Man, what's with all these hand me down 250's that are just destroyed?? Mine had bondo holding the side fairings on and the front fairings wanted to fall off and every fairing had at least one huge crack, and it's a 2003! So mines a complete naked right now, with a new aftermarket headlight. I have to repair the side fairings and find lower cowling (more for asthetics). Plus new paint, flat black for me.

Sounds like quite the project though, good luck to you man. At least you got it for free!

BTW, how many miles, mine has 40,000+ (not sure exactly.... no speedo anymore )

 

My '03 Ninja has a salvage title it was totaled with 100 miles on the odo. Fortunately it only has a scrape on the front fairing. What usually happens to the fairing tabs is someone tips it over breaks one tab leaves it and it busts the rest because of the stress.

I also have an '01Katana 600 with a salvage title that was salvaged with 5000 miles I dont know exactly what happened but the front fairing was completely destroyed, the tank repainted and the rear fairing has a repaired crack in it and was repainted. The Katana could have just tipped over in the garage and done that much damage the fairings stick out really far and the thing weighs 460lbs, the plastic just goes crunch.

Its common for intro bikes to have damaged plastics.

 

Sorry about the lack up updates on this project. I pulled the bike intot he house lastnight, so I don't have to fight the cold in the garage. I started cleaning the entire thing down, just wiping off the years of road grime. I plan on changing the oil and filters this weekend, along with spark plugs. Here are some pictures of some of the parts I just ordered off ebay.
Chrome grips with diamond rubber inserts, and chrome brake/clutch levers

And a chrome brake fluid cover


I'm still shopping for foot pegs, windscreen, seat, upper fairing, left handlebar with the electronics, and aftermarket turn signals.
I'll post up pics later of the bare frame in the dining room.

 

That sucks you have to pull it inside yourhouse to work on it. That is why I live in Florida.

 

Those chrome grips are going to look NICE! If you don't live alone, did you get any funny remarks about bringing your baby inside? Did it get a pillow and a blanket? I bring my plant indoors and my girlfriend gives me funny looks.

 

Depends on the type of plant trev![sm=pimp.gif]

 

Good point! I went to Florida over Christmas Break and I came back with an "indoors palm tree" from a store down there. I love that little piece of crap tree. It's supposed to live great indoors, but if you don't take it outside on the warm days or leave it next to the window, then it will get sick. I've had it for a few months now and it just gets sicker and sicker, and I am getting desperate for those warm days to leave it outside. I treat the tree like...a kid.

 

I treat my jasmine plants the same way trev.

 

Ive brought my 250 inside to work on it, my husband rolled his eyes and called me a redneck. Its almost impossible to put the carbs on when its freezing outside.
I do have AC in the barn for the summertime fixing.

 

I got quite a bit done this weekend. I sanded all the plastics I was able to salvage from the bike. I still am waiting for shipment on a lower fairing, and I'm still shopping for an upper fairing. I was able to remove the muzzy down pipes from the motor and sand and polish the tubes. Boy what a difference. I used about 100 rags wiping down everything on the whole bike. I degreasesd the engine and used an old tooth brush to remove all the grime. She is starting to look like new. I also found a used Icon Timaxx jacket on ebay for about 160 bucks. I thought that was a pretty good deal. I hope to have the pieces in primer soon. Here are some pics to hold you over.