My second project - "Nix" the Ninja

Nix is a 1998 Kawasaki ZZ-R250, so named because she cost me “next to nix"

I spotted her on Gumtree a couple of weeks ago going cheap because she was in bits and unregistered.
A day trip to Sydney and a quarter off the original price later and she’s awaiting some attention to put back together.

This is how she looks without the rear fairings and seat on:



And these are all the bits I need to put back together:



Unfortunately the PO had someone working on the carburetor who didn’t put the air box or air filter back in and someone was a bit rough when taking the front fairings off so they’ll need a bit of repair – maybe a replacement set eventually. The battery is flat and most of the screws and bolts for the parts not attached are missing.

I’ve already managed to track down the relevant Service Manuals for her and put the battery on to charge overnight so she should be working again soon without too much fuss.

If my girlfriend gets her L's soon, she'll be riding Nix rather than Jack (my CBF250F) because she'd rather ride a ninja than a pirate.

 

After charging the battery she's looking like a quick project!

I decided to see how Nix’ battery was after charging overnight.

Hooked it up and put the key on the ignition.



Turned the key and was greeted with pretty lights:


Hmm, let’s try that without the flash?


Oooh – pretty lights!


Head and tail lights working too.

Tried the ignition switch and sure enough the starter motor kicked over nicely!

Unfortunately the fuel tank is (a) not attached and (b) empty so not sure how well she runs yet. There also seems to be some rust or sludge in there – may need to clean it out before it gets into the (apparently re-conditioned) carbies.

 

My housemate cleaned out her CB250 tank successfully a few months ago and is happy to give me a hand over the weekend. Likely to be a busy one as I have 3 parcels waiting at the post office now and other stuff already planned!

 

Speaking of fun jobs, the other plan for Nix over the weekend is to get the battery/air box back in, which of course means taking the rear frame off. Definitely waiting for daylight for that one!

 

The service manual says to remove the rear frame to remove the air/battery box. No wonder the PO couldn't be stuffed to put her back together for over a year!

I was playing Tetris last night trying to get both halves of the damn thing in at once.

Gave up before I threw them across the yard

 

Nix’ Box Back In ‘n’ Bits Back On
(part 1, due to post length limitations)

With no parts arriving today, I decided it was time to get Nix’ air/battery box back in.



Having checked the Service Manual I knew I’d need to take the back of her frame off to do this.
First up, off with the seat!





Rear side fairings off



Next up – the tank



Obviously the battery comes out next!



Ok, now this cross-bar is in the way of the carbs for re-fitting. Off with it, too!



Tail light is next.



Rear mudguard . What’s with the wiring for the rear indicators?



The rectifier needs to come off the wheel arch next!



Easy enough…



Not sure what this is – maybe the fuse box? It’s in the way regardless, off it comes!



Radiator reservoir – there are a lof bits in the way here…



Off it comes!



All the little electrical bits from the other side…



Meh, they’re detached, that’ll do!



There were a couple of springs for the seat clip here. Could have sworn I took a photo of them?



Right, all 6 bolts and the other bits it’s attached to removed, I can finally move this part of the frame out of the way!



The box that needs to go back in…



Halfway there…



Second half in! Just the lid to go now…



Now to put it all back together!



There were extra Magical Mystery Wires attached that didn’t seem to do much apart from split off the rear indicators for some reason. I decided they could go – put them aside just in case, though…



(part 1 of 2 - copied from my blog post of the same name)

 

Nix’ Box Back In ‘n’ Bits Back On
(part 2, due to post length limitations)

I figured it was time to look at getting her front fairings back on.
I was reminded of that old Pedders suspension ad at this point

“As you can see here, the left side is fine…”



“…but on the right side, we have a problem.”





“Well, Mr. McFarlane?”
“She’s in your hands, Mr. Pedder.”

(In other words, It looks like there a few repairs needed on the fairings)

Left, centre and right front fairings from inside:



Detail of the crack and missing tabs on the right front fairing



Someone seems to have decided that using a screwdriver was taking too long here:



The mount is missing completely on the left side…



But at least two of the mounting tabs are still attached!



