Hi everybody! First time posting here! Live and ride in mid Michigan area.

I got this bike with a friend of mine used on Craigslist about 2 years ago and wanted to share the photos of where it started and where I am at with it right now.


Picked up the bike, a 2005 Kawasaki ninja 500r for $450 from the previous owner, who crashed it in a ditch and then after the tow truck dropped it off at his house it sat in his garage for 2 years before he decided to sell it. we didn't know if it ran or not and took a huge chance on it, mostly because he never claimed insurance on the bike or reported the crash so it still had a clean title! I made sure to see that the frame was not bent at all because the forks were (more on that) and bought it from him that day. here come the photos in chronological order.

Side note: me and my buddy didn't have our endorsements yet either but we were both signed up for classes in the upcoming month.


this was the photo from the craigslist Add. it was pretty rough...



when we picked it up the guy had hosed all the dirt off and it was pretty clean underneath. we got the bike and a box of parts and a lot of fairings. we had no clue what was there and what wasn't. with the help of a friend of mine and the owner we got it in the back of my S10, just barely...





later that day we took it to his cottage to work on it and try and start it.
trying to roll it was nearly impossible because the front forks were bent to S***. oh yeah and the right bar was broken off as well.




once we started working on the bike we realized how clean the fairings conditions were. And at how many parts we actually had with it! and a clean seat too.




we got it in his yard and attached a gauge cluster I had bought off eBay to it.
so we could check and see if it has lights.




We hooked up my jet ski (1986 kawasaki JS550 ) battery to it and somehow it jumped to life and started cranking!!!! Freak out ensued...
We couldn't get it to turn over though, until we realized it needs gas... lol. so we filled a turkey baster with fuel and stuck it on the fuel line and behold! she turned right over and ran like a champ! (I have a video but I wont post it right now).

After that I patched up the fuel tank where the handle bar punched through it in the crash.




as a temporary fix we manhandled the forks back a little bit cause were idiots and wanted to ride it super bad (all teens are). and out of sheer luck, It ran, shifted and rode like a champ! we were ecstatic that it worked so well.


she was beautiful, majestic, and so much fun.



Bought a used sub frame off of Ebay so We had something to mount a headlight and the gauges too. didn't realize at the time that it was all screwed up by the last guy. the original mounting point in the center had been cut off and he welded a bolt into it and moved it to the bottom. I still was able to get two bolts into it but had to zip tie the third hole. it was cheap and it worked.



gave it a face lift with some bead blasting and a nice coat of spray paint.



later I pulled the front forks out to do a straightness check.



ended up buying a new one cause it was DEFINITELY bent.
the new one is on the left and old on the right.



put her all back together with a headlight and then it was photo time.
All that work finally paid off and I had my endorsement and I could finally ride it.
I rode that thing everywhere for the first month.



the steering was still a little off so I bought a new lower triple clamp because the old one was pretty torqued from the crash. that was the next thing to get fixed.




Rode her like that for the rest of that season and the next.
recently This season I pulled the exhaust off and repainted that as well because It was still scratched up from when I bought it. I also bought my friend out of it because up to this point we Co-Owned it and that was a huge hassle, plus I wanted it all for me haha.
here she is last weekend all cleaned up and Gorgeous.




The transformation from trash to treasure took 2.5 Years but I love this bike and I don't think I could get rid of it if I tried. I'm still planning to do more work to it, like buy a trailtech Vapor and get rid of the huge gauge cluster, as well as the sub frame and fork mount the light (or new smaller lights). but for now its exactly what I want
hope you guys like that story!

Streetking-15.

 

A good story with pics. Congrats on the ride. How did you repair the tank?

My '05 EX500 is my go to street ride for sure as well.

 

I used a fiberglass and epoxy fuel tank patch kit I got at the hardware store. made sure to scuff up the metal really good for adhesion. holding up great. eventually I want to fill the patch in and repaint the tank, but that's later