Japanese Ninja’s 250R’s Whistle Too!
Loosely Translated title: Sound of tank leakage
Well, this is an interesting… It has been rumored that the whistling from the 2008 Ninja 250R comes from the vent holes getting clogged by a coating in US Spec Ninja gas tanks. This coating is supposed to be to protect the tank from the gas/ethanol mixture common in the US. ( I’m not talking about E85 — But what is commonly referred to as ‘Winter Gas’ which is now being seen year round is some parts of the US. )
So, I called some Kawasaki dealers around the US, (Yes, I get that bored…) and this is what I found out:
- Kawasaki will only replace your gas cap ONCE under warranty. So, I would wait to get this done until we find out if the cap gets redesigned before you go in for the replacement.
- Black Bikes do it the worst. Mainly due to the color causing the sun to heat the bike up faster.
- Kawasaki released an official fix for this to dealers. However, quickly told dealers to STOP doing the fix since it breaks Emissions laws in the US and is illegal to perform.
I think we’ll find out shortly as the bike becomes more popular in Europe and Asia if this is a wide spread problem on all bikes, and not just the US ones. It’s starting to seem like Kawasaki doesn’t want to pay the price to do a recall since this is not a safety issue — just an annoyance.
Doug Chin Said,
May 7, 2008 @ 2:50 pm
i got a black one!…damn thats going to suck
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Josh Said,
May 18, 2008 @ 3:29 pm
Glad I stumbled upon this site, I was wondering why my bike was doing that. I have owned my black ninja 250R for about a week now and I noticed this noise when I parked it after my ride home from the dealership. At first I thought it was some sort of warning signal but found nothing in the manual and started to wonder if somthing was wrong. Yes, it is annoying, but its a relief to find out nothing is wrong with my new toy.
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Mike Said,
May 22, 2008 @ 11:45 pm
I just bought a red one almost a month ago and not once have heard the “Whistling” noise as described. Now My buddy on the other hand has a black one and it is constant really annoying. Hopefully soon they come up with a quick fix for the situation!
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Rammit Said,
June 15, 2008 @ 9:36 am
I’m European, and my green little ninja does the same teapot whistle under the sun. It is a bit annoying, but certainly no deal breaker among me and my sweet green new friend.
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SnowRocker88 Said,
July 3, 2008 @ 11:13 pm
Could someone find/post the ‘fix’ for a DIY…? South Carolina doesn’t perform emissions tests…
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Jon-Mark Said,
August 4, 2008 @ 12:55 pm
I’ve found that my red one does this too, but rather than a short burst, it is a longer, more sustained whistle that comes from the gas cap but goes away when i open the tank. This hasnt gotten rid of it entirely, but i tried putting some used engine oil ( like that you put on the seal of a new oil filter) around the inside of the gas cap and it seems to make it happen less frequently
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