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Hey guys, as the title says Im new to the forum so with that Ill do a quick introduction. I have been riding for 8 years (been a MSF coach for 3 of them) I have owned 4 bikes, 2 Ninja 250s, and 2 Katana 600's. The first Ninja I had built from the ground up, the second Ninja and last Katana I have rebuilt from the ground up. The first Katana was a 93 drag racing bike, it had been lowered, stretched, and was heavily modded to have way to much power. I didnt keep it long due to the insane amount of low end power and the general comfort problems I had riding it (5 foot 6 and the seat was so fat I could barely touch the ground.) My last Ninja blew a spark plug out of the head 3 times (prolly cuz I rode it like it was a liter bike) so on the last blow out I bought a 98 Katana 600 from a Battle Buddy for 500$. This is where we get into the meat of things!
So with that being said Ill go over what i have done so far and post pics as i progress. Im starting this post a little late so Im missing a pics from some of the stuff I have already done (not had alot of time since Im a single dad of 2 little girls.) So mechanically this is what has been done so far... carbs rebuilt synched and tuned, plugs replaced, 2 oil changes, and 2 tune ups. the reason for the multiple changes and tuneups is because the previous owner let a monkey with a rock work on the bike and it had alot of problems. one plug was blown out and had been bored out to a bigger size plug, compression leak due to a sticky "butterfly" if that is what its called lol, smashed needle in one of the carbs, and most of screws stripped on the carbs as well. now to the fun stuff. Before I go over the cosmetic fixes I have done and the ones that I will do Ill feed yall some pics.
As you can tell the bad bad man left this poor baby outside, and ontop of that she hasnt ran in around 2 years. All of the lights (that wernt smashed to pieces) are badly fogged. So the first thing I did after taking off all of the plastics was resurfaced the headlight, the tiny running light on the front, and tail light, then i put a light coat of tint on the led tail light, and the running light. I ordered new smoked front blinkers that will match the taillight and the running light. She had two green led strips on her, one under the tail and one under the instrument cluster. the one under the instrument cluster was burned out. So I replaced the front one with a blue led strip, on top of that the little running light above the headlight I replaced that bulb with a blue led bulb (t10 if I remember correctly). There was small dinky blinkers installed on the tail i had to destroy them to get them off since they was GLUED to the dang body... So i ordered a all in one brake light blinker led bar that im going to mount on the top of the plate.
The pegs had been smashed up bad and so was the front brake lever, so i took all of them off and slowly reshaped them in a table vice (to keep them from snapping) then took a table grinder to them to smooth out the vice marks. I also replace the grips with fancy grips that Ill post when i get a chance. I had to rip the gas cap off of the bike after fighting with it for 4 hours. It had siezed up so bad that there was no way to get it open. With that being said I got a new gas cap with 2 keys for around 16$ from china. I also took some marine vinyl i had left over from doing the seat on my ninja sewed a seam in it and then cut up a foam car washing sponge and fixed the seat.
Now for the reason she is called Project Shield... The paint job I am putting on her is Flat OD Green with a matte clear coat. I am putting shield logos (the agency not Cpt America) on the sides, and on the seat cover. I am also putting dispatch numbers on the tail to make it look like it is an agents bike. Along with those I will also put an aluminium badge or two on it to make Her look a little more professional.
The body work is a nightmare, i have had to plastic weld more then 6 feet total of cracks and thats not including the drift stitches on the front wheel fairing (which i will plastic weld underneath and keep the stitches since i like the way they look) i have went through half a can of bondo so far and i am about half way done. I also plastic welded the mount for the mirrors and then put bondo on both sides of it to strengthen it up a bit, it was cracked in half under the headlight. I ordered the complete bolt kit for the bike since it only had 16 of the 120ish bolts and pieces needed for the body, most of it was held on with zip ties. I will post the only pic I have of her now along with some of the vinyl I am going to put on her. and hopefully I will be able to update this post as I go along, fingers crossed i will have her done by the 4th of Jan.
