How much can simple tinkering, ie: jetting, exhaust, spark plug, filter box, really gain power wise?
It seemed to me and from reading some posts that Kawasaki did a pretty good job of optimizing right from the start. Yes/no?

 

I met an old 500 racer who told me:
"We rode a lot of laps and did a lot of thinking and tinkering to find ways of getting around the track faster than each other, but what we learned is that Mr. Kawasaki knows a helluva lot more about making a bike go fast than Mr. K & Mr. N do." (Referring to K&N, but it's clear he intended all aftermarket products.)
Muzzy was Kawasaki's primary WSB engineer and he became well-known by making the ZX7R the hottest bike in racing back in the 80's. Does that automatically mean that louder pipes with his name on them will make your twin-cylinder 500 faster? I don't think so.

One thing that always bothered me about the 500's airbox is that there are two intake snorkles on the right side of the airbox, but none on the left. AND one of them points straight at the right carb's mouth. So I cut a hole in the left side of my spare airbox and installed my spare snorkle. And it felt like it made a slight difference, but I kinda doubt it.

After going through the trouble, time and expense to make a modification, we convince ourselves that it made an improvement. Some people pay a shop with a dynotuner to prove to themselves and everyone else that they gained 5% horsepower, but I've seen how those things work and it's utterly easy for the technician using it to fudge the numbers with things like throttle settings, tire pressures, not properly warming the engine up completely, etc.

And jet-kits completely f$%k up your mileage. Some of these guys are getting worse than 30mpg on their 500, whereas a stock 600 will whip them like a rented mule while getting closer to 50mpg.

Aftermarket exhausts are penny-wise and pound-foolish, IMO. If you want a faster bike, sell your 500 and buy a faster bike. (Or better yet, spend the money on a track school and learn how to corner like a demon so you can smoke 600's and literbikes in the twisties.)

Peace!
-CCinC

 

Don't get me wrong, my 500 is all I need. All 55 or so hp is enough to get me hurt, I was just curious having been looking at posts and seeing what things people have tried. I'm definitely a fan of leave it the f**K alone, but it's always interesting to see if someone found a good idea.

 

Chris says this as a prayer everynight before bed.....

 

Actually my prayer is more like this:
Dear god.
Thanks for mama, papa, and watch out for my family and friends.
And thanks, especially for all the dumb b@$t@rds who put Muzzy pipes on their bikes who have so thoroughly conditioned law-enforcement officers to equate speed with noise that I now have a stealth-bike without having to spend one cent. Please be merciful when they get to heaven, because the poor dummies had a hard enough time on earth.
Amen.

 

lmao that one is way better