'01 Ninja500 StreetFighter Build

So my gf gave me the OK to tear her bike apart and customize the bejesus out of it. Kickass
So a little over a year ago we broke it down, cleaned it up, tuned it and got it ridable. The last thing to do was to paint it. Been waiting on her for it. But now she wants a smaller bike. I was OH so saddened to hear this.

Before


I removed the under cowling and the whooolllle front fairing. All the brackets and everything. I'll make a speedo/tach mount in Welding class. Buy a cheap set from AutoZone or something and mount em up.


I'll also make a steel bracket that will cover up the coolant reservoir and the coolant line and coils you see in the picture. Help protect against the elements too. Like my mini bike project?? Lol making a Trike in welding class. Gonna use that engine when I get it runnin.

Clip on Handlebars
http://www.ebay.com/itm/250918475470?ss ... 1423.l2649

Exhaust
http://www.ebay.com/itm/170712233544?ss ... 1423.l2648

Mufflers
http://www.ebay.com/itm/190411224948?ss ... 1423.l2648
Gonna have to MOD those for backpressure. I'll make an insertable baffle with a steel plate and some wire mesh and insert into the end of the header pipe.

Lights
http://www.ebay.com/itm/170707980970?ss ... 1423.l2649

Gas cap
http://www.ebay.com/itm/230651868734?ss ... 1423.l2649

Seat cover
http://www.ebay.com/itm/390370498143?ss ... 1423.l2649
Little foam underneath and I got me a sleek comfy seat

Headlight
http://www.ebay.com/itm/270665926069?ss ... 1423.l2649

Few mods here and there. Gonna paint it Engine Enamel gloss black to start. If i dont like it I'ma use the Truck Bedliner spray and ROUGH it out. Gonna be a sweet build. Will be really easy too. All cosmetic mods. Did all the hard work last year.
I'm also gonna get saddlebags and make a luggage rack/backrest for it in welding class. Gotta carry my books! And the old lady.
All my funding is coming from the Maxim Sale. I sold the 700 and now I'ma going to customize the crap outta this girl. People up here like this kinda stuff. I should be able to make a few bucks out of it and have a lot of fun building it.

Stay tuned! Wont be working on it TOO much in the winter. Its in a storage unit not a garage so itll be cold. But you can BET that when I'm done itll be sweet

-Chris

 

Is that gf girl freind or grandfather ?

 

Lol girlfriend Wiz

 

Ooooohhh, I'm excited for this. Mainly because I know you'll do a great job, but also because I'll be able to see what I didn't do when I had one in my garage....lol.

 

Smaller or lighter? The stripped-down 500 will be considerably lighter feeling (its not too much heavier than the 250 Ninja to begin with) when you're done.

I would not go with your proposed headlight (too dim); I'd go with aluminum headlight "ears" for your fork tubes and a 55w/60w round headlight. Maybe add a flyscreen for a little wind management.

 

Oh yeah I know I gotta MOD the light. And I will. Got a soldering kit and all. I'll post how I do it. Gonna take the old headlight and use the mounting thingy to put a regular bulb in.
I did pick up some "ears" for the tubes. I gotta have room for the mini gauges so I gotta push the headlight out about 3 inches. It'll still look shweeet
And im ok with it being lighter Easier to pop a wheelie or two. Should be fun? I'm making a Small steel luggage rack for the rear. AS for a windscreen? I'ma see what I can just make up. If I cant I cant. But I'm jsut gonna play around and see what I can make this year

 

Hmmm anyone know where I can get a good set of mini gauges?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 97.c0.m619

Was thinkin about this one but.. It seems kinda.. Sketch. It looks like all the stuff is there and I know I'll have to splice the wiring. Should hook up with the Odo/speedo Port cause its made in China. Made for a 17' rim which is what the Ninja has. What do yall think?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/160656368594?ss ... 1423.l2649
http://www.ebay.com/itm/160628012605?ss ... 1423.l2649

Or these but Im not sure about the tach and speedo hookups being a 3/8 drive. Dont think itll fit will it

 

What's wrong with using the OEM gauges and an ABS housing to make the underside look better? Lower cost, easier to integrate, a little more work (for the new mounts and the ABS enclosure). Probably not much larger than the Veypor look-alike you tagged.

