Seems Like My Bike Is Costing Me More Than Expected

[DarkNinja]

Ive Had My Kawa 89' Ninja (GPX) 250 For About 6 Months Now,
At first it was a really good investment, i was loving it and its a brilliant bike,
Then i started to notice wierd things and i dont know if this is me or not:
I live on a hill and so when i come home from work/play i just chuck the bike into nuetral, then off while i wait for a garage door to open, then just roll it in, When i'mdoing this tho, it sounds like the brake pad is contacting with the disc, i didnt think much of it at first but now a couple of ridges are appearing on the disc.
Other things include the seals going, finding out just how much tread there ISNT on my rear wheel, the front brake not working very well, and other stuff i cant remember quite well.

So heres my question: The bike is imported from japan about last year, is it common for second hand bikes this old to just be wearing out? Or hav i been sold a lemon?

Im guessing i could replace those parts, fix it up and all the rest, but unfortunatly with my experience (0) i cant do much but wash it every couple of weeks.
My Next Question is to do with my experience in repairing bikes, whats the best way to do it? i dont want to fork out $50/hr for sumthing really simple.

Sorry for the long message, im just a bit worried its gonna fall apart on me.

[Paul in NZ]

Mate...

Go do the TSS basic maintenance thing this saturday.

jap import 4 pot 250cc bikes are a bloody worry. Everyone I have been involved with has caused the owner to reach into their pockets sooner or later. They are an amazingly high performance vehicle. Most of them would have won the world title a few years before their manufacture in the right chassis. A Suzuki 250cc bandit revs to something like 17,000 rpm and cruises at 11,000!! I mean, think about that! These are precision machines...

Once the first owner in Japan is sick of abusing it, they sit around outside in acid rain before being gathered up, drenched in silicone and sold here. If the carbs stuff up, (and they do) the bike is essentially worthless because parts are so expensive! Just the way it is.....

Look. They are not all bad, some of them are pretty good but the fact is the factory that sold these things in Japan never thought they would still be running 15 years later... Seals and other perishable bits are bound to crap out... As it the paint, the chrome etc etc. The exhaust will rust and split and it will cost a fortune to fix....

Thats the price of performance!!!

I know it's horribly unfashionable but you can buy a brand new GN250 for $2,995.... In 2 years time you will easily get $2000 for it..

Most 250cc bikes are built to a price for a certain market. They aways have been and always will be!

Paul N

[Bandito]

Mate...

Go do the TSS basic maintenance thing this saturday.

jap import 4 pot 250cc bikes are a bloody worry. Everyone I have been involved with has caused the owner to reach into their pockets sooner or later. They are an amazingly high performance vehicle. Most of them would have won the world title a few years before their manufacture in the right chassis. A Suzuki 250cc bandit revs to something like 17,000 rpm and cruises at 11,000!! I mean, think about that! These are precision machines...

Once the first owner in Japan is sick of abusing it, they sit around outside in acid rain before being gathered up, drenched in silicone and sold here. If the carbs stuff up, (and they do) the bike is essentially worthless because parts are so expensive! Just the way it is.....

Look. They are not all bad, some of them are pretty good but the fact is the factory that sold these things in Japan never thought they would still be running 15 years later... Seals and other perishable bits are bound to crap out... As it the paint, the chrome etc etc. The exhaust will rust and split and it will cost a fortune to fix....

Thats the price of performance!!!

I know it's horribly unfashionable but you can buy a brand new GN250 for $2,995.... In 2 years time you will easily get $2000 for it..

Most 250cc bikes are built to a price for a certain market. They aways have been and always will be!

Paul N
GPX is not a four pot but a twin and normally very robust

[vifferman]

What I would like to know, is why this thread is more popular than the other identical thread...:spudwhat:

[Paul in NZ]

What I would like to know, is why this thread is more popular than the other identical thread...:spudwhat:

Because I"M in this thread!

Honestly.... SOME PEOPLE!

:yes:

Paul N :sneaky2:

[Motu]

The other thread has twice as many views as this one,they must be using unfair tactics...maybe even cheating!I'm supporting this thread - how can we get the view count up? anyone got any dirty picks?

[vifferman]

The other thread has twice as many views as this one,they must be using unfair tactics...maybe even cheating!I'm supporting this thread - how can we get the view count up? anyone got any dirty picks?How about this one?

[dhunt]

The other thread has twice as many views as this one,they must be using unfair tactics...maybe even cheating!I'm supporting this thread - how can we get the view count up? anyone got any dirty picks?
That's because the other thread is BETTER. Go the "other" thread.

