1984 Ninja 900 - Resurrection of the Assassin!

Thanks Brucifer, once we get that front fairing painted to match the rest of the bike, we are golden!
Baloney, you are right, but fortunately they built the motor from a drag racing perspective and installed a strong aftermarket billet clutch basket and plates, plus under-cut the tranny gears. I wonder if the billet clutch basket include a new clutch hub too?
However, I think I would rather have the cush-drive back for smoother shifting and less stress on the drive train. I wonder if a cush drive is available for those old PM wheels?

Here's my old one. Piss poor pic but the bike looks good.

picked up another set of pm chicanes on thursday.1034 miles and 18 hours later, got them home. attached to a roller that came with this


love the early/mid 80's beasts. this one is a 1229-11:1 compression ratio, v&h cams and exhaust, stage two head, 38mm flat slides, back cut trans with billet clutch hub, air/elec shifter, and a few other goodies. what compelled me to take that trip was i bought it from the original owner. complete with both oem keys, owners manual, tool kit and 1985 title. gorgeous original bodywork and paint. 156 rwhp last time it was dyno'ed. the po just quit riding it and has been sitting idle in the garage for the past three years or so. went to see it when i was at ama vintage days but had no way to get them both and all the spare parts (including three complete exhaust systems) home, hence my little road trip. the pm's will end up on the 1229.
worked at a kawasaki/suzuki dealership in ft lauderdale when the 900 ninja was introduced. that bike was the shit then. yours is splendid.

ZXJammer, looks like your Ninja can gobble up the miles a lightspeed!

Axis, thanks for your compliments on our GPZ 900, I've been going over the bike, and found the clutch cover bolts have loosened, so I snugged them up.

Wow what an amazing bike you picked up! Getting one from the original owner who went through all the effort to build, ride and care for the bike is the best way to find them. I have sold a few bikes that I was really attached to - and they went to friends or family. I am sure the PO feels good that you appreciate and respect everything about the bike and will take excellent care of it. It sure has a power-house of a motor in it! Looks like Performance Machine anodized the wheels, that's pretty trick! Its getting hard to find 80's sport bikes that have good paint like yours. So many ended up with a bad case of road rash.
Cheers!

I changed the motor and transmission oil, cleaned the plugs, checked the primary chain, put gas in it and it started my brother's 48 chief on the first kick. He has loaned it to me to ride to a vintage bike event and our Thrills in The Hills Buell gathering.

I rarely buy new motorcycles, and am a big Buell fan, so I was concerned that the 1000 Ninja would not have enough personality to keep me interested in it. A bike has to excite me when I am riding it, or while I am sipping a beer and just looking at it when its parked. The Ninja does both! The motor feels a lot like the Buell 1125 CR, tons of torque from idle to the sky! My Buell TT is super exciting to ride and a very visceral experience, if not a bit quirky. The Ninja is super capable (like the TT) on rough narrow county roads. It was not phased one bit by cattle guards, pot holes and rough roads, and it flicked through the turns super easy.

We did 300 miles on the Ninja's today, so I hit the 1000 break-in and briefly hit red-line. My brother's old Ninja that has been tuned to 124 rear wheel horsepower, showed its stuff! I could not shake the old bike in a pseudo-drag race.
The old one holds up rather well, the styling, motor and handling - still excites me.
The 2011 Ninja was sublime. It effortlessly gobbled up the turns and felt totally connected to me.

That is a very cool old bike... Congrats on getting it back on the road!

We finally celebrated the arrival of some cooler October temperatures by beating it to Del Rio, Tx from Austin on our Dueling Ninjas!
This 700 mile overnight trip was a big test of DoctorDR's 1984 Ninja superbike that was recently resurrected from 18 years of storage, and the first big road trip for my 2011 Ninja.
Here is our route to Del Rio, we spotted tons of cool bikes, like Moto Guzzis, Triumphs and Adventure bikes making their way to the Harvest Classic.

The weather was perfect for the 900 Ninja, it tends to run hot so it loved the cooler weather as we passed through the Camp Wood area.



The lunch in Rocksprings was good and cheap! The basic no-frills burger is $2.25, this one cost .50 more!
On our return through Rocksprings the burger joint was closed. So, we tried one the "biker friendly" BBQ shacks and they refused to sell us a brisket sandwich only, you had to get a drink and side, $10 - or no deal. Talk about brotherhood.


This furry critter tried to take a bite out of my arm as I was riding. At first I though I hit a bird, but went I stopped an got off my bike he fell off my lap.
He's got a cute face.




Man this old bike has a hell of a motor, It kicks in hard at 7500 RPM and pull strong up to 10,500. The big bore kit, ported heads and smooth bore carbs really get the adrenalin flowing, and its addictive!


