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Hey guys. I'm new here so I will introduce myself. My name is Matthew and I live in TN. I have 3 bikes right now. I have a 76 cb500t bobber, a Suzuki volusia 800, and my current project is a 2005 ninja 250. My buddy practically gave me this ninja when he got shipped to Afghanistan. I rode it to work for about 6 months. Its a good bike but I couldn't live with its looks any longer. I swapped in a round headlight and modified the rear frame. I fabbed up some clip-on bars along with a fiberglass seat. I just got done making the seat pad. My plans right now are to make some side covers and finish mounting the electronics. I'm not sure what color I am going to paint it yet. I am curious to get some feed back from some experienced cafe builders. Please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them. Its a little different but I've had fun putting it together thus far. Thanks
Below are pictures from where I started to its current state:
Man thats going to be awesome! I actually kinda like that second picture you put up, would make a sick flat tracker-ish bike!! i might have to pick up a 600
seat came out great. i like this modern bike as a base for a cafe. def not the norm. being different = being cool. if you could fit some pod filters on it and tuck all the electronics away i think it would look the business. color is up to you, man.
@dp9 Running pods would definitely clear up some room under the seat to hide some stuff. My only concern is affecting the driveablity. I dont want to have to rejet the carbs. Opinions?
@Staffy I made a base for the seat out of wood. Then I layed fiberglass onto the tank and the wood base. I trimmed the fiberglass around the body line and used filler to match the tank.
I am making some domed fiberglass side covers. I considered turning one side into coolant tank . I think it would be cool but I don't know if it is worth all the extra effort it would take when I could just hide the factory one under the seat somewhere.
I appreciate all the nice comments. I was really hesitant to post it up since most people scoff whenever you mention a ninja 250. It honestly wouldn't have been a bike I would seek out, but its been growing on me. Plus it gets 75mpg!
I made a mistake and let my girlfriend sit on one of the new model Ninja 250's the other day. Now she wants one so bad it's all I hear about. I guess I'm gonna revive my little Honda Rebel so she at least has something to ride on. Then maybe I can figure out a way to sell that and acquire the Ninja.
Nice work on that seat ive never thought of using wood but it looks to be just as shape-able as foam or any other thing we try and use and it looks like it fits perfectly to your tank
So I've been working on my side covers. I made a mold and vacuum formed them from a .093" acrylic sheet. They turned out pretty good. The only draw back is that acrylic is brittle and prone to crack. I need an alternative material that is similar in cost. Any suggestions?
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