[ronkore]

Today I got a call from the dealer, they were able to fix the problem, turned out to be a simple thing. They said the “neutral detent” was sticking and the clutch was stuck. They freed up the gears and ran it, worked fine. Picked up the bike and it seems to be working fine. Had a long talk with them about my concerns regarding this happening again, they said it was a “freak occurrence” and shouldn’t happen again. They also recommended against coasting in neutral, because the oil bath isn’t able to splash on all the gears/clutch when it’s not in gear.

Rode the 30 miles home without any problem, hopefully this is the end of it. Didn’t have to pay anything, it was completely under warranty.. only bad part of this was the 3 week downtime and crappy service.

[ronkore]

’round here, it’s pretty much fellow sportbike riders who wave, and of all the cruisers I’ve seen I think only one has waved. I’ll return a wave if I’m not busy with the clutch or in a traffic situation that requires all my attention. I’ll try and nod in that case. I never wave on the freeway, I’m too busy concentrating on where I’m going and what the cars around me are doing. I’ve had some fellow oncoming riders wave at me, but I can’t return the favor.

I’ve been in one situation so far where I’ve been able to warn of cop ahead, and the two riders were grateful and gave the thumbs up.

[ronkore]

Heh, I put most of it on my credit card and the rest a downpayment. Though I’m gonna talk to the sales guy again tomorrow, and convince em to make this a priority..

Obviously I should’ve gone with a different dealer, given this service. There was another place closer that was gonna give me the same price but the guy in my MSF course insisted these guys were cool, and my internet research into them beforehand didn’t raise any red flags. Live and learn eh

I was originally going to go used, but the prices for used 08+ ninjas here are around MSRP for 09’s.. pretty screwed up.

[ronkore]

Dealer finally got out here today to pick my ninja up. The guy who was loading it onto the trailer remarked it’s definitely not the clutch, but probably what Munch said. This makes sense, since it seems somehow sixth gear is engaged in neutral now and when I try to shift into first or second, it’s not moving because in those cases both sixth and first/second are engaged. He remarked it’s most likely something with the engagement dogs or shift forks, and if this were the case it should be covered under warranty. Of course the guy isn’t in the service dept so I’ll wait to see what their verdict is on it tomorrow.

I’m gonna be joining AMA since they have 5 free tows a year (within 35 miles). I find it annoying that AAA/state farm both seem to think all motorcyclists have instant access to an extra pickup truck in case somethin goes wrong with their bike. (aka they don’t cover motorcycles in their roadside assistance) If I’d had the coverage I coulda had it towed last weds instead of waiting a week and fighting with the dealer to drive the 30 miles to my place and pick it up.

Hopefully I’m back up and runnin by the weekend if all goes well. Luckily the metro train runs close to my place and the dealer so I can just take that over to get the bike when it’s done.

[ronkore]

Well, it’s not that they don’t want to deal with kawi, it’s that they’re almost positive kawi’s gonna deny the warranty claim for that reason, and that I’ll have to fight with em then to get them to cover it. They’re gonna have to deal with kawi in the beginning after they take the clutch apart and find out wtf happened.

As for the “hard to kill a clutch in 1300 miles” statement, I’d agree but that line of reasoning didn’t fly with the dealer or kawi.. they both said something to the effect that you can burn a brand new clutch out in 10 mins if you’re using it wrong. I don’t even know if it’s the clutch either, since my experience with clutches says when they’re burnt out, they slip like hell and you can’t get the car/bike to go anywhere. My clutch isn’t slipping at all in neutral, it just acts like I’m in sixth gear and I can get the bike to go as I said.

When the shit hit the fan, I was in neutral coasting, there was this loud CLICK that sounded like something gave way, and then my back tire locked, as I said. Is that a normal way for a clutch to burn out? I think maybe something shattered inside the gearbox or clutch assembly. I guess I’ll find out on mon or tues when they pick it up. Just took off my ZG windshield tonight and put the stock one back on, don’t want to give em any excuses to say I voided the warranty :p

[ronkore]

Dealer says it’s probably a fried clutch. Apparently Kawasaki doesn’t cover them under warranty because it’s a “wear item”. After going back and forth with em today, I got em to agree to pick the bike up but it probably won’t be until mon or tues. Guy who sold it to me said I’d have to fight with Kawi and try to make em cover the cost. Service guy was saying they might be able to do a goodwill warranty thing. Whole thing’s BS since there’s only 1300 miles on it and I haven’t done anything squid like that would burn the clutch out. I’m lucky the damn thing didn’t give out on the highway or I’d probably be roadkill the way that rear tire locked up.

And I was really lookin forward to some riding this weekend..

