I've gone 90mph with my wife on the back on the freeway. We've ridden up 5-7% grades without any problem. Don't expect to go 70mph up them, but 45-50 in 4th or 5th up a 10% gradeshouldn't bea problem.

 

Tom - Your input is on riding in NM is much appreciated as I'm down in Alamogordo this summer (plan on riding Cloudrcroft and Ruidoso). We do have limited gas down here so one of the first mods will be the gas tank.

A couple of mod questions for everyone...as far as slip on exhaust, does anyone make one that's fairly quiet (close to stock noise levels)? I know "loud pipes save lives" but I've been down that road and would rather go unnoticed. How well are the slip-ons engineered? The reason I ask is that pipes should have a little back pressure but it seems most aftermarkets are just a straight pipe. I may try drilling the stock pipe first. Has anyone who has drilled the stock looked at cutting out (and replacing with a section of straight pipe) the cat for better flow and weight savings?

 

I'm at sea level to 3,000 ft and it runs great with the full Muzzy, 40 and 132 jets and the air box lid off. I did notice last year when we got closer to 4,000 ft that my bike would sputter slightly when I snapped the throttle, but my mechanic set it for what I would be riding in 99% of the time, and its perfect.

 

From what I have heard all the slip-ons are much louder than stock. One of the reasons I got a pipe is because it looks so much better than the stock pipe. That dime size hole in the end just looks like a scooter pipe.

 

I was a big fan of the Muzzy for a while. But your right you take away backpressure and you loose the bottom end. I find my self using the bottom end grunt more thus keeping the revs and noise down. I think the very first thing everyone should do is change to 13/45 that is just the perfect gearing and really wakes the bike up. It is a 250 and should not be able to cruise at highway speeds AND play in the woods well. One or the other with this bike, However the 13/45 is good if your just using the pavement to connect trails and 50-60 mph for only a few miles.

 

Even just the 13/42 setup makes a big difference. 6th gear gains 500-700 rpm at any given speed. Doesn't sound like much but it gives you roll on power from 50-75 mph. I can actually pass traffic in 6th now. 14/42 meant dropping to 5th and holding it pinned to get to 70 and around traffic in a reasonable amount of time. In the lower gears it makes even more of a difference. It revs quick and pulls hard right from the bottom and you bang through the gears quick! 13/42 is still tolerable to do my 15 mile one way work commute. And its only about $20 and a half hour of your time to try it out too.