Bought a 250cc bike to race this season! | GTAMotorcycle.com

Bought a 250cc bike to race this season!

O

Owen

Well-known member
Grabbed a ninja 250 for dirt cheap. 2009 with 10500km. Previous owner crashed it in 2011 at a low speed in a ditch. Road it for the next 4 seasons (obviously not very often). They needed to sell it this year because of a growing family. They listed it for 2500 and got a UVIP and safety so it's ready to sell.

They found out from Canadian Tire, during the safety, there is a fork seal leak. They shopped around for rates and took it in to Sturgess in Hamilton. There they found out the right fork was slightly bent. When they got the quote, they shat their pants and immediately listed it for 1200.

I bought it for $800.

I've crashed a kawi 500 before and have had to fix a more severe version of their bikes damage. On mine, it was forks, axel, wheel bearings, brake caliper, steering stem, steering head bearings, handle bar, brake lever and a soldering melt job bonding the plastics back together with some dope battle scars.

Anywho, I'm amp'd to be racing this season and will be asking you guys lots of questions prepping this bike.

I be doing a mix of RACE at Shannonville and SOAR at Grand Bend depending on my schedule. Aiming to do minimum 5 weekends but hopefully more.

I'm aiming to do the late May SOAR weekend but more than likely won't have the bike prepped by then. Have to wait for springs, tires and all that fun stuff to come in the mail. I be ordering stuff this weekend plus the time to fix. The early June RACE weekend is highly highly likely.


Post #2 in this thread will be updated with my “to do” list and questions will be posted as I go.

….also, what happened to that big “who's building a 300 track bike” thread?
 
Congrats Owen! Not sure what happened to that thread, but I think all but one of the people that posted in that thread ended up with bikes. Looking forward to meeting and racing.
 
JoeyB said:
Congrats Owen! Not sure what happened to that thread, but I think all but one of the people that posted in that thread ended up with bikes. Looking forward to meeting and racing.
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sounds like a good find!

not sure of your mechanical skill set, but it sounds like the fork tube is very very slightly bent. tubes can be straightened if the bend is slight.
but i would look to replacing the bushing(s) of the tube - sounds like they rode it that way (bent) for awhile, and its possible/likely that the bushings took some abuse.

sounds like you'll have a blast at the track. keep us posted on your progress.
 
Think about doing a couple endurance races with SOAR, we raced a 250 in endurance for 1 season and it was a blast. Probably the best bang for your buck in relation to cost vs amount of track time. 3 hours for 220, you can share it with 1 or 2 more people and the cost is even minimal.

Tire and gas expense is also very economical and you have plenty of time and laps to work on your riding
 
Thanks everyone!

I have a good fork tube from my Nina ex500 that might fit. They're the same OD and use the same bushing OEM part number. Just need to dismantle it this weekend and see if it's the same length. I can't seem to find that info online.


For the endurance races, I thought you needed minimum 2 people per team? That's what they said during the Racer5 weekend school I did last year, unless that was only their rule if you're renting their bikes for that race.
 
N3WMAN said:
It's been done with just one rider by several people before. However, you'll need another person to score and help with pit stops.
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Amazing! Yeah, that'll definitely be on the list this season then. I was itching to go last year but time/money became the issue.
 
Owen said:
Thanks everyone!

I have a good fork tube from my Nina ex500 that might fit. They're the same OD and use the same bushing OEM part number. Just need to dismantle it this weekend and see if it's the same length. I can't seem to find that info online.


For the endurance races, I thought you needed minimum 2 people per team? That's what they said during the Racer5 weekend school I did last year, unless that was only their rule if you're renting their bikes for that race.
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A few people have done it alone. I have done 2 hours straight and so have my team mate on a liter bike. With a 250 is very achievable but better with 2 people
 
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Those endurance races r so much fun! I second the whole good bang for ur buck but I'm no expert. Fingers crossed I can get a team together this year and do it again :)


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Bettyvee said:
Those endurance races r so much fun! I second the whole good bang for ur buck but I'm no expert. Fingers crossed I can get a team together this year and do it again :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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What do you ride? I have a 250 for the track haha. Join my team!
I'm not comfortable on a bigger bike for the track yet.
 
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Lots of goodies in the mail!


- already mounted a new set of Bridgstone S20's.
- Racetech springs
- fork and engine oil
- brake guard
- brake pads
- steel braided line


I might hold off more on the clip-ons and rear-sets. I've only ridden standard sport bikes so I want to do a bit more research/position testing before buying something.
 
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dricked said:
I don't know anyone that doesn't do them.
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i think you HAVE to do them. the easy way to drill safety wire holes is to do them while their on the bike. saves bleeding the lines afterward if you don't take them off.

others will say take them off and drill press them because it makes for a neater job - this is true, but the quick and dirty way to safety wire is to do it while the bolts are still on the bike. you can never have too many drill bits.

good to see you making progress on the bike.

edit: I like your choice of the newer bridgestone S20 evo's. Sport rider? did a track tire comparison for the 300's and rated them as excellent. best of a bunch of popular tires. looking good.
 
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boyoboy said:
ahem, uh emulators aren't legal for RACE 300 prod'n. i'd be quiet about them. not that anyone should / would protest you given that your on a 250 rather than a 300. no big deal. I know nothing as shultz would say. I'll delete this comment shortly...
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Likely rule change coming
 
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