Ninja 500 Sport Tourer build

nhdiesel

nhdiesel

Joined
Feb 27, 2011
Messages
3,328
Age
53
Location
Rindge, NH
Bike
2006 ST1300
This is my wife's bike, the 2007 Ninja 500 I previously posted about. Its a great little bike, and much more comfortable than I thought it would be. But now its time to set it up to be a comfortable bike for weekend trips for my wife. Requirements are: Luggage, decent seat, comfortable riding position, useful windshield, useful mirrors, some extra lighting, and decent ride/handling.

Fortunately it came with good soft luggage- Cortech saddle bags, tail bag, and tank bag. We want to install a hard top box in the future, but its not an immediate necessity. The useless original mirrors had already been upgraded to a larger version from a different Kawasaki model. The seat had been rebuilt with gel inside and was reasonably comfortable even for me.

First up even before getting the bike home was ordering bar risers from Motorcycle Larry, and a Zero Gravity Sport Touring windscreen. The bar risers came in tonight and were installed in 15 minutes. She hasn't been able to ride with them yet, but the riding position really improved. I'll get feedback tomorrow if she is able to ride the bike. Once the bike was home we ordered a couple things to deal with maintenance issues- the back tire was worn out, and the front engine mount bushings were worn out. A call to Tim Keel got a pair of Avon AM26 Roadriders. These are known to be good sport touring tires for the Ninja, giving up a small amount of cornering ability for greatly improved tire life. For a middle aged woman's first bike, cornering isn't the biggest priority. the 500 uses 3 motor mounting points- two at the rear, and one up front. That places a lot of force on the front mount, so they are prone to wearing out and transferring vibrations to the rest of the bike.

For suspension, I took the suggestions I read in Ninja forums and ordered a set of .90kg/mm Race Tech fork springs to firm up the ride. My wife isn't a dainty woman, plus luggage, and the stock springs end up being way too soft. I ordered a firmer rear spring to go with them.

Future plans call for a GPS mount, mirror extenders, flashing LED brake lights, some additional front lighting, Stebel horn, and a few other things. But at least the big items are taken care of. I'll post after she has a chance to try the bar risers and new tires.

Edit: I forgot to mention the mirror vibrations. I'm sure they will be reduced once the motor mounts are replaced, but there will still be some buzz. I looked at the mirror mounts and came up with an idea to kill 2 birds with 1 stone: I want to build a small dash to mount the GPS to and for future farkles, and mount it between the mirror mounts to reinforce them. This should eliminate almost all of the mirror vibrations.

Jim
 
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We got the tires mounted tonight and I took a short test run down the road. Everything seems fine, and the new tires really turn much better. The new windscreen should come tomorrow while we are at my wife's graduation, so I'll try to install it tomorrow evening. Engine bushings and springs will be coming next week.
 
With 117 views so far I guess a few people are interested in low-budget, small sport tourers. The windshield came in Saturday while we were at my wife's graduation, and I mounted it up when we got home. Sunday was the big test of what we had done so far- 268 miles on the little Ninja. The small improvements of the bar risers and the slightly taller windshield made a huge improvement in comfort. The bar risers took pressure off her arms, and she said her shoulders felt much better after riding. No discomfort at all now. The 3" taller windshield was just enough to eliminate the buffeting she was getting at higher speeds. Even with 100 miles of slab combined with 170 miles of secondary roads she was very comfortable. The seat worked great, apparently the gel is just what the Ninja seat needed. I don't know exactly what was done to the seat, other than being told it was a gel seat, but it sure worked. Overall the only complaint she had at the end of the day was discomfort in her hands from vibrations being transferred to the bars.

Tonight we installed the new motor mounts. Instructions I found online all said the engine had to come out. WRONG. I removed the right side forward/lower frame section- 4 bolts, plus one where the radiator attaches. That gave access to the right forward motor mount, which slid right out. I was surprised that it really didn't look as bad as it had appeared. Oh well, I'm there and the money was spent, so its getting the new mounts. I slid the new mount in, then left the rail off to do the other side. The left rail isn't removable, and although there is a steel sleeve between the motor mount bushing and the frame rail, removing it doesn't make enough room to slide the mount out. I looked the engine over and decided to put a floor jack under the engine, then remove the two rear motor mount bolts. I then jacked the engine a bit, and used a bar to gently pry the engine toward the right of the bike. This gave just enough room to slide the old mount out, and the new one in. I reinstalled everything and tried it. I was surprised to find that the vibes actually were reduced a fair amount. She rode it home and agreed that there is a noticeable reduction in vibrations. She can still feel some in the foot pegs, but the bars are much smoother. There will always be some vibes due to the inline two cylinder design, but at least they seem to have been reduced to a tolerable level.

