A crashed Ninja 300 appears

"Decay buys too many beaters" (decay) 08/01/2018 at 13:39 • Filed to: Decay's Beaters, Two Wheels Good, Kawasaki, How many god damn bikes do you have? Jesus

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Apparently, I just obtained a Ninja 300. This one belonged to a friend for a while as their first bike until in ended up on it’s side in a ditch. From there, it sat in the back of a garage for a while waiting to get fixed. The owner ended up buying a Moto Guzzi earlier this year so I expect the Ninja dropped down into the “this will never get done” section of the do do list and proceeded to take up room in the back of their garage.

Fancy Italian machines are not in my garage often

A few weeks ago the only local Moto Guzzi dealer in the area was/is looking like it is closing it’s doors (Long story, lots of conflicting emails sent to customers), and my friend was due for a service on the Guzzi. They offered to trade the broken 300 in exchange for doing/teaching them to do the common major service items. The only tricky bit is valves, which have a pretty short interval, but easy access and adjustment. It’s not however, something someone with limited mechanical experience should tackle alone the first time, so we got that done along with going over any gotchas for changing out the engine oil, the trans oil, and the final drive oil (Yes, they are all seperate :/ )

Anyway, picked up the 300 yesterday, got it into the garage and surveyed the overall picture. Frame looks to be untouched, forks not bent, with the upper fairings and gauge mount taking the brunt of the damage. The engine wouldn’t fire at first, so on a hunch, I jumpered over the tip-over sensor reset the ECU and got it to run.

Now I just need to figure out what to do with it. I  want to swap the motor into a ruckus frame (after seeing a few videos of a guy ripping rolling burnouts on a CBR250R swapped ruckus). I might already have some CAD layouts underway for doing just that. But it almost seems a shame to yard out a bike that still mostly in one piece with working mechanicals. It would make a heck of a fun kart track bike. But I do really want a stupid fast scooter with a motorbike engine and a manual transmission. :p

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Decay buys too many beaters 08/01/2018 at 13:44

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I want to swap the motor into a ruckus frame

You’re a madman. I bid $5K

Decay buys too many beaters > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 08/01/2018 at 13:49

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I made a model of all the pickup points on the motor and designed a tube frame around it that should allow everything to fit. Have a few friends with tube benders, so fabrication is possible . It is going to be long though. Longer than a standard ruckus by a little under the length of a ninja 300 swing arm.

Zaxbys > Decay buys too many beaters 08/01/2018 at 13:50

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Ninja engine in G rom

Grom e ngine in ruckus

and that Subaru engine in the Ninja

Done.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Zaxbys 08/01/2018 at 13:56

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Ruckus engine into lawnmower, lawnmower engine into blender.

Decay buys too many beaters > Zaxbys 08/01/2018 at 13:57

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Oh god, I’d go to jail first day out on a Ninja swapped G rom! At least a R uckus can be ridden calmly. I go straight to madmax mode whenever I put a leg over a grom

Mercedes Streeter > Decay buys too many beaters 08/01/2018 at 13:58

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Now I just need to figure out what to do with it.

I’ll trade you my Chuckus for your Grom :D You’ll have a frame for your engine swap! ;)

Decay buys too many beaters > Mercedes Streeter 08/01/2018 at 14:02

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Nope the G rom is <3
I’m pretty sure if I had to reduce the collec tion to 1 bike, it would be the Grom. 

bob and john > Decay buys too many beaters 08/01/2018 at 14:14

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yea, track bike.

Mercedes Streeter > Decay buys too many beaters 08/01/2018 at 14:16

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Huh, looks like you aren’t the first who has had the idea of  a 300 Grom

Decay buys too many beaters > Mercedes Streeter 08/01/2018 at 14:20

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Still a single cylinder right? The Kawi has twice as many!

Have a friend who rides a CBR250R swapped grom, it’s silly. Really really fast for how small it is. 

AestheticsInMotion > Decay buys too many beaters 08/01/2018 at 14:20

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How many god damn bikes do you have? Jesus

Hood open, jacks underneath.... How's the S2k coming along? 

Mercedes Streeter > Decay buys too many beaters 08/01/2018 at 14:27

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I think so! lol

I really want to do a bike engine swap one day...but man I know I don’t have the mechanical know-how to see it through.

Decay buys too many beaters > AestheticsInMotion 08/01/2018 at 14:27

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I usually just tell people 5, and they think I’m crazy. It’s been 5 for the last 3-4 arrivals...

S2000 is coming along slowly, need to find a free weekend to yank the motor. I put it over there so I’d be motivated to work and free the lift back up for M iata stuff :p

Mercedes Streeter > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 08/01/2018 at 14:29

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Blender engine into Subaru..

Wait.

Decay buys too many beaters > Mercedes Streeter 08/01/2018 at 14:32

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I have the benefit of  a local shop that is almost dedicated to small displacement engine swaps (S cooter Swap Shop), so I can bounce ideas off of them for a lot of the unknowns.

Decay buys too many beaters > bob and john 08/01/2018 at 14:35

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Can do both, going t o be a while before a recipient scooter is ready.

BobintheMtns > Decay buys too many beaters 08/01/2018 at 14:53

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I’ve got a buddy that swapped a 250cc 2-stroke yamaha motor into his grom... it was pretty sick...

