Low & Slow's Ninja 250 project

[HHOTDI]

Originally Posted by low&slow

Hi Mike, I'm glad you are enjoying my project and are going to be competing in the 2012 Vetter motorcycle fuel economy challenge. I'll be going to the Northwest event and look forward to meeting you. What kind of bike are you going to run?
I hope to get the Ninja 250 over 100 mpg pretty soon so that I will be more competitive in the 2012 Vetter Challenges. Alan Smith's Ninja 250 is currently undergoing a lot of mods and will very likely surpass his best of 116 mpg.
all the best , L&S

I am working on a Honda rebel with a diesel and a full bodied fairing! :{p

:{)

[low&slow]

wow, Mike, sounds very cool. What is the source of the diesel egine? Sounds like it has a lot of potential.
best wishes, L&S

[HHOTDI]

Originally Posted by low&slow

wow, Mike, sounds very cool. What is the source of the diesel egine? Sounds like it has a lot of potential.
best wishes, L&S

I am getting it through a guy here in the states and he gets them straight out of China from the manufacturer. I have emailed with the manuf. many times already , it looks to be a good one so we'll see. :{)

[redyaris]

Originally Posted by low&slow

I rode the bike today with the 15/41 gearing ( vs 14/45 stock ) today and it is much improved. I can confirm that the rpms are now down to ~6000 at 60 rpm. The bike still accelerates very well and actually it can handle even taller gearing. I'm using Alan Smith's spare rear sprocket right now and he also has a 39 tooth rear he offered to let me use. He is currently running a 37 tooth rear right now. I also have the 33 tooth rear that GreenJoe sent me . I'll run this setup for a bit and test it. I'll post the results shiortly.
all the best L&S

Given that you said that with the stock final drive gearing 14/45 you were turning 8500rpm at 75mph by my math you would be turning 6800rpm at 60mph so the present 15/41 final drive gearing, drops the rpm to 6000rpm or 12%.
How is starting out on hills with the new gearing?
Have you notice that your ability to maintain a high speed against hills and headwinds has been deminished in 6th gear?

[sendler]

The Gearing Commander web site has data for most bikes so you can see what speed/ rpm changes result from changing gears.
.

Gearing Commander: Motorcycle Speed, RPM, Chain & Sprockets Calculator

[low&slow]

Hi RedYaris, I haven't tested in real steep hills yet but I suspect it's fine. With the stock gearing 1st gear was almost unneeded. The bike still accelerates very well and I think I can go taller as the bike pulls well at ~5000 rpm. I'm sure I will need to downshift more frequently going uphill or accelerating out of turns than before as I was running around in 6th gear almost all the time.
Sendler, Thanks for the link! This will help a lot in looking at the feasibility of taller gearing without physically swapping gears.
Looking at the ratios : 45/14=3.21 vs 41/15=2.73 2.73/3.21 = 85% , so a 15% reduction of rpm currently. Pretty large but I think I can go higher. I can hardly wait to test this gearing out some more and get some results. Its raining very hard right now so to be continued....
best wishes, L&S

[Electictracer]

yea this is a great project. I am aslo working on a heavly streamlined Kaw250. I think alot of others are on the same path. please keep reporting your results, your doing a great service to this little community.

[low&slow]

Hi Electictracer, Thank you! I'm glad to help others as I have helped by others here. This a great forum full of very smart and accomplished people who also are very generous in sharing their knowledge and experience.

Do you have an electric vehicle or an eclectic one? Are you going to ride in the Northwest Vetter Challenge on 6/1/2012?

Still raining here so further testing is postponed for a few more days. I talked with Alan Smith about the gearing and he has 39 and 37 tooth sprockets to try out.
Sendler, I used the GearCommander to check the effect the 33T rear would have and appears it may be feasible ( 6500@70 mph) , particularly if I can reduce the aero drag enough to allow decent acceleration.
best wishes L&S

[sendler]

Originally Posted by low&slow

Still raining here so further testing is postponed for a few more days. I talked with Alan Smith about the gearing and he has 39 and 37 tooth sprockets to try out.
Sendler, I used the GearCommander to check the effect the 33T rear would have and appears it may be feasible ( 6500@70 mph) , particularly if I can reduce the aero drag enough to allow decent acceleration.
best wishes L&S

Must be you didn't go to 15 on the front yet? Do they make as small as 33 for the rear? At some point you will run out of room.

[Electictracer]

Originally Posted by low&slow

Hi Electictracer, Thank you! I'm glad to help others as I have helped by others here. This a great forum full of very smart and accomplished people who also are very generous in sharing their knowledge and experience.

Do you have an electric vehicle or an eclectic one? Are you going to ride in the Northwest Vetter Challenge on 6/1/2012?

Still raining here so further testing is postponed for a few more days. I talked with Alan Smith about the gearing and he has 39 and 37 tooth sprockets to try out.
Sendler, I used the GearCommander to check the effect the 33T rear would have and appears it may be feasible ( 6500@70 mph) , particularly if I can reduce the aero drag enough to allow decent acceleration.
best wishes L&S

Ive done a bit of work with electric bikes, but nothing really road worthy. My current project is a one seat tracer like vehicle with a ninja 250r donor. I just started building and I'm documenting progress on the forum. I would like to go electric some day if prices go down.

As for the challenge, I wont have a working vehicle by then, but might ride my buell up there to check it out if its not to far away in Washington.