[ronkore]

Yep, when I order online from a new retailer I haven’t dealt with before, I do the exact same thing: look em up on google and resellerratings. Unfortunately I couldn’t find much on them. But I figured since a lot of other riders had ordered from em (but hadn’t posted anything on their experience) I’d be alright. Not sure if they check this forum or not, but the reply they sent to my second email stated in a curt tone that they respond to every email they receive. Heh.. who knows what happened.

I did get the screen on Monday, installed it, and so far it does make a bit of a difference on the highway, cuts the wind noise down a little and make a significant reduction in blast.. not sure if it’s $80 worth of reduction, but eh, I suppose I’ll decide that on my next long freeway trip. Only minus is my Dowco cover doesn’t fit as well anymore.

[ronkore]

Just got a reply finally. I guess my first email didn’t get there or got lost once it did. Apparently the windscreen will be delivered today, woohoo

[ronkore]

Nope, just a generic email that said my order would ship in 1-3 business days. Today’s the last day of that window and I still haven’t gotten any shipping notification. I just sent them a second email requesting the status, as the first one went unanswered. Hopefully I’ll hear from them today. I’ve heard they are run by zerogravity itself, so it’s in their best interests to have good service. My next step will be to find a phone number for ZG and pursue it with them.

[ronkore]

Don’t forget a torque wrench so you know you’re tightening things correctly. That’s the next thing on my list and I’ve been putting it off since I don’t really know what kind is best. I’m in need of a 10-150 ft/lb range and a 20-250in/lb one.. and there are all kinds.. digital, automatic, and deflector beam. Some automatics are $50, others $500. With so many choices and such a wide price range, it seems to be quite the gamble.

As for socket tools, yea I went with craftsman too, just got a 1/2 inch metric starter set last week. I can’t afford the real stuff like snap on, etc.. easily 10 times the price!

[ronkore]

Thanks. Damn, didn’t know that you could shatter your ankle doin that.. though I guess it makes sense. It was an instinctive reaction to the situation. What’s the best way to recover (straighten up) in that situation? They didn’t go over that scenario in the MSF course.

[ronkore]

It’s a movie ref. I think the movie’s called “A christmas story”

[ronkore]

from what I’ve heard

The cruisers have a more forgiving powerband, so starting on a 600 isn’t as bad on a cruiser as it would be on a sport. Though the weight factor does come into play, I’ve had some close calls at low speed on my ninja 250, which probably would’ve been drops if it were 100lbs heavier. If you’re worried about getting bored look into a 500 or 600 but definitely consider the weight difference

[ronkore]

Like me you live in CA, where things are more expensive, add to that the insane demand for the 250 here. 5200 is highway robbery though. The dealer should be fine with MSRP + sales tax, dmv reg fee, and documentation (title) fee. I’ve read elsewhere that charges like setup and delivery are BS as those are already built into what they pay kawisaki. The dealer invoice tells the story.

If you do the math, the 3999 + sales tax + doc/dmv comes out to

3999 * 1.0925 + 150 = ~4519. I got my ’09 250 for 4600 OTD, and it likely wasn’t the best deal I could have gotten, but far better than the initial quotes of 4999 OTD I was getting. And one infamous place here was even sellin it for 6800 OTD.

I’d say offer em MSRP and see where it goes from there. It’s really too bad both the dealers and kawisaki (+$500 price jump for ’09 MSRP) are playing this price gouging game with the 250, as I’m sure it contributes to beginners saying “screw that, I can get a used ZX6/R6/GSXR for that price!” and they end up with more bike than they can handle.

[ronkore]

yea, the 08+ ninjas look great. Though I wish they’d have kept some of the things the old one had, like the center stand or temp gauge. Eh, what can ya do. As for exhaust sound, I don’t think it sounds too horrible, especially when you get to higher revs. Yea it’s quiet, but I don’t get why some ppl say it sounds like a lawnmower. The aftermarket exhausts are pretty pricey, and most of em sound like a ricer fart cannon to me, so I don’t think I’ll get one.. that and the fuzz around here likes to hassle bikes with aftermarket stuff.

Tires seem to be ok so far, though the dealer didn’t inflate the front one enough so I need to fix that.. gotta get a compressor next I guess. When I took my bike on the twisties in that photo it helped break in the tire sides more.. didn’t notice any traction issues there either. I’ll probably be up there again this week or the weekend sometime. I go slow up there, I know it’s easy to crash in those kind of situations, especially when you’re starting out.

As for maintenance/accessories for those getting their first bike, I got a guardian weatherall plus cover, very nice and has heat resistant padding so you don’t have to wait any for it to cool down. Also got a 25mm x 5.5′ onguard rottweiler cable lock, those are harder to get through than chain and serve as a good deterrent. Go for at least 25mm thickness, they even make a 30mm one. I got a dial tire gauge which keeps the reading till you reset it, very helpful. Next on the list are a couple of torque wrenches, and then probably some kind of rear stand. Certainly a lot of money sunk into initial cost with these things..

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