[dvbUTLER]

I am Afraid my 1997 250r Ninja has met its demise. I originally purchased it in 2002 as a starter bike for my wife so we could join group rides together with groups from Bay Area Riders Forum. It's been ridden for commute by the entire family, track days, at Thunder Hill and the Infineon now Sonoma racetrack, and other track days as well. Eventually I passed it to my 16yr old son for a starter street bike. The bike has served the family well! Well worth the 1200 purchase price in 2002. Unfortunately I'm afraid passing it to my son was a bit of a mistake. I held him responsible for his own maintenance including tire changes, oil changes, chain and gearing updates, pipes etc. I have solid reason to believe he either had not been completing his scheduled oil changes, he had a bad tendency to not respect the redline, or both. Teenagers tend to not listen sometimes in an attempt to gain attention from peers. Well now the bike has a blown rod.

The cost of rebuilding labor is more than a new engine. A used engine, while an option, is an option I'm not likely to pursue. Why? Well the teenager was given the right to use the bike asking only for maintenance as compensation. You snooze you lose. He can fix it himself or I can part it out. Not sure if anyone else has any better ideas. Share your thoughts if you do.

Pics of the bike are attached.

www.highsidehelmets.com


http://www.higsidehelemets.com/

 

[JasonJ]

Its tragic that your son abused or neglected the bike in such a way... really too bad, for both of them.

Honestly, looking at the pictures, that appears to be too nice a bike to consider parting out. If it were me, I would replace the engine with a good, used one. After that, Keep it for the other family members or yourself to ride, or if its not needed any longer, sell it to someone who will APPRECIATE the bike.

As for your son, I think now is a good time to set down the "you save up and buy your own bike" rule... that way if he abuses or neglects it, it's his own time, effort, and money that is wasted.