Fairfax, Va
Coming into Virgina from New Jersey I was having some issues with the fuel delivery on the bike and the day spent wandering around D.C. didn't seem to help. Looking through the forum I found posts with similar symptoms and concluded that it was just a blocked fuel filter so I set out to add in an additional fuel filter.
When I was installing it I took a look around the carbs and noticed that the boots connecting the airbox to the carbs wasn't seated completely so i figured that was the issue and set to correcting that.
Working on the carbs is something that I've been putting off for, well, ever. I never wanted to have to clean the carbs, adjust the jetting, correct the fuel mixture, nothing. The best way to avoid doing all this is to leave the bike stock and ride it. I've been doing just that. :) Despite all that, here I was, working on the carbs. I was among good company though...
Working on the bike in the Virginia humidity is not what I consider fun but at least there was some shade.I'd check in on the forums now and then to see if there were any more revelations from those that really know the bike. The general consensus was that this was a carb issue but no one knew exactly what it was. There was also the possibility of water being in the fuel so I drained the float bowls several times and added some IsoHeet to the tank. The combination of all this seemed to help the mid-range stumbling but not the choke issues so I was stumped.
One of the resident Ninja 250 gurus was local to the area so I thought that he might have some input. Leon was the first person to complete the Iron Butt Rally on a Ninja 250 and has well over 100,000 miles on a 250. John and I scheduled to meet up with Leon for some lunch and a traveling carb party but since the main issue worked itself out it turned into an eat and ride meeting.
John left for a business meeting and Leon and I ventured to his daughter's house, a.k.a. Leon's Carb Garage. With the bike running decently now, with the exception of the choke issue, I decided to forgo working on the carbs so we talked for a bike and I got to see the legendary Ninja 250 chopper, a custom chopper that is built using primarily Ninja 250 parts.
We went for a nice ride towards Fairfax and met a motorcycle friend of Leon's. For some reason he wanted to hear about my travels and record them. He had me hold a voice recorder as I was telling the story. Even telling the very light version of the trip I only made it to the part about my engine blowing up before it started raining and Leon and I both had to go.
Back at John's I caught him moving his skeleton bike into the house. All I can say is some people are desperate to get their lean on...
I did some routine maintenance on my bike (chain adjust, etc) and replaced one of my rear brake pads. For some reason the pads weren't wearing evenly and the inner pad had gone down to the metal. I had been avoiding the rear brake since Wes pointed it out in Kingston...