When we got home tonight we found the fork springs waiting for us. We had received the shock spring yesterday, so now I can install those as soon as I find some time. This weekend we plan to do some riding, so I hope to get the springs installed before then.

So far we have just about $3000 into the bike, which includes the luggage, frame sliders, and other items it came with. While there are some slightly larger, and better, bikes to be found in that price range, they tend to be older, with higher mileage. They are also bone stock for that price, so add in the cost of luggage and other upgrades this bike already has. Possibilities on our list were the Gladius, SV650, Nighthawk, and possibly a lowered DL650 or Versys. Any of those bikes in our price range would have had lots of rough miles on them, with no accessories included. We'll probably look at them again when she outgrows the little Ninja. For now, she's gaining valuable experience, not only for riding, but also learning what she wants in a bike.

I'll update again once we get the new springs installed and a good ride to test them.
 
Jim, Any thought of heavier bar end weights to smooth out the vibes in the bars?
 
JoeP said:
Do they make peg puppies???
Click to expand...

Twisted Throttle does offer "touring/off road pegs" with beefier than stock rubber inserts that are removable exposing spikier than stock metal pegs. I know they have these for the Versys and VStrom, perhaps others as well. Wonder if they'd fit a half-liter Ninja?
 
I know on the C-10 Kawasaki's there was a counter-weight that if adjusted correctly would smooth alot of Buzzz out of the bike... Bar end weights WILL make alot of difference too! I actually filled my C-10 bars with bird shot and sealed with RTV. It made a world of difference. ALSO carb sync is kinda crucial on these twins to reduce the vibes.


I'd also take one of the pegs off and go to a local Stealer....Dont tell them what it came off of and you should be able to come home with an idea of what will fit.

There is ALOT of interest....I'm looking at VFR's right now primarily but the littel Kawi is on my list of possibles!
 
I'll have to do a carb sync, sure wouldn't hurt. This bike came with bar end weights. I just tried it myself for a few more miles tonight, and its actually a lot better after doing the mounts. I would say it reduced 50-75% of the vibes it was getting. Its actually very smooth up at highway speeds. The gearing is decent for highway cruising as well. Although its up around 5-6k RPMs, that is where this engine loves to run. It gets smooth and starts getting power around 4k, and is good on slower roads riding easy running between 4k-6k RPMs. For a little more spirited riding, or on the highway, it really starts pulling hard at 7500 to redline. Anyway, I think the vibes have been brought to a reasonable level, but I will investigate a carb sync when I get time. For tires, we don't know yet. We just put on new Avon AM26 Roadriders. Predicted mileage for these tires is 10-15k miles rear, 15-20k miles front, according to riders on the Ninja forums. I'm sure they wouldn't last me that long, but will probably last her even longer. :D

Tonight I installed the front springs. Man, how easy can a job get? Push the fork cap down, pop out a circlip, and out comes the cap, spacer, and spring. I made the new spacers a little long to start out, then measured the preload. With her not wearing gear, its at about 19mm. The suggestion that came in the spring instructions said 25-35mm is good. I'm going to leave it here for the weekend, then do another measurement after the springs have been used and she has full gear on, then make adjustments. I'll adjust it to around 25mm, because I'd rather have it on the firmer side to compensate for when she carries extra gear. I took a quick spin on it with just the front springs in, and man, what a change! It handles the bumps far better, and feels like the front is planted much better. The bike feels lighter and more nimble, yet it absorbs the bumps better without "wallowing". Hopefully tomorrow night I'll be able to do the rear.

DSCN0566.jpg
 
From what I have read on the EX500 forums, they don't take well to jetting and/or pipes. A lot of money spent to make it louder (not interested in that), and gain maybe 1hp...then the jetting is difficult. It will already run all day at 80+ mph...in fact, during my test tonight I had it at 110. On our ride last Sunday it averaged 58mpg on a variety of roads, including 100 miles of slab at 65-70 mph. The engine seems great...not looking to change anything there.
 
I actually want to do exactly that...find an ex500 engine and mate it to my klr. That would be a fun bike!

Sent from my LG-US670 using Tapatalk 2
 
My wife met me at the shop after work tonight and we swapped rear springs. It was pretty straightforward- remove the two shock bolts, with no other parts removal needed to access them, though the top bolt is a tight squeeze; then remove one bolt from where the "dogbones" attach to the rear suspension link to make room for the shock to drop out the bottom. 5 minutes in all to get it out. Then back off on the preload adjuster locking ring, then the preload adjuster all the way to loosen the spring. It won't come off that end though, since the rings won't fit over the shock eyelet, so after loosening them all the way, a lock nut on the opposite end of the shock can be loosened, and the bottom eyelet can be removed, then the spring. The new spring is a hair shorter, and just a tad larger diameter, but it fits fine. I cranked up on the preload adjuster just about all the way (as found in a thread on a Ninja forum about the swap), and loosely installed the shock to check sag. It was at just about 1", which is where it should be, so I removed the shock, tightened the preload lock ring, then installed the shock and tightened it down. In all, 45 minutes, with the longest time spent double checking the sag and reinstalling the shock again.