[merv]

The thing to remember too is that a 1989 bike is not a new one - it was made back when I was young and had a bit more hair and fitted my leathers a bit easier. You can't expect miracles from something 15 years old unless you have nurtured it from new through its life.

Also a lot of the Jap imports have sat around a while in various places too in transit so stuff like seals and things can be a worry as the plastic will have gone all hard especially after baking in their hot sun and polluted air and stuff like that.

[Paul in NZ]

OK

Heres a picture of a bike that cost me a fortune and it was a twin too...

It's the one that left the girl standing in the interesection.

[curious george]

Bad thread.
Pay no attention.
Move along now......

[Blakamin]

OK

Heres a picture of a bike that cost me a fortune and it was a twin too...

It's the one that left the girl standing in the interesection.

You hoon!
not gunna ask when that was :shutup:

[merv]

Many of you will remember I have harped on many times that since 1973 I have only ever used bikes for fun, they are not a cheap means of transport so don't expect them to be.

Is this thread winning yet?

[Motu]

OK

Heres a picture of a bike that cost me a fortune and it was a twin too...

It's the one that left the girl standing in the interesection.

It'd be pretty easy to slip of the ''seat'' you gave her! Nice,cast iron T'bird,52 maybe? No loop for the SU carb in the frame,could even be a Speed Twin frame,my wife had a chrome SU T'bird frame in her 51 T100.So,what's the front end off? Too much chrome,but there was no such thing as too much chrome back then eh?

[vifferman]

You hoon!
not gunna ask when that was :shutup:That would've been back when men were men, and women were men too.
Were the risers as crude as they look in the foter, Paul?

[Paul in NZ]

It'd be pretty easy to slip of the ''seat'' you gave her! Nice,cast iron T'bird,52 maybe? No loop for the SU carb in the frame,could even be a Speed Twin frame,my wife had a chrome SU T'bird frame in her 51 T100.So,what's the front end off? Too much chrome,but there was no such thing as too much chrome back then eh?

Basically, it was a 52 5T...

I was about 16 when purchased it as a wreck from a chch bikie gang associate that had managed to collide head on with a car for $150 as a parts bike.

It had been a chopper for years and the frame was already chromed when I got it so there was no point in a restoration (hey these were just old munters then, not classics). I made an inch or 2 over front end using std Triumph parts and the original chopper wheel. The old extended forks where bent around to one side which saved it from damage and told me every thing I needed to know about extended forks.

The risers were genuine BSA girder fork ones. They were not chromed because I didn't like them. It went to semi westerns because they made the bike a lot more comfy.

I rode it all over the show for 2 summers. Mt Cook, Nelson, West Coast you name it. I had a lot of cast iron 5T's over the years and they were the best triumphs I ever owned. They really ran well and i never ever had any serious mechanical trouble from them at all even though some of them were in advanced stages of wear!

Eventually it was sold to an AMF Sporty owner that needed a reliable bike and I bought another wrecked chopper to build up for a girl friend that turned out really nice!! By the time I finished it we were no longer an item and I never kept it long which was dumb because I'd really love it now (the blue bike). if anything, it ran better and featured alloy / stailess and a bunch of trick stuff...

He are some piccies if you care...

[Motu]

I reckon it looks good.I knew what the forks were when I posted,axle mounts give them away.The cast iron 500s were the best of all Triumphs - my wife had a 57 Speedtwin,the duplex frame,but had a ridgid with sprung hub grafted on.Her bitsa Tiger 100 was a pain in the but,but then she replaced the alloy top end for cast iron and the bike was sweet.I built one with a 71 Tiger crank in it - wow,550cc.I must get a scanner going,find some old photos...that first pic looks all too familiar,not the people,judt the atmoshere....

[Paul in NZ]

I used to get some grief at wof time over the forks in the brown / maroon bike. I'd packed up the springs to stiffen up the sagging 39 year old originals and one dude failed me because they were too stiff???? On a rigid frame bike?? I mean???

The Blue one handled a lot better IMHO as i ditched the sprung hub and fitted a 500 x 16 alloy rim to a QD hub. Ran the tyre at lowish pressure and it was fine at everything except railway lines.. Front on the blue in is a 21" alloy rim laced to a std triumph hub with stainless spokes. I had to turn out the hub after chroming it which trued it up to the oversized brake shoes turned to fit the hub. It stopped amazingly well!

I wish I'd had a better camera then and had a better picture of it as i loved that thing!!



Oh well....

Paul N