Kawasaki 650 Thinja notes; parts bin build

So it a "No" for the big blocks, apparently.

And i should have said that all the cool dudes are running 19s, but then dune&stars might see this...

more like, NOOOOOOOOOO!

i used up the rear BB this weekend on the TWVT (somewhat in your neighborhood), so that thing is coming off. big beefy tire in the 17 size, but they don't last long. if you where on muddy roads constantly and didn't mind the cost of replacing the tire, that's about the only application i can think of.

Still waiting on buchanon spokes for the 19 inch front. My tires are here so I decided to paw through the trash pile for parts with which to build a tire change stand. Avert your eyes...

The hub I have is a 26mm axle but the Thinja has a 20mm axle. I decided to make some sleeves that slide into the stock ktm spacers. These spacers took forever for a rookie without the proper tooling. I had to drill the blank with as large a bit as possible then I used a boring bar to get to 20mm. Whats the proper tool for this, 20mm drill bit or reamer? Oh well, i'm learning the hard way as usual.

My adventure wheel experiment turned out to be a steep learning curve. I ordered up all the stuff I thought was needed and figured it was a quick assembly job. Then Murphy's Law demanded recognition. The short version is that this pile of parts:



turned into this:



It took about a week to get some stainless spokes from Buchanon. The spokes wouldn't go into the hub, too thick. I call the company and explain. The girl says "but thats the size we make". After a couple of seconds i ask, "Well what do we do now"? she answers "you'll have to drill out your hub". She made me aware that I am a dumb-ass to expect a custom ordered set to actually fit.

I drill the hub spoke holes bigger but they are still snug so getting the rim to lace up is a real chore for a novice. I persist and get things buttoned up only to realize another problem. The rim I'm using is a standard 19 inch 2.15 rim for the rear end of a KTM/Yamaha YZ etc. The nipple holes are drilled at an angle appropriate for a rear hub which is about 5 inches wide. My hub is only 3 inches wide so the angle of the dangle is off and I notice all my spokes are bowed. Not knowing much but thinking that is not good, I post a question in the woodyswheelworks thread and he answers that the rim has to be drilled as well.

I wasn't about to unlace the dang thing so I went about doing them one at a time. I borrowed a special drill bit from my farrier that has a big chamfer edge combined with a smaller twist bit. 36 holes. I learned as I went along and got it down to 3 or 4 minutes per hole. It turned out ok.

Went to mount the wheel after installing the 320mm rotor, new tire and caliper relocator. It bolts up but the wheel wont turn. The rotor is hitting the caliper bracket. Here again I assumed that a rotor and caliper bracket bought as a kit would actuall be built with the proper clearance for the rotor to spin inside the caliper bracket. Wrong again, out comes the mill file.

All told I have about 20 hours into the wheel swap with the spacers and all the hassles. Not to mention the frozen rear axle... And the bike falling off the lift at one point:huh

17/17 ninja cast configuration



17/17



18/21



17/19

The wheels look great and if it was easy everyone would do it . Nice job.

That looks like a nice brake set up on your new 19. What is the scoop on that? You got everything except a set of big wheels, maybe that's next?

Thanks for the encouragement. The front rotor is a Braking knockoff from ebay. $190 including the caliper bracket. It shipped out of oklahoma but surely was spawned in some oriental location.

Don't provoke me with any "big wheel" talk

So what are you impressions 19 vs 21?

That is scary, the big wheel parts are in hand!

By the way, how do you like the Shinkos, have you had a chance to test them out. I need to get some new rubber for the mutant and these are on the short list.

I can't really comment on the wheels and tires yet, not riding this thing much. Its very smooth running on asphalt and the seat dropped an inch or two with the wheel swap.




I think the Thinja is just about done. It only took a year. All the little stuff was taking way longer than necessary so instead on building my own crashbars, skidplate and radiator guard, I bought them instead Sorry to be a pussy about that.

