Can anyone recommend an honest mechanic who works with kawasaki ninjas?

E

EC2010

Well-known member
Hello, I'm in downtown and rides a 250. Lately, I am hearing 2 types of noises. First one is a squeeking sound, almost like metal grinding, from my front wheel when I start slowing down. Second one is when I rev my engine up to beyond 8-9,000 rpm, I feel like i'm hearing a rattle can when you shake it. Kinda concern for this bike was bought brand new, and I took it to the dealer at 1,000 for the scheduled maintenance service. I also clean & lube my chain after a long trip on weekends and also every 600km as recommended. I just cracked 4,600 km tonight, and I know my next scheduled maintenance is at approx. 6,000km. Any suggestion is appreciated.
 
There are a few on this board. One mentioned above, ken kneedragger88 (I think), and RogueWolf at Heritage
 
Ken (kneedragger88) knows the 250's very well.
Danny @ Champion is good people.
Pro6 Cycle is also a good shop and not far from you (Kipling south of Dundas)
 
thanks for all the inputs.

I've tried PM with kneedragger but didn't get any reply, that was a couple weeks ago. Perhaps I spelled his name wrong. is it just Kneedragger or Kneedragger8? is he independant or associated with a shop?

Yes, I'm still under warranty with Kahuna. but they seem to be booked solid. I'll give them a try again and see if I can get my ride looked at the next couple of days, for piece of mind mostly and make sure my baby is okay :)
 
If it's under warranty then take it to a Kawasaki dealer. It doesn't have to be the one you bought the bike from, any Kawi dealer can do Kawi warranty work.

Sorry.. it's kneedragger88.. the 8 ) is the stupid sunglasses smiley.
 
haha thanks 8)

sorry to follow up with another newbie question. With regards to warranty work, I believe I still have to pay for the labour costs, and kawi will cover any part replacement if required?
 
Didnt get a pm from you sorry. I can have a look but if you need me to pick it up and return it I cant till after next weekend. SOAR Rnd 3 and I will be at the track from Wed-Mon (morning) and if I pick up your bike I can pretty much guarantee it wont be done before I go, sorry. If you can bring it to me and pick it up I may be able to get it done. If its under warranty probably best to have the dealer do it though. Warranty is warranty and if its a covered repair it should 100% covered I would assume.
my email is lighttwins@yahoo dot com
 
I would expect them to cover the labour as well ! . When I had a rim replaced on my cbr1100 for flaking paint there was no charge , but that was Honda and it was 9 years ago.
 
EC2010 said:
haha thanks 8)

sorry to follow up with another newbie question. With regards to warranty work, I believe I still have to pay for the labour costs, and kawi will cover any part replacement if required?
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When I had work done on my Kawi everything was covered. Even a oil change.
 
Thank you all for the input.

Thanks Ken, I spelled your handle wrong (without the 88).

I'll see what the dealership can do. Going to drop it off for them to work on next week.

Safe riding this long weekend everyone.
 
EC2010 said:
Hello, I'm in downtown and rides a 250. Lately, I am hearing 2 types of noises. First one is a squeeking sound, almost like metal grinding, from my front wheel when I start slowing down. Second one is when I rev my engine up to beyond 8-9,000 rpm, I feel like i'm hearing a rattle can when you shake it. Kinda concern for this bike was bought brand new, and I took it to the dealer at 1,000 for the scheduled maintenance service. I also clean & lube my chain after a long trip on weekends and also every 600km as recommended. I just cracked 4,600 km tonight, and I know my next scheduled maintenance is at approx. 6,000km. Any suggestion is appreciated.
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That's so odd. My 250 is doing these exact same things right now. It's at 20k though, and had a valve adjust in September. I've been told (ninjette tech forums) that the squeak/grind is due to over-torquing the front wheel bolts (had tires changed recently) but not sure about the rattle yet -- maybe valves? It doesn't seem to change the engine output or power delivery, it's just annoying.
 
Patw, yep, doesn't seem to have any impact to the power. I'll be dropping my bike off for the shop to work on. I'll keep you posted with the findings.
 
EC2010 said:
Patw, yep, doesn't seem to have any impact to the power. I'll be dropping my bike off for the shop to work on. I'll keep you posted with the findings.
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Rattles are signs of something loose. The ninja is a high reving bike. I wouldn't be surprised if a bolt or fastner needs some tightening.
 
Updates:

Got my bike back today.

noise #1: check rotational noise from front wheel, noise more evident when coming to a stop
resolution: grease speedo cable
comment: after riding around tonight, the noise is gone. no more squeaking

noise #2: rattle noise from bike at 8,000+ rpm
resolution: license plate rattling
comment: I was a bit surprised by this finding. the noise is gone. still just a smidge, but not really noticeable anymore

I'm going to ride my bike a bit harder this next 1000 km and then I'll take it in again for my 6,000km maintenance.

Good news is I didn't get charged at all.
 
Splash said:
Didn't get charged? That sounds like great customer service to me.
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yep. I dealt with Tony at Kahuna and he was awesome. I know some on the forum have mixed reviews with the dealership, but so far my experience there had been great.
 
caboose483 said:
Pro6 Cycle is also a good shop and not far from you (Kipling south of Dundas)
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You are kidding right? These guys flatly told me that they weren't capable of fixing my gear box 3 years ago, wow really? Professional bike mechanics can't fix a gear box on a bike? I took it to Rosey Ted's and they fixed the problem the same day. I wouldn't recommend Pro6 Cycle if I were you.
 
Pegassus said:
You are kidding right? These guys flatly told me that they weren't capable of fixing my gear box 3 years ago, wow really? Professional bike mechanics can't fix a gear box on a bike? I took it to Rosey Ted's and they fixed the problem the same day. I wouldn't recommend Pro6 Cycle if I were you.
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Maybe they read your Motorcycle Repair 101 thread on here and decided they wanted nothing to do with you.....
 
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