The results? A completely new bike. It felt good last night after the fork spring change; but with the shock done to match them, WOW! It feels SO much better, even she says so. No more brake dive, no more settling hard in hard corners, no more nearly bottoming out coming up our road. Now she will be ready to haul a weekend's worth of gear to Maine next weekend. I bet I still end up carrying her CPAP machine for her though! :D

Although not a major change, last night I also installed the RAM clutch lever double ball mount for her. Now she can attach two items, one of which will be a GPS. The other will be an EZ Pass transponder when going on longer rides. The mount fit well and isn't in the way at all. I'll get some finished photos of the bike as soon as I can.

This should mostly complete the build- it really didn't take much to turn the small sport bike into a reasonable sport/touring bike. Future plans call for me building a bracket/rear rack to mount a top box to. There are a couple racks available, but I don't really care for how they attach- they just seem weak. We are planning to mount my smaller Shad top box from my ST on the Ninja, then mount the larger Givi from my old ST1100 (and later my KLR) to my St1300. We are also kind of interested in hard side cases, but that will require custom brackets to be made up.
 
Will do Smash! She now has over 1100 miles on the bike, including the nearly 500 between yesterday and today. For a new rider on an unfamiliar bike, I'm very impressed, not only with her, but with how comfortable the bike is for her.

Next round of mods will be electronics. Once cool weather comes she will be getting an electric jacket, so I'll install a panel mount socket. I'll also be installing a power outlet, and a couple RCA style sockets for low draw items like a GPS. I also want to put some additional lights on it- the tail & brake lights are nearly useless, especially in rain or fog, so aux. tail & brake lights will be added. I want some additional forward lighting as well. I plan to do a higher wattage headlight, as well as a pair of aux. driving lights. To monitor the low output charging system I'll install a voltmeter. I'm sure she will have to be a little cautious once cold weather gets here again, to be sure not to run the heated gear while running driving lights & high beams. I will be switching every buld except the headlights to LED to save a little power. From what I read, on this particular bike I can free up almost exactly 50 watts by using LEDs everywhere.

So far no complaints from her. Each ride we go on she is handling better and better. Today she felt great after over 200 miles. If her confidence builds as fast as her skill level and conditioning, she might be up to her first ss1k by the end of the summer! I think she will be ready, its a matter of whether her confidence allows her to feel ready.
 
Its really all a matter of comfort nh....Sounds like shes comfortable though and THATS the key to high mileage!


Id be careful not to add more schtuff then she'll actually use. Be mindfull of her wishess when ordering farkles. My lady only wishes to answer the phone and get off for a walk after 200 miles. Anything else would be "needless expense" in her eyes.(pillion till death do us part is her description though.)


I can see the heated clothes though....you folks up there get some wicked winters!


Personally I'd find a way to put a flower vase on the handle bars or paint job wile she wasnt looking though.



(Just a thought)
 
Man, you don't know my wife...LOL. If I added a flower or a spot of pink, she would sand it off in a hurry! When I kid her about getting her a pink jacket, I get "The Look" and know to back off...LOL. I'll be keeping her bike pretty minimal compared to mine, but since she does occasionally ride alone, and to give her a reference when we are together, she will be getting my old GPS. The lights are a safety issue, and one she has already requested since she has seen how well they work on mine. She will also get an outlet so she can charge her phone, or her headset during a long trip. Other than those things, it will stay pretty basic.
 
Good idea Matt, I'll look into them. Karen, thanks for mentioning the Stebel...its on the short list, but I forgot to mention it. I get reminded every time I hear her little (beep), compared to how her bike changes lanes from the blast from my Stebel!
 
nhdiesel said:
Man, you don't know my wife...LOL. If I added a flower or a spot of pink, she would sand it off in a hurry! When I kid her about getting her a pink jacket, I get "The Look" and know to back off...LOL. I'll be keeping her bike pretty minimal compared to mine, but since she does occasionally ride alone, and to give her a reference when we are together, she will be getting my old GPS. The lights are a safety issue, and one she has already requested since she has seen how well they work on mine. She will also get an outlet so she can charge her phone, or her headset during a long trip. Other than those things, it will stay pretty basic.
Click to expand...

After 8 years of marriage, I am so glad to see and hear Jim knows his wife. And if he did not, I would make it perfectly clear to him........:cus:
 
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