Closer view of the left fairing



And the right one



And finally, the tabs that were broken off:



I’m not sure if the fairings are worth fixing or if I should replace them.

While full sets of aftermarket fairings are available, a new set would dramatically increase the total spent on Nix so far.

Another option is to get another cheap ZZ-R250 with intact fairings and and either use Nix as a donor bike or take the fairings off the other one. As I’ve only found one reasonably priced one so far, this would mean switching to a bright yellow bike or mixing and matching black and yellow. Not sure how I feel about that…

A few other things I forgot to take pictures of:

• Tested the lights.
• Adjusted the front brake light switch sensitivity.
• High tension wire from the ignition coil to the spark plug was not connected – reconnected it.
• Speedo cable was disconnected – reconnected it.
• Reconnected fuel hoses to tank.
• Inside top parts of front fairing seem to be missing.

Tomorrow I plan on checking if she starts with fuel in the tank. I’ll post a video if I’m successful – wish me luck!

(part 2 of 2 - copied from my blog post of the same name)

 

She’s Missing That Certain Spark

Armed with a 5 Litre fuel can, I was all set to try starting Nix this evening.
She turned over fine but just wouldn’t start for some reason.

After double-checking the high tension leads to the ignition coils (my first time working on a twin so I’d forgotten there was another one) I found the second one also wasn’t connected.

After fixing that, I discovered that the plug caps didn’t seem to be gripping the plugs at all.
On further inspection, I found the reason – no spark plugs!

Right cylinder



Left cylinder



I guess they go on this weekend’s shopping list!

(copied from my blog post of the same name)

 

First Attempt Starting Nix – New Plugs

When we last saw Nix, her spark plugs looked like this – or rather, they didn’t!

:

So this morning I went and bought new spark plugs and a spark plug socket with a wobble bar.
These particular plugs are the alternate option, so they run hotter than stock.



Checking the gaps they seemed to be about right out of the box:



So in they went. At this point I was very glad I’d bought a magnetic plug socket/wobble bar combo!



Now I actually have something to connect those high tension leads to!



Now they fit properly!



After putting the tank on, I gave starting her a try. Success!



I noticed a lot of smoke coming from the exhaust, so got a video of that for troubleshooting purposes.



Next step is fixing the smoke!

(copied with minor edits from my blog post of the same name)

 

Hmmm I need to get some bolts and put the fairings back on then!

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

 

In Which Nix Falls Repeatedly

Yesterday was a busy day! Not many photos though. I found and bought many nuts & bolts a couple of suitable clips.

I put the panels back on Nix.



Worked on Eric a little bit, then decided I wanted to try the bikes side-on in the gazebo.



I put more fuel in Nix and took her for a quick blat around the block. Not being used to the lower riding position and slightly heavier weight, I managed to drop her but only at low speed onto the side that was already cracked. I picked her up, rode home and decided to move the bikes out of the gazebo to make room to load Nix onto the trailer as I bought a loading ramp.

Nix’ stand sunk into the dirt, she fell on Eric and her seat got torn.



After picking her up, I loaded her on the trailer, put bricks behind it, put Eric on his centre stand, then gave up for the night and had a cider!



(copied with a few edits from my blog post of the same name)

 

Nix’ inner fairing cowl arrived!



I got Nix off the trailer and had a look at the task at hand.
I thought I’d taken photos of the side view but apparently I didn’t.

Lower front fairings off and it’s on with the cowl.



After getting the front fairings back on again, I connected as much as I could of the inner cowl.



The right side fairing still hangs a bit low with an obvious gap, so I’ll have to either look into repairing the broken tabs on that panel or replace it. Considering how damaged it is otherwise, I’m seriously thinking about either a repaired panel that will need painting or a “new old stock” one I found in the right colour.

Loaded Nix back onto the trailer and packed up the cardboard as I was done for the day.

(copied from part of a post on my blog)