thechief86
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ha, cool. i'll call the dmv tomorrow. i'm not sure how similar this is to a harley, but it's worth a shot if nothing else comes along....
got a free motorcycle!
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thechief86
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ok, so dmv says the bike isn't stolen! woot! so i go to the kawi dealer, and they don't make keys, but they ordered me a blank, and i have a locksmith friend that can cut it for me on friday. i'm not in that much of a hurry, with the snow and ice, i can't do too much with a motorcycle anyway...
so the thing now is what should i look out for once i do get a key? i plan to charge the battery, replace the 5 month old gas with new,and clean the carbs, and if i can get it to run from there, i'll change the oil. i'll worry about the cracked plastic once it gets warmer, and i get closer to either keeping it, making a bad arse go kart, or selling the bike for whatever it's worth.
suggestions? comments? threats?
so the thing now is what should i look out for once i do get a key? i plan to charge the battery, replace the 5 month old gas with new,and clean the carbs, and if i can get it to run from there, i'll change the oil. i'll worry about the cracked plastic once it gets warmer, and i get closer to either keeping it, making a bad arse go kart, or selling the bike for whatever it's worth.
suggestions? comments? threats?
thechief86
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neato.... are you referring to the petcock for the oil, or the coolant? the antifreeze is full, clean and super green.
tires look new, with the little nipples on them still.
exhaust? how do i check exhaust? it's stock, and not very rusty... looks to be spraypainted flat black perhaps, but it may be original....
tires look new, with the little nipples on them still.
exhaust? how do i check exhaust? it's stock, and not very rusty... looks to be spraypainted flat black perhaps, but it may be original....
petcock for fuel tank. just because the nipples are still on the tires doesn't mean no weather rot. are the stems or cores leaking? exhaust, make sure there are no dirtdauber mounds in them or any other crap. the stock exhaust was dualed and blacked out. if they are flat in appearance, but the mileage doesn't reflect the color, the paint could be cooked. i want to say they were semi-gloss when new.
thechief86
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ok so i was wrong. the mufflers are semi-gloss. here are a couple pictures. you are referring to the petcock that turns the fuel flow from on-off-reserve? how do i check it? it turns fine, and doesn't leak.... i think i did ok for a free bike. i do think it's kinda cool looking, and not in as bad of shape as one would expect for a bike somebody just didn't want anymore.
i talked to my friend that gave it to me, and he says last year they replaced the tires, gas cap, CID box, ignition switch, and carbies. i don't think there's gonna be a whole lot wrong with it. he says it actually ran well when he parked it, but ran kinda rough when he tried to start it on a cold day a couple months ago. it had been sitting in the same spot since it was warm enough to ride a bike in nashville, about 4-5 months. i moved it into my shed on saturday.
i talked to my friend that gave it to me, and he says last year they replaced the tires, gas cap, CID box, ignition switch, and carbies. i don't think there's gonna be a whole lot wrong with it. he says it actually ran well when he parked it, but ran kinda rough when he tried to start it on a cold day a couple months ago. it had been sitting in the same spot since it was warm enough to ride a bike in nashville, about 4-5 months. i moved it into my shed on saturday.
on th petcock, make sure fuel comes out at a good rate on on and reserve, is it a regulare on/off/reserve or is it a on/res/pri? been awhile. if it has a pri setting, you will have to turn the engine over to get flow, because of the vacuum diaphragm. definitely not bad for free. besides the damage done to her, she is missing the windscreen and lower fairings that i can see. she'll move, but don't expect her to be a hotrod.
thechief86
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ha i've ridden this one last year, and you're on the money on that one. it's a motorcycle, but it's prolly the slowest one i've ever ridden, save for a couple 50cc pitbikes...
i didn't know there were such things as lower fairings till you mentioned it, and now that i look at other ninja's you're right! i'm gonna hafta get a plastic kit for that thing sometime down the road. they look a lot better with everything they came with.
i didn't know there were such things as lower fairings till you mentioned it, and now that i look at other ninja's you're right! i'm gonna hafta get a plastic kit for that thing sometime down the road. they look a lot better with everything they came with.
thechief86
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yeah, i'm thinkin junkyard or ebay. i don't wanna spend more than $100.
thechief86
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got my key made yesterday! the bike actually fired right up on the first try, and i rode it for an hour with no problems! i think i'm gonna just take off the messed up plastic, and start working toward a street fighter type of look, and just enjoy it as a motorcycle.... schweeeeet.
bigfootrules31
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Youd be mad to rip apart that bike for a gokart
thechief86
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well, the reason i thought of putting the motor on a go kart was because i don't have a title for the bike. it's not gonna be easy to get one, but i still have a couple months before bike weather really hits anyway, so i figger if i get started on that pretty soon, i'll be able to enjoy the bike for the summer....
thechief86
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yeah, i just did actually. it's not too bad, i just gotta call the dmv and find out who the last registered owner was, send them a registered letter, and if they have no objection to me title-ing this bike in my name, i'm free to proceed as usual. not too sure what to do if they do object.
also, the bike is hard to start now. after riding it around a bit, now it won't start unless i spray ether or push start it, and then i hafta choke it to get it to stay running unless i babysit the throttle to keep it going. i haven't cleaned the carbies yet, so i'm hoping that will fix it. i don't think i could handle rebuilding them, but they were replaced last year, so these are only a year old at the most. they're prolly just dirty. i drained the tank and put fresh, non-ethanol, 89 octane gas in it, and it does run smooth and strong. any suggestions, or obvious junk i'm missing? would running a fuel additive such as seafoam help or hurt anything? thanks guys, i know this kinda ended up straying from gokart discussion once i saw how the bike looked and ran, but the thread is here, and you guys seem to know enough on the topic to avoid joining another forum.
also, the bike is hard to start now. after riding it around a bit, now it won't start unless i spray ether or push start it, and then i hafta choke it to get it to stay running unless i babysit the throttle to keep it going. i haven't cleaned the carbies yet, so i'm hoping that will fix it. i don't think i could handle rebuilding them, but they were replaced last year, so these are only a year old at the most. they're prolly just dirty. i drained the tank and put fresh, non-ethanol, 89 octane gas in it, and it does run smooth and strong. any suggestions, or obvious junk i'm missing? would running a fuel additive such as seafoam help or hurt anything? thanks guys, i know this kinda ended up straying from gokart discussion once i saw how the bike looked and ran, but the thread is here, and you guys seem to know enough on the topic to avoid joining another forum.
you can run the carb cleaning fluid in the tank, i think the bottle treats 20 gallons. so pour about a 1/4 in. run it for a few hours, off and on if necessary, to see if it helps. if it doesn't, then you'll have to pull the carbs. on the bowls of the carbs are drain screws, loosen them with the fuel in the off position. but have a clear/translucent bowl under the drain hoses. let the fuel set in the bowl for say 30 minutes, and check for water in the fuel. trash you should see immediately. if a little water, replace the bowl under the drain hoses, turn the fuel on reserve for 1 minute. let stand again and check water concentrations. if same, tighten screws and try starting the bike back up. the filters on the petcock do not let water flow through very easily. if she acts the same, drain the tank into a clear bucket, let sit, and check water content. if there is any water, remove the petcock from the tank and blow out with comp. air.
thechief86
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i drained the tank and put fresh gas with 1/4 bottle of sea-foam in, and she straightened up as far as on the road. runs a lot smoother. as for starting, i haven't tried that again after running it, but i will in the morning. i'll prolly run the whole bottle through over a few tanks....
Hendersonjk
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also pull your plugs and check them my bike did that at one point and the plugs were crapped
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