Black Ninja Motorcycle
In 2007, when I was taking care of Mother on Cherry Street, I bought a new 2007 silver 250 Kawasaki Ninja. In or around 2015, one of my lifeguard buddies, Travis Blakeslee, bought a 2007 motorbike, just like mine, except it was black. He proceeded to hot rod his bike until he blew it up. Upon examination, he managed to burn a hole in the head by a spark plug. I bought the bike from Travis for $500, intending to use it for a parts bike. Aside from a damaged engine, the bike was in good condition. It sat in the garage, looking forlorn, for a couple of months, when I decided to see what was wrong with it. Long story short, I bought a used head online, and proceeded to get it running. I got a tag for it and putted around the beach. In the process of repair, I reinstalled the old head and cylinder gaskets, as I didn't know if it would run, and I was trying to save money.
I was riding it one day in 2018, in North Carolina when the head gasket failed. The oil filled up with coolant, and the motor stopped in front of Mrs. Dillard's driveway on Bettys Creek Road, in Georgia. I hitchhiked home and retrieved it with my trailer with Karen's help. I replaced the head gasket and the cylinder gasket, and also replaced the cam chain.
The engine again seized up a short time later on a ride. Upon examination, a plug in the used head had come loose and dropped into the cam chain cavity. I took a plug from the original head and screwed it in, checking the other plugs for tightness. This was in January of 2019. I couldn't get the motor to run again, and after much exasperation, gave up in February. In the Spring of 2020, I was inspired by our new garage to work on it some more. My new cam chain had stretched, and was not allowing the engine to run correctly. $100 and some hours later, I replaced the chain and the carburetors ($300), and it ran pretty good. It still has a little valve chatter, but seems ok. I have ridden it to Franklin, NC, and back, several times (round trip 30 miles).
Artie Cox listened to my bike run in late July, 2020, and diagnosed my engine noise as a spun bearing. I will probably try to replace the engine as it has been through the mill.
