamel will hold up better and longer than a tape, it's the same stuff they would spray the bike with in a professional paint shop. Yeah at your weight class sounds like a perfect bike. Removing chipped tape is very hard, especially if it's been on there for quite some time, but sanding paint and filling in dings is far easier when you know what you are doing.

 

[DeletedUser81336]

I just did some reading on the rear sprocket and it looks interesting, I didn't think a change in a few spikes would affect the bike so much lol.
I'm not sure if I want to spend that much money on a bike I'll probably sell in 1-2 years, however I'm considering it. She wouldn't be my girl if she wasn't expensive.

I'm not sure what the rims are made of, I'll have to look into that and get back to you. When I first considered getting that yellow stripe on the rims I wasn't sure if I wanted to paint it or use wheel tape. I didn't want to devalue the bike by painting it so I thought tape would be best. I've tried doing some research on wheel tape vs painting it on the internet, but can't seem to find anything useful. No one who rides, that I know irl, has painted/taped their rims so I'm not really sure of how to go about it. I appreciate the help.
I know next to nothing about modding/mechanical stuff so I appreciate you telling me this stuff. I heard the tape chips easily, but I figured I could heat it and peel it off fairly easily. Would sanding the paint off leave a noticeable mark, even if painted over?

 

[DeletedUser]

Most likely they are of aluminum construction. If you sanded correctly it would look like brushed aluminum, just like many of the wheels you see on the market already. I'm not trying to scare you away from the tape, in fact you could remove the latent adhesive with relative ease using mineral spirits I would think. Anything stronger (acetone, lacquer thinner) would begin to remove the actual enamel paint on the rims. Sanding would leave scratches or marks, yes, which could be made negligible with very high grit sandpaper (800+) then repaint with black or you could make it look like a nice 'brushed aluminum' using a coarse 150-200 grit paper.
I highly recommend the steering stabilizer as you are a new rider and fore go the accents until you are a proper rice rocket jockey.

 

[DeletedUser99229]

if the bikes black and tanks black you want somethink not too dim looking, a silver or a shallow gold/yellow to match rim tape and im getting a kwak 250, kitted next year for a compo, fully customized , green tho wit neon lights n led lights on rims, so when wheels spin, they like a hollow light