How I am riding her at the moment
Here are some of the vinyls I am putting on her once she is painted
Shield badge
Large side vinyls (thinking around 16 inches)
These will go on the sides of the seat cover but the agents of will be removed
So thanks for reading, feel free to tell me what you thing (honest opinions only please) and have an amazing Christmahanaquanzica!!!!
So with that being said Ill go over what i have done so far and post pics as i progress. Im starting this post a little late so Im missing a pics from some of the stuff I have already done (not had alot of time since Im a single dad of 2 little girls.) So mechanically this is what has been done so far... carbs rebuilt synched and tuned, plugs replaced, 2 oil changes, and 2 tune ups. the reason for the multiple changes and tuneups is because the previous owner let a monkey with a rock work on the bike and it had alot of problems. one plug was blown out and had been bored out to a bigger size plug, compression leak due to a sticky "butterfly" if that is what its called lol, smashed needle in one of the carbs, and most of screws stripped on the carbs as well. now to the fun stuff. Before I go over the cosmetic fixes I have done and the ones that I will do Ill feed yall some pics.
As you can tell the bad bad man left this poor baby outside, and ontop of that she hasnt ran in around 2 years. All of the lights (that wernt smashed to pieces) are badly fogged. So the first thing I did after taking off all of the plastics was resurfaced the headlight, the tiny running light on the front, and tail light, then i put a light coat of tint on the led tail light, and the running light. I ordered new smoked front blinkers that will match the taillight and the running light. She had two green led strips on her, one under the tail and one under the instrument cluster. the one under the instrument cluster was burned out. So I replaced the front one with a blue led strip, on top of that the little running light above the headlight I replaced that bulb with a blue led bulb (t10 if I remember correctly). There was small dinky blinkers installed on the tail i had to destroy them to get them off since they was GLUED to the dang body... So i ordered a all in one brake light blinker led bar that im going to mount on the top of the plate.
The pegs had been smashed up bad and so was the front brake lever, so i took all of them off and slowly reshaped them in a table vice (to keep them from snapping) then took a table grinder to them to smooth out the vice marks. I also replace the grips with fancy grips that Ill post when i get a chance. I had to rip the gas cap off of the bike after fighting with it for 4 hours. It had siezed up so bad that there was no way to get it open. With that being said I got a new gas cap with 2 keys for around 16$ from china. I also took some marine vinyl i had left over from doing the seat on my ninja sewed a seam in it and then cut up a foam car washing sponge and fixed the seat.
Now for the reason she is called Project Shield... The paint job I am putting on her is Flat OD Green with a matte clear coat. I am putting shield logos (the agency not Cpt America) on the sides, and on the seat cover. I am also putting dispatch numbers on the tail to make it look like it is an agents bike. Along with those I will also put an aluminium badge or two on it to make Her look a little more professional.
The body work is a nightmare, i have had to plastic weld more then 6 feet total of cracks and thats not including the drift stitches on the front wheel fairing (which i will plastic weld underneath and keep the stitches since i like the way they look) i have went through half a can of bondo so far and i am about half way done. I also plastic welded the mount for the mirrors and then put bondo on both sides of it to strengthen it up a bit, it was cracked in half under the headlight. I ordered the complete bolt kit for the bike since it only had 16 of the 120ish bolts and pieces needed for the body, most of it was held on with zip ties. I will post the only pic I have of her now along with some of the vinyl I am going to put on her. and hopefully I will be able to update this post as I go along, fingers crossed i will have her done by the 4th of Jan.
How I am riding her at the moment
Here are some of the vinyls I am putting on her once she is painted
Shield badge
Large side vinyls (thinking around 16 inches)
These will go on the sides of the seat cover but the agents of will be removed
So thanks for reading, feel free to tell me what you thing (honest opinions only please) and have an amazing Christmahanaquanzica!!!!
If that floats your boat, go for it... That looks like a lot of clean up..
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