If all you want is a quality mini speedo and idiot lights, go to Mike's XS.

 

Nice bike you had there.

 

The OEM gauges are HUGE with the clip on handlebars. And all those mini speedos are the same price, if not 20-30 bucks more than the digital one I tagged.
Whats an ABS housing btw?
(EDIT) DUH the ABS plastic. Whew I feel dumb lol. Yeah I could make soemthin up. I'm in a TIG class so I could always make somethin aluminum.
Also those gauges from MikeXS might work. The little speedo with the idiot gauges on it. But I kinda like having a tach, and not a big fan of how just a single gauge looks. I've also gotta keep in mine how much space behind the new headlight I'm gonna need. We'll see. I'll probably go with the digi speedo, and if that doesnt work, sell it back on EBay, and get the MikeXS one and buy a elec tach from autozone or somethin. We'll see. I'll have no problem fabbing up mounts in one of my three welding classes
(EDIT 2) Also just realized the MikeXS speedos are calibrated for a 19" wheel. The ninjas front wheel is 17". which is what the Digi is calibrated to.

Really Mac???
Stock Ninjas are UGLY as sin. Couldnt even get em to look better with beer goggles

 

My apologies. Looks like you are keeping with the general theme of the bike. I had visions of header tape, rigid rear ends and poorly bent checker plate. Should look good when done. Carry on.

I guess I've seen too many people with more ambition than skill eff-up an otherwise decent machine.

 

Well it was real nice the other day So i got some work done. Sanded everything but the gas tank. She's ready to prime! Gave the bed liner a quick test and I love it! Gonna do the whole bike in truck bedliner lol. Talk about a tough street fighter.
I've got every part in but the gauges, seat cover, dyno jet kit, and exhaust. Gonna order those after this weekend.
Next nice day out I think Ima put the new clip ons on, Gran turismo grips, LEDS, and clean the engine.

 

bedliner should look interesting, im thinking of plastidipping the logos on my bike, who knows i guess, lol

looking forward to seeing how it turns out! keep up the good work!

 

Got the clip on Handlebars on today. They look niiiice. Got Gran Turismo grips on for comfort sinch I'm so far forward. My biggest concern with the way im sitting is shifting. My feet are kinda far back, making it kinda hard to clip the shifter lever. Might have to take it to welding class an fab up a shifter thats a little bit shorter, and at a downward angle.
Also with the clip ons, i suggest a perch type Master Cylinder. The original Ninja Cylinder is a little bulky, but sits ok on the handlebars. Not perfect. I fear the bulky cylinder will interfere with the gauges/headlight setup, but I will have no way of knowing until I get the gauges in. Hope I got enough room! I should. The gauges are TINY in comparison to the stocks.
I also primed everything with the Self Etching primer. Tomorrow I lay down sandable primer for smoothness, install LEDs, red, gold, green, like Maxine had, install tail lights. Its all going pretty smoothly.
I'm going to have trouble modding the new headlight to fit a standard bulb. I'm going to have to cut, and JB weld or something to get it to fit. Not quite sure how to do it. Gonna need some help on that one.
My GF and I are gonna go out and work on her tomorrow. I'll post some more pics
Btw I LOVE doing this
-Chris

 

Painted the Radiator and sprocket cover today. My GF helped me mount LEDs. Gotta make a mount for the switch and mount it onto the handlebars.
Ran into a problem today
LED turn signals in the rear.
The front signals are little bulbs in the headlight assembly. Forgot to test them cause I was working on other stuff. Do i still need to switch the flasher unit out with one for LEDs? Or is there some way I can get them to work by wiring a flasher into the rear wires?
Anyone ever do this?

 

Gf and I workin on the bike. Mounted LEDS. Finishing the wiring to the switch on the left handlebar.
switching the rear sigs to bulbs. Same style. Just bulbs.
Did the last coat of Primer. Sand it out a little bit to give the Bedliner a firm grip.
Cleaned up the engine with Engine Bright Foamy cleaner. Water. Then cleaned it up with Engine Bright Shine. The picture here doesnt really do it justice. Not quite ready to roll out yet
Just waitin on the tax check and I'll have the rest of the parts in and I can really finish the build. At least paints almost done. Thats the most tedious part.
-Chris

 

Got my Speedo in. It hooked right up to my cable with no probs. Actually it was a little better quality than I expected from China.
Made my own mounts for it in Welding class. Couple strips of metal with some holes drilled in. She was super small so she fit perrrfect right between the handlebars. Looks great. Gotta paint the mounts though.
Little tweaking with the wires and she'll be good to roll.




