I love riding a motorcycle. While this is not the most comfortable way to travel, it is definitely one of the most exciting ones. My first motorcycle was a Honda NSR 150, which was a joint advanture between me and my brother many years ago. My current ride is a 2002 Kawasaki Ninja 250 that I got in 2006. I keep a riding journal in my blog.

Photos

Got a big new toy!	Alyssa on Ninja.	Vivian on Ninja.
Great capacity for a small bike.	My helmet after a CUSTOM high-viz job.	Watson Mill State Park, Comer, GA.
On Route 72 near Comer, GA.	On Route 72 near Comer, GA.	Elder's Mill covered bridge, Watkinsville, GA.
On Route 72 across Savannah river (GA/SC border).	With Payne from Ninja 250 Club in Greenwood, SC. My first GRR point.	Riding around town in Athens, GA.
Dahlonega, GA.	Chestatee overlook, Chattahoochee National Forest, GA.	Chestatee overlook, Chattahoochee National Forest, GA.
Woody Gap, Chattahoochee National Forest, GA. This is where the Appalachian Trail crosses with SR60.	With Chris (s0meguy) from Ninja 250 Club at Hard Labor Creek State Park, GA.	In the middle of Nowhere. I took this picture at the intersection of Nowhere Rd and Nowhere Ln in Athens, GA. Guess it'll be handy if I need to answer to “Where've you been?”.
With Hugh (LDBandit) from Ninja 250 Club in Clayton, GA. We met up for the KawiDavis memorial ride.	At the Big Chicken in Marietta, GA.	With Hugh at the Chicken Statue in Gainesville, GA, the Chicken Capital of the World.
With Hugh at the Giant Rabbit in Rabbittown, GA.	At Hugh's house after our work-on-your-bike party in Toccoa, GA.	Building a super trike with David.
Training the next generation mechanic, who has many ideas about how to improve my bike.	With Hugh and two under-age mechanic working on valve adjustment.	With Hugh after the valve adjustment. Very happy that we did not screw up anything and ready for lunch.
With the Ninja250 gang in Oakwood, GA.	With Elmer (Bokonon) from Ninja 250 Club in a Subway restaurant next to the train station in Hsinchu City, Taiwan.	With Brad (purestfeeling) from Ninja 250 Club in Athens, GA.
Valve adjustment party with Hugh and Rene (klown) in Athens, GA.	Cromer's Mill covered bridge, Cromers, GA.	Hugh arrived at our new home in Tucson, AZ after a 1,900-mile trip on my Ninja.
In front of our home in Tucson, AZ.	Mt. Lemmon Hwy, Tucson, AZ.	Mt. Lemmon Hwy, Tucson, AZ.
Babad Doag vista point, Mt. Lemmon Hwy, Tucson, AZ.	Heading out for the lab retreat, Nov 2008.	M+O lab retreat at Santa Rita experimental range, AZ
Entrance gate of Santa Rita experimental range. The cattle guard was quite a challenge to ride across.	Bumpy road ahead.	What a ninja gets after pretending to be a dirt bike.
San Xavier del Bac Mission, AZ.	Saguaro National Park, Tucson, AZ.	Saguaro National Park, Tucson, AZ.
Saguaro National Park, Tucson, AZ.	Saguaro National Park, Tucson, AZ.

Ninja 250 Mod

Tires

Bridgestone BT45. Front: 100/90-16; Rear: 130/90-16.

Extra brake lights/turn signals

Add double contact sockets/dual filament bulbs in the empty pods next to the tail light. Use high-intensity light for turn signal and low-intensity light for brake light.

Flush-mount front turn signals with daylight running lights

Flush mount front turn signals from Keith Summers (AsianCycle @ ebay). Use a pair of electronic modulators (also from Keith) to add running light function, constant-on power from the horn circuit.

Windshield

Replace the stock windshield with a 17-inch custom-made windshield from Mike Mims. This larger windshield provides much better wind protection at highway speed (60+ mph).

Fuel filter

Add an inline fuel filter to the fuel hose between gas tank and carburetor.

Speed Bleeder

Replace the stock bleed screws with Speed Bleeder (part number: SB7100S). They made the job of changing brake fluid very easy.

Stainless steel brake lines

Replace the stock brake lines with Galfer stainless steel brake lines. This brake upgrade makes the brake response much more linear and precise, the maximum brake power also increases a lot.

15T front sprocket

Replace the front sprocket with a 15T one from JT (part number: JTF 516.15). At 65 mph in 6th gear, this modification drops the engine speed from 8k RPM to 7.5k. This makes noticeable reduction in vibration and noise. I don’t feel much difference in acceleration.

GPS mount

Add a RAM mount for my Garmin Nuvi 350 GPS. There is a detailed guide available at the Ninja250 club here. However, you can find a RAM ball with metric threads and avoid the re-threading step. The parts that I used for this are:

• RAM-B-349U (RAM mount M10 x 1.25 pitch male thread on 1-inch ball): this part goes on the bike, does not need re-threading.
• RAM-B-201U-A (RAM mount short length dual 1-inch docket Arm): a 1.75-inch arm connecting the two 1-inch balls (one on the bike and one on the GPS cradle). There is a 3-inch version available too but I prefer the shorter one.
• RAM-B-238U (RAM mount diamond plate with 1-inch ball): attach this to the GPS cradle with the included bolts (3 sets of different lengths are included) and nylon lock nuts.
• RAM-HOL-GA21U (RAM mount Garmin Nuvi 3xx series cradle): this holds the GPS unit. The exact part number you need will depend on the GPS unit that you have.

I got all these from GPS City for less than $40 shipped, very happy with their selection/price/service. The installation was extremely easy and only took about 1 minute.

Gears

• Helmet: Scorpion EXO-700
• Jacket: Joe Rocket Alter Ego
• Pants: Joe Rocket Alter Ego
• Gloves: Joe Rocket Phoenix 3.0, Joe Rocket Nitrogen, FirstGear Mesh Sport
• Boots: Tour Master Response, Oxtar Matrix 2
• Ear plugs: Howard Leight MaxLite
• Tank bag: Marsee 25L rocket pocket

Links

http://chkuo.blogspot.com/

My blog.

http://www.ninja250.org/

Ninja 250 Club. Great discussion forums and faq for Ninja 250 and motorcycling in general.

http://mileagetracker.org/

Online maintance tool.

Payne Seal

Ian Johnston

Evan Yeager