This is an intersting story of how I "obtained", at least temporarily, and old Ninja 750R. This bike legally belongs to me, morally it belongs to an old riding buddy and dear friend of mine, Scott.

UPDATE: This bike is now back in Scott's hands! He loved the work I did. Glad he is digging it!

I've known Scott since he almost saw me wind up as part of a cliff wall in Big Thompson canyon on our first serious sport ride together in 1988.

He needed some one to take care of his beast while he tended to other personal matters, and I told him I wouldn't mind having it for a while. I knew she would need some serious work to get her up to speed.

Scott in Dec 1989 with his VFR 700.

Scott bought this bike for $1,500 from a "College Boy, READ: SQUID" in Santa Barbara, CA in 2000. It had been sitting for a long time before he bought it, and it sat for a year in his garage until he took a 1,600 mile "adventure" on it. Scott and his girlfriend Yuki were planning to move to Missouri from Santa Barbara. He got the bike basically street ready before the July '01 trip. He added Progressive Springs + oil in the front, had an oil change done, bought a new chain, added a used Dunlop K-591 on the front and a new Bridgestone BT-56 on the rear.

The bike made the trip to Missouri with no problems, minus a two-day delay for having to replace the alternator belt. YES THESE HAVE AN ALTERNATOR BELT!!! And, you need a special tool to adjust it (well, it is BEST to have that tool, but you can set it in a pinch without it). Stupid design in my opinion.

Closeup of the tank. I sent this photo to several junkyards
while looking for a new one.

I met Scott in August at my folks place in Denver a month later. The Missouri trip turned into misery, and we hooked up while I was on vacation. The original plan was to split the drive to California between my truck and the bike. After seeing the Ninja, I decided that maybe renting a trailer would be the best way to go. My "sixth-sense" told me that this bike would most certainly break down. The tank disintegrating later would confirm my suspicions. Having that happen in the middle of Nevada or Wyoming would have seriously SUCKED.

Scott turned the key (had an extra one made) over to me in August, and I needed to decide what to do with her.

I figured I would do a basic tune up on her and an oil change to get her going again. Registration and insurance also needed to get sorted out. While she was sitting in the front yard, the tank started leaking gas all over the place. I figured it was a stuck needle valve in the carbs, but it turned out to be the gas tank starting to self-destruct. It pinholed on the left-hand side by the petcock. The years of storage had finally caught up with her.

James with the "OH CRAP" look
after giving the Ninja a good
once over. His expression here
signifies the entire repair session
in November '01.

I knew this was going to lead to a serious problem finding a nice tank now. It was hard finding parts for these ten years ago. It took more than two months of calls an e-mails before I got a nice '87 tank from a junkyard in Alabama. By November, I was ready to seriously start working on her.

During this time, I decided that this would be my main "project". My Suzuki GSXR would need major work before she would be rideable again. My goal was to get this bike up to her serious riding potential, and get my riding skills up to speed again. After all, it was more than four years since I had seriously ridden.

Gas cap detailed with LP Aluminum bolts.

I test rode the bike before the tank went, and it ran like crap. The ratty F-1 (UUGH!) slip-ons were toast, and it also had the incorrect header on it. To correct this, I bought a Factory jet kit and Vance and Hines Supersport pipe (wanted a Muzzy, but no way was it worth purchasing for this beater). I also picked up a new valve cover gasket because this one was leaking a bit.

My neighbor James and I removing the exhaust.

After removing the exhaust and getting a good look outside the motor by the radiator, I realized this motor needed more work than I thought. The coolant tube o-rings were getting some serious blow-by. You could see the dried coolant on the case. The lower radiator hoses leading into the water pump were also about ready to burst. Not good. I wound up replacing all the o-rings and lower hoses. Having one of these fail in the middle of nowhere is BAAAAD!

I went ahead and replaced the plugs and did a valve adjustment as well. All the valves were loose. I think there was one that was in tolerance. The previous owner before Scott also had left TWO sets of exhaust manifold gaskets in. This is normally because someone installs a new pipe or header, forgets the old ones are there, and sticks a second pair on top of them.

Installing the carbs after jetting them. Was a
cold drizzly November afternoon. I was sick for
two weeks after this.

It took a while, but everything went together fine. She fired right up after installing the jet kit. My wife and I took a few local trips on her, to see how well she would run and handle. She ran OK. Power was a but sluggish though. I fixed that by synching the carbs. The acceleration was more smooth and the power picked up a bit too. A real noticeable difference. The only problem I really had was the alternator belt was slipping a bit. I eventually bought the tool, and tightened her down.

At lake Berryessa in Northern CA. Getting
used to this heavy beast.

Since I got my GSXR running, the Ninja has taken a back shelf so to speak, but I should have her finished by next year. She still has great power, and is a wonderful two-up mount, albeit severly undersprung. Suspension upgrades will solve that problem though. If you have a chance to ride one of these, take it. I believe you will find the power delivery very smooth and refined, and the bike still very capable as a sport tourer.

3/4 shot before detailing.

Continued upgrades (all maintenance done by yours truly):

Rebuilt front calipers (July '02)

Russell race brake lines (July '02)

Rebuilt brake master cylinder (Sept '02)

Fork Oil change (Sept '02)

New levers (Sept '02)

New Metzeler Comp-K tires (Oct '02)

New windscreen (Nov '02)