[A]

Picked me up a used 05 Ninja 250 for $450 today, little over 3000 mi. with busted front fender, bent clutch lever, bald rear tire, small dent on tank/exhaust, small crack on tail fairing, been sitting for a while and stmbles to start..
I truck it home, drain tank, put in fresh fuel mixed with Seafoam, 1/2 hours later it funs like a champ.

[Jeff in Kentucky]

I am a big believer in Seafoam in the gas tank, mainly as preventative maintenance, or as a first attempt instead of taking the carbs apart for cleaning.

I would probably paint all the silver parts black to match the lower fairing, but you might like something else for looks.

The biggest, easiest improvement for a bike like this is more, heavier fork oil. I like the Valvoline MaxLife 20w-50 engine oil in the forks, an inch higher than stock. This oil seems to do a very good job of sealing off the fork seals, to prevent slowly losing fork oil and to keep dirt from coming into the forks. You can also add Progressive Suspension brand better fork springs, especially if you weigh more than 150 pounds.

[A]

I’m always on the lookout for a good deal.

I do weight less than 150 lb., I’ve put over 160 mi. on it so far, the forks do feel a bit soft, but only under heavy braking.. in the corners are still okay.

Progressive springs seems like a bad idea:

Linky

[Jeff in Kentucky]

Progressive means the aftermarket springs start out softer than stock, but for big movements they get stiffer. Heavier fork oil in my bike made it less bouncy on bumpy corners, with less front end dive when using the brakes, and less back pain when hitting a big bump.

[gitchy42]

Looks like fun, some nice photos. Great to hear that it’s working smoother too.

[A]

Put over 350 miles on the little Ninja in a week, riding to school that 45 mi. away, three times a week and many sideroad trips.. it’s running and shifting much better than a week ago.

[Author]

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