[deonk]

Hi All,

I desperately need help. I've bought a ninja 250, 2007 for my first bike, and passed the course last weekend. I'm in Toronto ON, Canada. I realized that my hands are too small to comfortably shift my bike while driving in the city because of all the stopping and starting my clutch hand cannot take more than 30 min. I've adjusted the friction zone so that it's closer, but it's still way too hard on my hands to pull it in, I want one that is easier to pull in and closer to the handle bars.

I was going to buy the pazzo levers, but I just spoke with a parts guy and he said they only started making them in 2008. :S. Please can someone recommend a brand I can buy that ships to Canada at a reasonable price (as I'm a student still so Pazzo was even pushing the limit). I don't care if it's a set, the brake is fine, it's just the clutch that's killing me.

I tried a bike with the adjustable levers and it helped so much, I also noticed that the CBRs that we drove in the course has basically no resistance when I pulled in the clutch, so my hand didn't hurt. Is there anyway I can do that with mine or do I need the adjustable ones to accomplish that?

 

[Cynjut]

While this doesn't specifically address your concern with the clutch and brake, changing the grips out for some motocross grips might help. Double check the handlebar size if you decide that's something you want to do. You may also be able to roll the handlebars back a little bit to help your reach, especially when you are trying to clutch and turn right.

 

[Hoyt Clagwell]

It's possible that your clutch cable needs oiling. I bought an '84 ZN1100 and the clutch on it was very hard to operate. After I oiled the cable it was much easier.

I've never looked for levers that come in closer to the grips myself but you could take a trip to Kahuna's Poweresports in Etibicoke and or CycleWorld Superstore (north of Toronto) and see what they have in an after market lever. I would bring the bike so that you can hold the levers up against your handlebars and see if you think they would help.

Good luck. Don't give up. There is a solution out there. You might try posting your question in the sportbike section of the forum. Someone there may have more ideas.

 

[81csr1000]

quick ebay search and i found these...is this the type of thing you're talking about?
1 Set CNC Clutch Brake Levers for Kawasaki GPZ500S EX500R Ninja 90 09 | eBay

Also check out Ex-500.com - The home of the Kawasaki EX500 / Ninja 500R - Index, it's a site dedicated to the ninja 500 and they might be able to help you out too!

 

[deonk]

Thanks everyone for your help. I ended up buying an entire replacement clutch for the EX500, and I was going to switch it out and then the bike died.

Well good news is I bought my new love, an EX500 2002 with only 8800km on it. I'm enjoying it so much more now!

But for anyone who does have this problem with the older 250s, the absolute cheapest route was to buy the parts for an ex500.