Finally got my titled base for a scrambler/cafe

What an adventure. I've been messaging this lady on FB for a few weeks, but it would always take @12hours for her to reply back.  She dropped the price from $1,000 to $650 so decided it was time to check  it out since it has a good title- which for some reason is not common here in the Florida panhandle. We arranged a time in the morning but I didn't want to be pushy & get her address the night before so like usual would go to her town, message her & get the address. Well I got to her town which was 2 hours away & messaged her. Nothing for an hour while shopping at Lowes since there isn't a Lowes or HD in our town. She had given me the hiway she lived off & judging by the pics on FB it looked like a trailer park. So for about 4 hours, I messaged her, searched trailer parks etc but nothing. So really upset I headed home.  
About the time I get home, she messages me & asks me if I'm still interested. I was not nice in what I said & she went on & on about losing keys, rent money,  rental owner taking her money etc.  So after I calmed down, I messaged her that I was still interested but she needed to send a pic of the title, send me her phone # & address where she & the bike would be at noon the next day. She was very apologetic & sent all these & agreed to be there at noon. So this time my wife & son also wanted to go. I looked up the address & the google pics agreed with the pics on FB so I figured she was legit & did just have a really bad day. So my wife & son wanted to go this time. Based on the google pics it was a circular dirt driveway with lots of rvs & cars, a boat & lots of mowers. I had a plan to pull in the driveway all the way around & be pointed to the road if things got weird. We arrived & left it running while my wife & son stayed inside. The lady & a guy appear from amongst the piles of old mowers & trash & start pushing the bike to the trailer. I slowed them down & introduced myself & asked for the title to compare to the vin & they agreed. I talked her down to $600 & she said how she had ridden it for years & over heated it. I knew it didn't run because she put that in the ad. The guy helped me push it up my little ramp & the whole time he's going on & on & on about how it's his bike & I need to pay him.  I said I paid her so you can talk to her. Then to distract him I asked him about the trashed boat. His eyes lit up & he went to the lady & I could hear him telling her I wanted the boat. She was a little more stable & told him that I can't tow the boat & my little trailer at the same time. 
I jumped in with the signed title & bill of sale & we got out of there. Made it home & it will make a nice stripped down scrambler/cafe. I really want to put a YZ250 with WR 3,4,5 gears.  Anybody want or need 2005 Ninja 250R plastics, lights or an overheated motor? 

nice... I'd love to find a cheap ninja 250... wanted one for my son... ended up with a KLR 250 instead. 

STREETFIGHTER !

Those things are a ton of fun. Also...if you try to race your buddies around a harescramble course on one, the shock will get so hot it will seize and lock up solid fully compressed. And then when it cools down it will suddenly unload and sproing the bike over the sidestand and onto the ground. 

In reply to gearheadE30 :

Don't want to hair scramble. There is a really cool YouTube of the guys that took some cheap small street bikes & made dual sport adventure bikes. They even converted one from belt to chain drive. The Ninja did well.

In reply to mdshaw :

We didn't either  A group of friends and I did a "cheap bike challenge" where we all bought street bikes for $500 or less and then did a dual sport camping trip on them over the course of a week or so, and we found an old racecourse and things got out of hand in the best of ways. There's nothing better than watching a Honda Helix and a Ninja 250 block passing into corners. We also had a VF700R interceptor, a Ninja EX500, my Honda CX500, and some other oddball machines out there.

Your project seems pretty sweet, will be watching with interest.

I've got it almost all the way stripped down. I had to clean out the tank, they lost the cap & it's bit rusty so took off the shut off & cleaned the gunk & rinsed the tank, followed by vinegar , dried it out & sprayed @half a can of PB Blaster & swished it around really well, sealed it up with a cloth while waiting for the shutoff o-ring & the new cap. 
The rear caliper is stuck on 1 side, it pushes the wheel to the left when applying, that would be scary. Is it cheaper to rebuild calipers or just replace? 
Back to stripping it down. 

You can probably Google it but I saw pictures of 250 Ninjas with the bottom fairing taken off and they look so different (for the better)..

If the rear brake is any indication then ya it might be tricky. Being the entry level beginner bike it looks to have entry level parts. 

I now have the engine donor bike also. A beat up '00 YZ250, runs good though.  Not sure what it is with Florida bike sellers but the guy insisted it is an '06. I explained that in '05 they were aluminum frame & this is not aluminum.  I checked the vin which is a Y for the year which means '00. Then he believed me but was still confused.  I'll take pics tomorrow. It's rough looking. 

The Ninja is stripped down also. Can almost see the motor in there. 

The YZ motor weighs @ 1/3 of the ninja motor. I thought it would be half but it's less than that. The sprockets will line up & the kick starter will clear the frame. I was worried about about that. The shifter will be a bit tricky.  

Wow this looks amazing!

did you get the boat???  Haha