Low & Slow's Ninja 250 project

[sendler]

Craig's tail must go on and off for A B testing as this new photo on his front page shows no tail.
.
Craig Vetter, designer and inventor of the Windjammer fairing,Triumph Hurricane Motorcycle and fuel economy motorcycles

[low&slow]

Hi Sendler, I think you are referring to an older picture of Craig's streamling when he using a removable tail. He ended up redesigning the tail section to a one piece as he found no down side to running with the full length tail all the time.. The Ninja tail is designed so it can be removed with3 bolts, I'm not sure if the Helix tail can be removed that easily.

[sendler]

Originally Posted by low&slow

Hi Sendler, I think you are referring to an older picture of Craig's streamling when he using a removable tail. He ended up redesigning the tail section to a one piece as he found no down side to running with the full length tail all the time.. The Ninja tail is designed so it can be removed with3 bolts, I'm not sure if the Helix tail can be removed that easily.

Just wondering because the date under the caption of the photo with no long tail says Feb. 8, 2012.
.
http://craigvetter.com/
.
.
.
.

[low&slow]

Sendler, I followed the link and you are correct, that is the current Helix tailsection Craig is using and obviously he did remove the tail for some reason; probably testing as he alludes to. When I visited him 2 days ago, the long tail was back on. I'll ask him about it.

[low&slow]

Latest update: refueled today, mixed riding in cool to cold weather, 209.5 miles, 2.63 gallons to refill... 79.7 mpg . My 3 tank average is 83.3 mpg , OK but I want more!

Next steps; taller gearing and redo the tail section. My current tail is a bit small to hold the Vetter-mandated 4 bags of groceries so it's time to go all out before the May 4 Vetter Challenge in Carmel.

[greenjoe]

A good average by any standard. Just keep in mind that Vetter's challenge & all of our projects aren't based on a one day compition. Are you still running 15/42 gearing? I know that bike will pull alot more than that, especially at 70ish mph range. Any rumors of what top mpg might be at Carmel? Nice of you to keep us updated on progress and plans. Greenjoe is still working hard on the 125 Ninja.

[low&slow]

Hi Greenjoe, I'm still running the 15/41 combo; the 250 Ninja can handle taller gearing. I have to either shorten my chain or get another one.
Last year Fred Hayes with his diesel poewered bike won with a 128 mpg run at the Carmel Vetter Challenge, Alan got 93 mpg, Craig got 88 mpg, I got 55 mpg with my Vision 550 Only the diesel bikes broke 100 mpg. It's a tough course, I hope to be closer to Alan and Craig, but it would take a lot to beat Fred Hayes.
How are you doing MPG-wise with your 125?

[sendler]

I like Craig Vetter's mind set on the whole competition in that he is encouraging real world solutions such as starting with a readily available used bike and using a straight sided tail with no complex curves so it is easy to cover out of locally available parts. There will always be $20,000 machines showing up for challenges but I wouldn't feel too bad about not beating them. The whole idea is to get people to at least do whatever they can to enjoy traveling while using less gas.

[HHOTDI]

Well, I pulled the trigger the other day gents and bought my DonorCycle for my diesel project. I have had so many people sell bikes out from under me when I was ready to travel to get the one I wanted, I had to settle for something else. I wanted a Honda Rebel but, I scored a great bike for my donor. It is a 2005 Kawasaki Eliminator 125! It has 11k on the bike and a brand new top-end, great condition overall. It was an 8 hour round trip down to the state of Oregon and back home to beautiful Idaho! I was not able to figure out how to post he pictures of it, so sorry. I will keep ya'll posted with its progress. I am trying to have it cut up, stretched, welded and on the road running for the Lacey Washington Green Day event May 5th, then have any bugs worked out of it for the Vetter Fuel Challenge scheduled for June 1st/2nd up here in the Northwest, location TBA. :{)

[Electictracer]

Its great to see so many people going after the vetter challenge. Its a short time frame to complete a project. There is just no way my machine will be done by then. I hope to ride up there on my buell, just for fun. good luck, im looking forward to seeing your work. Be safe on 84.