And I hope your buddy treats his guzzi a bit better than that ninja!!

Decay buys too many beaters > BobintheMtns 08/01/2018 at 15:14

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Fingers crossed! They do seem to be taking it a good deal easier. Especially after I told them that, from a cornering performance perspective, the Guzzi falls short of the 300.

Zaxbys > Mercedes Streeter 08/01/2018 at 15:20

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Subaru headgaskets are known for blending c oolant and oil, so this might work

Zaxbys > Decay buys too many beaters 08/01/2018 at 15:22

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Hey, if you go to jail, that means you didn’t die...

Decay buys too many beaters > Zaxbys 08/01/2018 at 15:24

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thejustache > Decay buys too many beaters 08/01/2018 at 15:56

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Or take the Ninja 300 to Bonneville and VTX1800 swap the Ruckus?   

BobintheMtns > Decay buys too many beaters 08/01/2018 at 16:00

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Cool on taking it easier... And regarding the valves on the guzzi... as someone who’s done valves on a bmw airhead a bunch.. I’d wager they’re pretty easy to do.. And bonus of BMW’s and Guzzi’s-- you don’t even have to remove the gas tank to do them!

Decay buys too many beaters > thejustache 08/01/2018 at 16:03

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Fun fact.

The f orged crankshaft in the VTX weighs about 50 lbs

The Ruc kus motor, also weighs about 50 lbs.

Decay buys too many beaters > BobintheMtns 08/01/2018 at 16:09

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Definitely easy access, and set screw adjusters make adjustment simple . Only kind of sketchy area was lack of any tolerancing or tightening specs in the factory service manual.

They give only the exact valve clearance (from there I assumed it was a -+ 0.001" real allowable range, like most bikes) And did not give tightening specs for the adjustment lock nuts. I’m usually fine tightening by hand, but for a new wrencher, having a number is helpful.

thejustache > Decay buys too many beaters 08/01/2018 at 16:11

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Fun fact: My vespa ciao weighs only about 38lbs more than the forged crankshaft in a VTX apparently

Decay buys too many beaters > thejustache 08/01/2018 at 16:16

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Vespa C iao??!?

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Decay buys too many beaters 08/01/2018 at 16:17

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Svsxr, triple, boat, Grom, ninja, drz... And we're not even talking scooters yet!

Decay buys too many beaters > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 08/01/2018 at 16:24

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Oh, I sold the SVixxeR, so that’s one down from that list  :p

...but you did forget the Aprilia... 

thejustache > Decay buys too many beaters 08/01/2018 at 16:25

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Yeah, the official “You have a Vespa?” “Yeah, but its a moped, not a scooter” Vespa...

I actually have 2, neither of which run atm. In the process of moving earlier this year though I found a whole crate of new parts I bought who knows when and forgot about. I finally got my basement workshop set up so this should probably be my next project.

Decay buys too many beaters > thejustache 08/01/2018 at 16:32

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Sweet! I had a couple 70's mopeds a few years back, but got greedy and sold them when gas hit $4. 50 a gallon :)

If you haven’t found them yet, Treatland.tv is an awesome site for sourcing parts and go fast bits for  small bore 2 stroke stuff.

nermal > Decay buys too many beaters 08/01/2018 at 17:15

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Put some bodywork on the 300 and race it.

Not track days. Actual racing.

Decay buys too many beaters > nermal 08/01/2018 at 17:21

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An interesting proposition. I’m afraid operation “Decay needs a truck” will have to complete before taking that plunge. 

nermal > Decay buys too many beaters 08/01/2018 at 17:34

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Just do a 96 month loan on a new diesel truck, and a 180 month loan on a new toy hauler trailer to tow behind it.

Put the bike and racing costs on credit cards. Simple!

Decay buys too many beaters > nermal 08/01/2018 at 17:39

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#murica!

Can’t I just get a home equity loan and roll both purchases in to a single 180 month package??? 

nermal > Decay buys too many beaters 08/01/2018 at 18:25

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No. You do the truck loan, the trailer loan, and the credit card. Then you draw from your home equity line of credit to make the payments on the other three every month.

It’s like free money!

Decay buys too many beaters > nermal 08/01/2018 at 18:38

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Wow, so smart with money!

That’s why I’ll never be rich, I’m not creative enough to think of something like that :( 

sdwarf36 > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 08/01/2018 at 21:04

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Funny car engine into blender.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb4b3Q8AkUs

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Decay buys too many beaters 08/02/2018 at 11:29

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When did that happen?

Decay buys too many beaters > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 08/02/2018 at 11:34

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Sold the SV shortly after I got the Triumph. Couldn’t justify two bikes in the same class both taking up space, and didn’t see myself riding the SV much with the T riumph being there.

The Aprilia was in may.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Decay buys too many beaters 08/02/2018 at 15:20

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Oh gotcha. I do remember the Aprilia now though. It's hard to keep track with you!

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Decay buys too many beaters 08/02/2018 at 16:13

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Next road trip post is scheduled for tomorrow. This one will be more relevant to yours. It's one of the best legs. 

Decay buys too many beaters > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 08/03/2018 at 14:27

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I don't even post the quick flips :p 

Decay buys too many beaters > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 08/03/2018 at 14:29

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I'll set a reminder to check, currently out in diamond lake camping till Sunday. Zero service whatsoever