We took a break to check out the Stuart Bat Cave at Kickapoo Caverns, not much bat action in the heat of the day, but interesting none the less!


The next mornings ride was awesome! The section from Del Rio to just below Sonora was beautiful. Excellent 30 mph sweepers and rolling hills.


We were stunned to see such a beautiful river in Texas! We pulled over, removed our helmets and took it all in. We could hear a lot of wildlife in the trees lining the river.



The latest Ninja, next to its genesis. Let me tell you the apple did not roll far from the tree.
Either bike is capable of insane speeds - one in a deliciously raw way, the other in a civilized way.


Ninja's coming and going!

great to see one more back on the road. here is my 900 of ten years. i wanted to keep it stock looking but with a few updates.
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CFBROWN, excellent job on the Ninja upgrades. Those are some sweet wheels and brakes! The newer exhaust looks rather good with the Ninja's styling too. On this last ride, I was really impressed with the 84 Ninjas high speed handling, wind protection and comfort. The riding position is stretched out and roomy, plus the new corbin seat with a sheep skin was excellent! We have a pretty strong sentimental attachment to the 1980's Japanese and Italian bikes, because we rode them when we were in our 20's. I had a Guzzi LeMans back then, and still crave a 1980's LeMan. I tried to snag a sweet 1989 LeMans that was in New Mexico, but it was snapped up quick!
Welcome to AdvRider!

thanks!
it has
98' zx9r wheels
zx11d forks
zx11c triple trees
zx11d front brakes
zx9r rear brakes
08' gsxr1000 mufflers
02' ex250 pass/muffler pegs
90' zx10b rad and fan
zx6r stick coils
i also run a 180 rear tire in the stock swingarm,

That is an impressive list of modifications. I bet they improved the handling and braking quite a bit.
The Performance Machine wheels on our Ninja are nice, but probably not so durable for the road, since they are racing wheels and rather thin. Plus we have trouble finding wide bias ply 18 rear tires. I imagine you are running radial tires?
Your radiator mods are great too, our 900 tends to run hot especially in town.
I like how your bike does look very stock, like what the factory would have done for upgrades. Its interesting that
Kawasaki continued to produce the 900 Ninja (GPZ) in Europe for many years after its USA release.
Cheers!

yes radial tires. i use race take offs. i only get 600-1000miles out of them, but there free and make the bike handle GREAT!! the rad mod was the best one yet. the bike never gets hot. i only use the one sensor(rad) and not the two stage system from the stock bike.

Today............... we kicked a** and took names...

Awesome rebuild. I just obtained an 84 for $280 that I'm planning to put back on the road and this thread is getting me excited. Cosmetically my bike is pretty ratty but its complete and fairly low mileage. Any interest in selling the Corbin you took off to replace my shoddily recovered seat?

My twin brother and met at Starbucks for a ride and were refused service because we were not riding a BMW GS.
His old-skool Ninja is a real blast. He built it it when he worked at a motorcycle drag racing shop in the late 80's and we recently resurrected after sitting for 18 years. We are very glad he kept it!

I've been poking my head in this thread for over a year...finally joined advrider!

This is a beautiful resurrection build, thanks for sharing.

The Ninja debuted when I was 19, it made me drool and my pants snug in the front...I've had a longstanding love affair ever since. I got to test-ride one at SIR (now Pacific Raceway) in Kent during a Kawasaki promo event in fall of '84, it completely blew my young, testosterone-addled mind! At that point I vowed to own one...someday...

My dream became reality in 1997. Found a clean, but slightly-neglected example, by complete random chance, and bought it on-the-spot. It is an early-production (Japan-build?) '84 model, frame no. 00275.
I still own it, and ride it regularly. Just absolutely LOVE the thing, I plan to keep it forever.

In fact, this Sunday I'll be doing my first-ever trackday aboard my clean, trusty ZX900A1, at the brand-new Ridge Motorsports Park in Shelton, WA. Always wanted to get my baby out on the track, and now my chance has come.
I cannot wait...Should be a BLAST!!!

Thanks again for the detailed resto story and pics.
I've always fantasized about PM Chicanes and Flatslides...

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Howdy TedR,
Thank you for the compliments on our Ninja! My brother and I did several years of club racing with the WMRRA in 1984-90, we also frequented PIR. My brother won the Battle of the Twins on an EX500.
Being 50 years old, we get pretty sentimental about the bike we rode in the 1980's. Its amazing how far modern bikes have progressed in the handling, braking and motors, they are so sophisticated these days. But the 84 Ninja can still hold its own remarkably well and its a blast to ride, very raw and visceral!
Have a good time in Shelton on your Ninja!