lol bitchbike...i like it all i have done is replaced my a/f w/ a k&n other than that stock. i havent decided if i truely do want a faster bike or not, im torn b/w the 600's and what i already have..altho a newer 500 w/ the 17's and rear disc would b nice. as far as bein harsh it didnt bother me any i was just poking fun a bit, your comment of hearing "you need to get a pipe on that thing" thats odd the first time i rode w/ a few friends they all had 1liter bikes(if thats 1000's and i said it right) the first thing i heard was "you need some muzzy exhaust or something to free up your bike." of course he didnt mention the jetting kits tearin the carbs off the crappy mileage etc...the first thing i always do to my camaros/irocs is toss on a flowmaster muffler, it doesnt help add extra horses or anything , but man i love the growl of a V8 in front of a 2 chamber flowmaster. thats all i was after on the bike i didnt realize the amount of bs i was gonna end up doin to get a deeper growl...basically why i came here asking cause there different opinions on theses issues and i also know you are passionate about these 500's and if there is something worth modifying im sure you'd know.

as far as the lookin down on me for not moding my bike idc what ppl think...it isnt their bike. i catch enough grief from ppl at work b/c 2 guys have rode bikes for 2 summers and never had a wreck so i was told im basically wastin my time and money on the gear i put on every day(ppl around here aint real bright tbh) so im officially the ghost rider darth vader at work, but the way i figure it i wont need "the force" or a deal w/ satan if im wearing my gear :P...enough rambling lol

 

Everyone is looking down on someone for something, and now I realize I'm guilty of it too.

I salute your wearing gear in defiance of coworkers. I've seen two terrible crashes this week already.
I was talking with my friend Bill at Oceanside Cycle Supply on Sunday afternoon when a young Marine went tearing past on beautiful yellow/checkered Kenny-Roberts replica R6 with an obnoxious pipe on it. I shot him a quick glance and thought, "idiot" as he tore past, then resumed my topic with Bill. He was doing easily more than 50 when the speed limit was 35.
BAMMM! Another young Marine driving a freshly-washed & waxed Honda Accord pulled out of the carwash and made a left-turn directly in front of the R6. The force of the crash spun the car around 270-degrees and the R6 rider lay very still on the road.
I was sure he was dead, given his R6 was nearly broken in half by the impact. But as they lifted him up into the ambulance, he gave a thumbs-up. I sure hope he wasn't paralyzed, and I doubt he would have been giving the thumbs-up if he weren't wearing helmet, jacket, gloves & boots.

Then tonight a bicyclist with a "Felt" bicycle just like mine was creamed by a car in front of my work. I ran out with blankets and could already hear the ambulance. He kept trying to get up and it was obviously hurting him. He couldn't tell us what his name was and blood was flowing down his face. He was wearing a good cycling helmet, but some impacts are just too much.

Imagine sprinting (running) as fast as you can into a cinder-block wall. Even if you're wearing a helmet, you'll probably have a concussion. Now imagine doing it with a bare head. Motorcycle crashes typically involve impacts 2 to 3 times the force of running as fast as you can (which is about 20mph if you don't chicken out.)

I pretty much chuckle at people who look down on me for riding a stock 500 anymore. If I see them ride off toward a twisty road, I'll probably follow, just so I can pass and humiliate them. But after doing dozens of valve adjustments, one complete rebuild and learning what I've learned, I shouldn't be sensitive about being seen as a noob and I apologize.

(But I still can't help but appreciate young fools eating up all my speeding tickets.)
Peace!
-CCinC

 

hmm, where did I mention that an aftermarket exhaust was needed? Fine tuning normally is jetting and timing I thought.
I ran the stock exhaust on my zx7 on the track with some engine fine tuning with good results.

 

...as long as you rejet the carbs, its ok. The math for the engine has been designed for duel exhaust with the carb needles in them.

 

you really dont need to rejet. IMO, the stock exhaust is not very restrictive at all.

in my experience, the jet kits are way off. the numbers dont correspond to the kawasaki numbering, plus they have you change everything at once. then when your bike runs like ****, you dont know WHAT is making it run like ****, because you just changed 5 things in the carbs. these adjustments need to be made one at a time, so you know what effect each one has on everything else.

i have a vance and hines 2 into 1. stock airbox and stock carbs. the only adjustments i made were to the pilot screws to tune for best throttle response. no flat spots, no stumbling. plugs have a nice chocolate color to them. it runs like a top. very strong through the entire RPM range.

worth the effort? what effort? it takes about 10 minutes to get the pipes off, and maybe another 10 to get the new ones on. i kept the centerstand too. many pipes require you to lose it. dont have a lower fairing, but i think it would fit with some trimming. the most time consuming part was removing the cap on the pilot screws... sounds great IMO. its pretty loud though, so if that isnt what you want, look elsewhere. it kind of sounds like an old triumph twin i think. i get some popping on decel, some ppl dont like that. i do lol. you can modify the PAIR system to get rid of that if you want.

 

I can't compare my bike to yours, however... I wanted the full benefit of more horsepower. Thus rejeting. The baffle on the EX500 does hold back power where as a straight can (Muzzy) allows more power. Rejeting just helps on the air to fuel ratio.

 

 

i dunno how that posted twice. i think i hit quote instead of edit my bad.

 

lol i thought u were tryin to re-iterate ur point