Page 1: info and mods
page 2: updates
page 3: installs
page 4: best bang-for-the-buck mods

page 5: old Yamaha xj650 seca

page 6: More pics and vids

page 7: 2007 Suzuki GS500F

6/25/09

This is my newest ride a 2007 Suzuki GS500F. The gs500f came stock with a 487cc 2cyl. DOHC 2-valve-per-cylinder engine producing 50bhp. I personaly "tested" it's top speed: 114mph, and it took a long time to get there. So high speed racing isnt its forte but at normal speeds I could out accelerate most any street car (aside from vetts and vipers and the like). But what brought me to this bike was its price of $2600 with only 1200mi, it's great economy of 56mpg avarage, and its its incredible lack of mass she only weighed 427lbs with a full 5.5gal of fuel! Man can this bike turn! I have driven zx6r's and gsxr600's that dont turn as easly or grip as tenasiously as this humble street bike.

Well that was stock and this is NOW . I have since added many mods to make her faster and even lighter. First I changed the oil to Castrol full synthetic motorcycle race oil with a K&N oil filter. At the same time I put in new NGK Iridium plugs. Then it was off to the dyno for a stock run. Bone stock she had 39whp with a 13:1 afr (super lean!).

Then about 2 weeks later I broke down and ordered A full Vance&Hines exhaust, K&N "lunchbox" air filter, and (much) bigger carb jets. The V&H system came with Large runner headders and Very large midpipe and straight through design aluminum muffler. the sound is not much louder than stock at idle, just deeper. but dam when I open the throttle even a little it gets CRAZY LOUD! Way louder than my car! I freekin love it! More pluses with the V&H is 1: the whole exhaust system only weighs 15lbs (I weighed it). where as the stock system was 39lbs (i also weighed it). 2: the muffler outside diameter is much SMALLER than stock providing more clearance in hard turns.

The K&N "lunchbox" air filter is an intake designed to completely replace the super restrictive stock airbox and filter with a Huge single open filter. the part # is RU-2970 and dam does it flow, it has close to twice the surface area and 2.5 times the opening of the stock setup.

The carb jets I put in are from carbparts.com in sizes 20 for the pilots 62.5 mids 147.5 mains. the stock sizes were 17.5 pilot 60 mid 130 main. Installing the jets was a royal pain because i stripped one bowl screw and had to use an impact driver to remove all 8 of them but after that it went together easly. also while i was in there i removed the PAIR system which is an emisions device to help burn unused hydrocarbons (gas) in the exhaust. It was just extra weight to me so out it went.

With all the above parts installed it was a completely new bike in the sense of power and drivability. My guess is I added 7whp a gain of over 17% and it felt every bit of it, much faster and dramatically improved responce. But as usual it wasnt enough so I threw on a 15 tooth front sprocket, down from 16, and advanced the ignitin timing. I initialy advanced the timing 6* but lost a ton of power so i took it back to +1* and it felt better than stock so after many trials and  errors i felt 2* was perfect, but it necessitated the use of 89 octane to fight the new found slight knock. The extra timing helped a lot from 1500-4500rpm but is hardly noticable above.

What surprized me the most was the 15tooth sprocket, a 6.25% reduction in gear ratio, because for $25 it made as big of a differance as ALL the above mods combined! Man with all these mods she really accelerates hard and my top speed increased to 127mph.The only other stuff Ive done is 1: flush mount turnsiginals all around to get a better look, decrease weight , and decrease drag. the stock siginals were HUGE and UGLY!! 2: fender eliminator to reduce weight and give a better look. In total the bike lost 28lbs so she now weighs 399lbs with a full tank of gas.

I got in a race with this setup against a 412whp viper (stock I think?) and man I was VERY surprized. We went from 10mph which caused me to get the front about 2or3 feet off the ground (I clutched a little to hard) until redline in 1st. When I shifted to 2nd at 10200rpm the front wheel touched the ground and i looked to see him a few feet behind. By the end of 2nd he was nose to nose with me and at the end of 3rd I was looking at his door. Then came 4th and he started pullin hard on me and in 5th he had a bus or two on me so I gave up. The moral of the story is christ this thing is faster than it feels.

I think with all this done ive added at least 8whp but the truth will be told on Saturday, I am going to the dyno again! I plan on playing with the timing and changing jets if nesesary to achive a 12-12.5:1 afr to get even more power! all in all I hope to gain a total of 11whp for a grand total of 50whp, as much as stock bhp!

9/15/09

Well the dyno has come and gone and I forgot to update! I ended up needing much bigger jets than I initialy thought. 20-62.5-155 plus 1 washer under the needles and 3.5 turs out of the idle screws. What surprized me was I only gained 5whp for a total of 44whp. but I have more power and torque across the board so it feels way faster. Also I foud out that with more fuel the engine really started liking more advanced timing, a total of 6* over stock. after dyno tuning it, which took 12 runs and many hours of rejetting, I decided to test out the top speed. The new power is evident because my little 500 will redline in 6th gear now at 125mph!

12/11/09

last weekend I did the nesessary valve lash check and while I was in there I decided to look at my (new 6500mile) plugs. Well to my surprise I found that they were getting a little hot, so I replaced my brand new NGK Iridium $9 apeice plugs with $10 apeice hard-to-find NGK Iridium 1 heat range cooler than stock plugs. I haven't even ridden it yet (too cold) but my guess is it will now be safer to ride hard with no detonation. Also I'll bet the bike will even like a little more timing now, mayby 1 more degree for a total of +7* over stock. I think another dyno session is in order. who knows...mayby I'll break 45whp!

The full list of current mods is:

 1. Vance&Hines SuperSport Full exhaust

 2. K&N lunchbox air filter

 3. 20-62.5-155 jets, 1 washer, 3.5 turns (carbs)

 4. 15 tooth JP front sprocket

 5. Flushmount turnsignals

 6. Tommasselli adjustable clipon handle bars on top of the trees

 7. 20w fork oil

 8. Buddha 1/4" aluminum fork brace

 9. sv650 throttle tube

10. +6* ignition timing advance

11. Pirelli SportDemon tires (130/70-17 and 110/70-17)

12. removed rear fender (fenderectomy)

13. removed PAIR system (pulsed air injection emmisions control device)

14. NGK DPR9EIX-9 Iridium spark plugs (one heat range cooler than stock)

15. Castrol full synthetic 5w-40 racing motorcycle oil

16. High flow fuel petcock

The 500 feels like a completely new, much faster and more responsive, bike compared to stock with all this done and i've got more to go!

Future Mods (soon):

 1. Goodridge front braided stainless steel brake line (on order)

WAY future Mods (later):

 1. EBC double-h (HH) Sintered front brake pads

 2. EBC pro-liteXC "contour" front rotor