After the recent Las Vegas to Barstow Vetter Challenge I have thought a lot about my future participation in these real-world fuel economy contests. While I'm pleased to have improved a 40mpg bike into a 60mpg+ machine I have to recognize the inherent disadvantages my 550cc shaft-drive bike presents versus the 250cc gas bikes and the diesel bikes that have been the previous winners ( 134 mpg to ~ 150 mpg). I decided to start looking for a used 250cc bike to modify for future fuel economy runs.
After about 2 weeks of searching I found I a 1999 Kawasaki Ninja 250 in good running condition for a good price and well under my project budget. After I get it titled, registered and serviced ,I'll make some baseline runs before I start doing some gearing changes and adding aerodymanic body panels. There has been some good work done with the Ninja 250 particularly by friend and fellow competitor Alan Smith so I will start by following some of his successful modifications. I'll try to keep you all posted on my progress.
Merry XMAs L&S