5 years ago I picked up an '09 with 550 miles on it. Installed the DJ-2 kit, took off the snorkle, but left the lid on, drilled out the EPA plug and set the screw at about 2.5 turns out. Bike starts easy and runs like a top. I'm at 4200', and do most of my riding between 3000-6000'. However, my buddy who has a '10 has left his completely stock except for a Thermobob, and his gas mileage is much better than mine (which is about 59mpg). I'm in AZ, so cold weather starting is not much of an issue.

 

stock is probably ok for those elevations. Mine was at selevel and a 118 was making the plug white as snow. Didnt hurt the motor thanks to liquid cooling I guess

 

So you didn't change the pilot jet at all, and have no exhaust modifications? That's pretty much the exactly the setup I was wondering about. I'll probably change the pilot to make it start easier, but wasn't sure if the exhaust needed to be modified or not. I might hold off and see how it feels before I do it. Thanks for the info!

 

You don't 'need' to do anything to the exhaust, I'm running a 350 with the stock exhaust, just say'in.

 

I don't 'need' to do anything at all, but I want some more power, and I've done enough engine work to know that what goes in must come out, and if it is a waste to to the jetting & snorkel mod without modifying the exhaust, then I might not do any of it. But from what I've read, the jets & intake make quite a bit of difference. Like I said in the first post, I don't want loud, so I'll likely do the snorkel & jets and be done.

 

Yup. If you take off that snorkel and do the jet kit it will be better if you didnt for sure. Thats basically how mine is going to be set up. I am taking off the FMF because its too loud for my riding area and I can live with stock power. The bike is set up way too lean from the factory for my elevation so that was my main motivation. I can always put the FMF pipe back on. But I doubt I will.

I did the MCM cam mod too because it was EZ, and reversible if I didnt like it. Its nice because I short shift around 4k to 7k and it gave it more grunt.

 

Good to know. Thanks for the info!

 

Not really, I did the math, the stock snorkel is really long about half the cross sectional of the air boot between the air box and the carb... can you say "restrictive"? I thought you could... The KDX200/220 snorkel is much shorter and virtually the same size as the air boot, much less restrictive.

The pipe will add a bit, but not a lot. I'd say take off the head pipe and grind the weld inside at the head end to get rid of the lumpy factory weld at that point, if I remember right I noticed that in the head pipe I have laying around. That will open up some of the restriction. The pipe is a bit small, calculations say 1.375" ID is what should be there, but still the problem for real flow is at the intake snorkel and that the pipe at the head is small. I have an aftermarket 300 pipe I need to install.

Doing the intake side of things helps starting and performance all through the range. The pipe really won't do as much as the intake modifications.

 

I read this snorkel works too.

14073-1703

https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/ka...-cleaner-cn-us

 

Dominic,

Please think twice about taking the 1/2" drill bit to your muffler.
This was a common practice when these first came out and you'll find threads where 2006/07 owners did it with apparent regularity.
Then, later, you'll find the threads where those that did it said it made little to any difference in flow/performance, may have made it a little louder, and definitely destroyed the spark arrester, yielding the muffler illegal for off road use on most all public lands. The spark arrester on these bikes swirls the exhaust gasses and the drill bit destroys the swirling fins.

Look for that KLX300 system you mentioned, or a fairly priced FMF Q4, if you want to keep it quieter.