Also modified the headlight.
Those 25w light bulbs certainly will not light up those darker roads. So I took a headlight from a 250 Ninja that I had lyin around and I cut out the center ring that retains the headlight bulb.



Then I cut out the retaining clip of the new headlight
And used one of the grinding bits and made it all flush and nice.
Laid it in the hole, used some sandpaper and roughed up all the edges, and FILLED all around and on it with some JB Weld. Let that sit a few days and grab some Auto Epoxy and fill it up.


All comin together pretty nicely. More parts on the way
-Chris

 

That bedliner is a neat idea. Keep the pics coming. I would like to see the final result of the paint.

 

Dremel = Wonder Tool


Planning on using the bedliner on the inside of my fenders.

 

Update!
Installed new Delkevic Dual Carbon Fiber exhaust. Looks good!
Getting some carb parts in, do some tuning.
Ducati style streetfighter headlight isntalled.
Still working on gauges
All painted.
Leds wired.
Now I jsut gotta get some free time to finish!!! yeah right...

 

looking good man! Just be happy doing what you're doing, there's a million ninja 500's out there, heaven forbid you change a purple one...

 

Thanks schoot!!! That means a lot coming from you.
Redid the seat. Refitted the exhaust with the new gaskets wired all the LEDS up. Now I jsut gotta make another mount that fits better in welding class. I got new air fuel mixture jets cause one was sticking. Turns out the O ring was slipped sideways.





A better side shot of her. Almost ready to put the whole thing back together and start riding. All I gotta do is put the carbs in, sync, colortune, sync, colortune, put the undercowling on, gastank, and fiddle with the gauges a bit to get em to work right.
Also, when I turn the key the taillight wont turn on so I gotta troubleshoot that before I can ride. Shes gettin there!
-Chris

 

Seat looks good,be interesting to see how it all ties together.

 

Finished!
For the most part. Gotta hook up the LEDS when I get a spare moment. Gotta hook up the gauges. Maybe a colortune in a little bit to tune her in Juuuust right from a dead stop.
BUT DAMN she runs good.
Seat and such




My gf doesnt like the textured black. So we might jsut sand, and engine enamel the whole bike a flat black. Who knows

 

I like the Bedliner. Sick bike.

 

Thanks! Still got some work to do Maybe a different paint job later just cause.

 

Nice work

 

Mate that looks great,it all works together really well.
Now nitrous so it doesn't just look tough it is tough,ha joking.

 

Lol now THAT would be excessive. Lol. Poor little bike. Itd be like that car in the beginning of Fast and Furious! Breaks apart on nitrous.
There was a kid here on this forum that put the Energy Drink NOS in his tank. THAT was funny

 

Leds are up. I need to rejet the carbs. Popping on decel, not enough power in high rpms. Used the DynoJet stage one jets. The kit comes with a 124 main and a 126 main for stage one jets. Two other sizes for the stage three. Just depends what you are running. So i'll pop a new set in and check out the details.
Runs great otherwise!
Very fatiguing on long trips though. My hour commute to work is KILLER on my arms. Can realllly take a turn though. Lean all into it and hold onto your pants! Pulls out of a curve like a knife thru butta.
Probably gonna sell it soon.
-Chris

 

Doing anything to gain more HP from that engine is a bad idea. That engine family started as a 400cc twin and was progressively increased in displacement by fitting larger cylinders and pistons. There was never any redesign to the bottom end, so the crank never got the extra support that it really needs. In stock form it will run forever, but do anything that puts more stress on the crank and it will fail not long afterward.

 

Thats alright. I'm a builder. I buy it. I create it. I ride it. I sell it. Start over again.
With the profit I made from this streetfighter I bought a BRAND NEW Honda Shadow Phantom for me and a lightly used 2008 Nighthawk 250 for the lady.
Currently looking at a 75 CB360 to cafe racer out
-Chris