The SW Motech protection designed for the Versys bolted up ok. I had to sawzall the left fairing mount into submission to install the crash bars, though. The Versys rad plate I bought ended up being a pain to make work but I ended up with a little bit of side protection from the angle brackets that I had to make to mount the thing.




Thanks for all the input, amigos!

After a failed delievry service by u-ship, Eric Farmer got the next bid & the bike finally arrived in AZ yesterday afternoon, Dave was a joy to deal with & really did a nice job on this thing. The lack of steering angle almost caused me to dump it leaving the driveway for the 1st time, it's sloped, I did my lean left clutch off & luckily the motor has very good response, left a squirrel mark on my driveway & my wife thought I was showing off I was just trying not to be that guy that dumps a new bike in the parking lot. Once rolling, it'sa very cool bike. I'm about to go for a mild ride before I start taking it apart to weld the mounts on for the versys passenger pegs etc, etc, etc
My plans are to follow KTMKLX's lead and extend the swing arm a bit, inner fender mods for increased suspension travel without making it so tall I need platform shoes, & steel footpeg mounts, the aluminum scares me.

Looks like the thinja has found a good new home. Bring on Part 2!

here is the last I saw of her as she headed out West.



The shipper didn't quite know what to make of it as i explained what it is to him I liked his professionalism but not his "no dirt roads" policy. He said he lacked 4wd but i think he didn't want to get his diamondplate dirty.

4wd is not need on dirty roads.I think he is scared he may find a new obsession.

The mild ride was awesome! 80mph cruising for 40 miles one way to some rocky two track with some shallow water crossings. It cruises the hwy awesome for full unbalanced knobbies, effortless 80mph...
Off road, it's suprisingly stable, the front suspension is decent, I will revalve for my weight, the rear, well it needs a bit of work or I need to slow down. Remember I said, how stable it was? well that lead to speeds ramping up, carrying the front end over the shallow stream crossings & when I came to a ravine, I just grabbed some throttle to carry the front end & the rear hit a bit harder than I was thinking it would, I heard/felt something so I stopped & I was missing a bit of hardware. The rear tire ate the licese plate light & the plate. My buddy Eric thought is was hilarious.

This pics was after I tie wrapped the turn signal to the frame.



I was planning to do something different back there, but that is not how I wanted to remove it.

Like everyone says, the engine/trans are marvelous. I have owned a 990 & other than for the money, I would not trade this for one. Just the shear weight difference ~150lbs is huge. With the rear suspension sorted out, this bike really has some potential. When I owned the 990 it was a second bike, you had to own a smaller bike for the real offroad stuff. With this bike, I could see it easily being an only bike. Like Sanjo says, it can do singletrack (not my 1st pick for it, but it can do it) & do 80mph down the hwy all day long.

That is one way to get the project started. Glad to see some new Ninja stuff posted, I need a Ninja fix.

I'm anxious to start on the +2" swingarm/inner fender/R-1 shock.
Footpeg mounts are next. Not sure I want to move them forward much from the Verys mounts, my knee braces hit the Ninja tank ridges already,

Welcome to the ninja off road group

I have a 950se and came to the same conclusion with the ninja, it's like 80% of an se as far as capability.

Peg relocation, extended swingarm would get it really close to se territory.

Bump the rear sprocket up a couple of teeth and it will really tractor off road. I'm running a 52t ironman. Gets rid of that inherent rumble around 3000 rpm that every ninja 650 vertical twin that I've ridden has.

Any of you using the SW bars & Versys pegs have a good solution for the fake brake pedal issue? scroll up a few pics & look at the proximity of the mounting bolt & the lower bar. It scared me a few times, pusing on the bolt or bar did nothing to slow the bike. Besides a bigger folding pedal end, I was thinking about a small plate that prevents my boot from snagging the wrong surface.
I may lower the pegs a bit when I build my brackets, but after another ride today I am not thinking I want to move them forward. When I stand, my knees are hard into the tank ridge as it is.

How do you like it compared to your 600?