New shark 250 owner
 

I got my shark 250 dual sport on the way from saferwholesale.com should be here any day.
Will be posting soon on assembly and registration.
Pics coming soon aswell.

Welcome and congrats on the new bike!

Welcome aboard and congratulations on the new bike :tup: pictures earn you smiles and good cheer:D

I noticed you are a fellow Omaha resident. Nice to know i am not the only one. If you want to ride or need any help just let me know.

Welcome aboard!

Shark 250
 

Congratulations!
I got mine last Friday (from the same dealer, $1600), one week for the delivery (right inside my garage).
I have the orange model (no other choice at the time I ordered) with digital speedometer.
Make sure to use ethanol free gas only.
Change the original oil after 30mn run (replace with NON synthetic oil), you can use synthetic oil after few months of use when the engine is broken in.
I replaced the headlight bulb with 25W 5 point LED (less load on the battery and brighter light).
It's a great bike, I find the gear a little too short, I may put a bigger front socket in few weeks.
At first I wanted the disk rear break but I think the drum is better (the version with rear disk break made the bike ground clearance lower).
Check ALL THE BOLTS, I found few loose bolts on my bike.
I also added a Garmin nivi 55LM GPS, right on the handle bar, in the middle.
I take it around the block for breaking in, be sure not to go on busy streets or far away from your home until you have insurance and licence plate.

Follow up
 

So ive had my Shark 250 for awhile now.
Getting the plates was a breeze after waiting a month and a half for paperwork and having to pay a late fee at the dmv for it being over a month intransit.

I have a little over 2500 miles now. Been changing the oil every 500-700 miles, with rottellas. About 1.25qt-1.5qt. Been running ethanol free 91 octane.
Oil changes usually consist of random loose bolt shake downs aswell. (Checking for loose bolts)
I will say..
The bike has been good over all, im impressed.
Nothing to major has went wrong and ive caught everything pretty quik preventing damage.
I will tell you some of the stuff i had to do and am still in the process of doing.

Took me a few times to get my chain the proper ajustment, about 7/8" or 22mm of movement. Got it dialed in pretty good now. Just keeping an eye on it to make sure it dont lossen up again.

While checking random bolts before take off one day. It was at about 1500 miles when i noticed I had an issue with a few of the rear sprocket bolts coming loose.
I took the rear wheel off to get inside the hub for accessing the head of the sprocket bolt.I replaced them with new stronger bolts/nuts. (same size from ace hardware) While I had the hub off i bolted the sprocket on getting a wrench on bolth sides of the bolt.- they havent came loose since.
-Will continue to check sprocket bolts/nuts before take off.

I was getting some noise from my front end
And thinking it was the headlight assembly making noise when i hit bumps. Nope, my whole front end was a little bit loose. I noticed when i made a sudden stop using alot of front brake the other day. It didnt loosen up enough to damage or loose the bearings and seals,.. thank the motorcycle gods.
I lifted the bike up off the ground. grabbing the forks i could move the forks around a tiny bit. I then
tighted a weird looking nut inbetween the top of the triple tree and the steering tube and then tightened the top nut. It made the front end solid. I did make sure not to over tighten the nut onto the bearings in the steering tube.
Will probably do a follow up check on front end after awhile.

I will be opening the valve cover and checking valve clearance again. And to make sure some of the rattling isnt coming from the valves knockin.
Kind of a process of elimination with the rattling.

Ive been hearing some rattling from around the tank somewhere. Just read today that the key cover on the gas cap could be what is makimg noise.
Will probably glue some thin fabric onto the under side of it if thats the case.

I will be replacing the headlight bulb.
Not 100% if im right but i think i will be gettin a H4 LED cob. Somethimg like that. Also considering a 6" light bar installed or the small squares. The high beam is burt out on my stock bulb. And the lighting is just dull. Pretty sure the super bright LED will fix it up.

My main horn doesnt work. So ill be looking into that soon.

I will probably be checking out the brakes soon and ordering new pads for when they are ready to be changed out.

I did install a $30 handle bar radio on the bike. It sounds pretty sweet. Plenty lound enough for cruising under 50mph.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/252592525850

Other than that i cant think of anything else. The weather has been awesome here. my car is in the shop for warranty work. probably be over a week with out it so ill be full time on the bike for a bit. =)

For the record everyone (even HD riders) i meet loves this bike, even after i tell them its not a KTM its a 250 CB. lol

I think thats all i got for now. Hope this helps somebody

Attachment 10592
Here's the top bearing of the steering . Just to give a idea of what's in there. I put a little thread locker on that nut and occasionally tap tighten with a screwdriver and hammer. The thread locker keeps it in place pretty well.

Have you checked the valve gaps yet. Sounds like you got a good one:tup:

For the noise by the tank check the brace that runs between the plastic covers mine was hitting and causing a noise.

So ive double checked the valves on the compression stroke. And the brace. and anything that could be loose.. im still hearing this clacking sound no matter what i do. I dont know if this is normal or if somthing is wrong..
It sounds like its coming from the top end of the motor possibly near the exhaust side..
Any ideas or tips appreciated.

Valves are supposed to be noisy in a pushrod motor. Tappy valves are happy valves.

Reminds of the old small block Chevy engines.