Just got my first bike! (problem)

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onlystring · Fri Dec 08, 2006 5:06 pm

Hello everyone, first off let me thank everyone who gave me advice on the forums (either directly, or through posts in other topics). This place is a great resource to anyone who is thinking of buying a bike.

Well, I finnaly found a bike that I really feel 'fits'. I tried an ex250 at the msf, then a used SV650, then a gs500, and finnaly an ex500 but nothing really felt 'right' to me. Earlier today I saw an ad on craigslist for a 1994 zx600 with 25000 miles for $1900. Just for the price I figured I would give it a try. As soon as I got on that bike I felt like things just clicked. I took it out for a quick jaunt and was sold by the time I brought it to a stop back where I started.

I know several people here will and do disapprove of my choice but this bike just felt like it was made for me. I feel comfortable and connected while I'm on this machine and I don't think I would be happier with any other bike.

I'm getting it registered on monday and I'll put up some pictures here soon (it looks VERY nice).

Thanks again to everyone here on the forums.

Fri Dec 08, 2006 5:13 pm

Congratulations on your purchase. Sometimes you can't worry what other people think......if it feels right for you, then that is what is important.
Just be easy on the throttle until you get experienced. But mostly....have fun.

#3 Unread post by **Koss** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 6:18 am

I love that generation, my friend had a black '93... it was awesome. He crashed it though... but he always refused to take msf, get a license, or insurance... never read any books on riding or anything. Poor bike.

onlystring · Wed Dec 13, 2006 3:38 am

First, here's a link to some pics of my bike http://demobobin.googlepages.com/bike (they're not very good because I had to take them at night....)

Ok. I've been out riding a lot these past couple days and I have a few questions.

Unfortunately I have discovered a fairly serious problem with my transmission

. If I get on the gas more than about 1/2 throttle in 2nd the bike pops into neutral. Needless to say I don't and won't accelerate that hard very often but I still feel that I need to fix it. I have spent several late night hours scanning the internet for help and have found that this is a fairly common problem for older Kawasaki's. I know what has to be done (replace one of the shift forks and or undercut the dogs/replace 2nd gear), and how to do it (thank you Haynes), but what I don't know is how long this will all take. My bike is now my only source of transportation so I need to know how many days to take off work. If anyone has done this before (or something similar) could you give me an estimate of how long it took you?

And now, what type of tyres would you recommend? My current set are fairly used and I figured some new rubber would be a nice first purchase for my baby. There are so many manufactures out there and they are all claiming to be the best so I'm kind of overwhelmed, but I think I like the conti "sport attack" ones, has anyone here tried them?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Fast Eddy B · Wed Dec 13, 2006 3:55 am

Can't help you with the tire issue, I'm fumbling looking for those too. But thanks for showing the pics. Looks dern fine, man....

isnowbrd · #6 Unread post by **isnowbrd** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 4:38 am

That model ZX is a great bike, which is why they made it virtually unchanged until 2004, which is when I bought mine brand new.

But you're correct that 2nd gear would commonly begin to fail. This is something that they fixed from 98 onward by putting in beefier components. Other than colors and slightly different mufflers, I think this was the only change ever made to the bike.

I have a friend that just bought a 93 or 94 this past summer. He had the exact same problem with 2nd gear and did all the work himself. I think he was able to order the parts he needed before even taking the bike apart just from doing some research online. Then it took him about two full days to do the labor, but he also put in a jet kit and converted the exhaust to 4 into 2 into 1 with a slip-on. If you have all of the transmission parts on-hand when you start, I don't see why you couldn't do the work in one day.

Did the seller tell you about the transmission problem? 1900 is way too much for that bike considering the transmission problem. I think my friend paid under 1000 because of the transmission. And his has a lot less miles on it.

onlystring · Thu Dec 14, 2006 3:45 am

thanks for the replies. I also plan on ordering the parts beforehand so it's good to know that it's doable in just 1 or 2 days ( I pretty much live paycheck to paycheck so missed work is bad).

Unfortunately the owner didn't tell me anything about this, but I'm not angry. He's just a dishonest person, there are people out there that will screw you over in a second if they get a chance and I've had it happen enough times to realize that getting angry and dwelling on things like that just makes them seem that much worse. And also, $1900 still isn't all that bad for out here. I'm looking at about $190 for parts and shipping so that would put the bikes price around $2100 after the fix, and for that price where I live you would be hard pressed to find a decent condition ex250. Out here if you can find a car or motorcycle for at or below bluebook value you are very lucky. Unfortunately both our price for vehicles and rent are unbelievably high compared to other parts of the nation, but I guess that's just the way it goes.

Once again thanks for the information. I really had no idea what kind of time-frame I was looking at, and now I do.

Andrew · #8 Unread post by **Andrew** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 3:57 am

I can't help you with the transmission problem, but I've learned this lesson with projects....always allow a little more time than you think is neccessary. I like to do projects on my house (new doors, put in wood floors, ect.) and the first time I do it it always takes me about twice the amount of time I expected.

I guess all depends on if you can afford an extra day off work, but definetly worth thinking about.