What would you do first????

[Ddub410]

Hello all. I have a 2007 GS500F. I am planning to put on the following modifications:

Jardine full exhaust

KN Air Filter

Ignition Advancer

I was wondering what would be the first things you guys would do. I will have to send in the advancer so it wont be a quick wham bam. I am not good enough to mess around with it myself and VH doesn't carry them anymore. I will rejet after the exhaust and kn then again after the advancer. I am going with a Jardine over a VH bcause it is aluminum and stainless as oppposed to standard steel.

If anyone would do it differently or disagrees with my choices I would love to hear. Also if there are mods I am over looking I would love to hear those as well. Thank you all for your time and help. I realize this is not going to make this bike insanely fast but I enjoy mods a lot and I plan on keeping this bike even when I do move up to my dream Daytona 675. I like this bike a lot and its a great commuter and my wife can ride it as well so its not a waste to me to put these modes on. I am itching to do exhaust and filter first then sending in the iginition advancer after I have enjoyed those a few weeks. What would you do?

[Ddub410]

Bump no one has any input??

[DoD#i]

Input? You'll probably ignore it. Put on 3000 miles. Then you might have an idea of what actually matters to change. Bet you won't...

[kml.krk]

Do you have ALL proper gear? If not this is the first thing I'd do. Seriously! (I mean Jacket, pants, boots, gloves, full-face hemlet - leather jacket is nice and leather gloves is must, I don't use leather pant's though - too hot in NYC in summer)

If you do then I'd do this
Jardine + K&N + REJET at the SAME time - trust me it will save you lots of time and trouble!!

you MAY get away with Jardine without the rejet but I wouldn't do it! It will probably run oh my goodnessty and may overheat.

If you have US model GS500F then I think you should forget about advancing the timing. I did some research and it seems that even Bob doesn't do it. (variable timing based on throttle position or something like that)

cheers

[Ddub410]

DOD What the hell are you talking about. I have been riding for 3 years. I am new to the forum but not new to riding. I want to do these mods after reading the gstwins mod page. I never realized people do much to these bikes. I got it as a starter and havent felt the need to move up yet. i have 10k miles under my belt at least and did dirt bikes my whole life growing up. Why don't you either answer my questions about the mods or not answer at all.

KML. I have never ever rode without my arai profile helmet that is the right fit for my head and I swear by, an alpine stars leather jacket with ce armor in the elbows shoulders back you name it. I have alpine starts leather racing pants with the ce armor all up the legs and the boots as well. High boots too not half ass ones. A lot of my friends make fun of me and call me a power ranger or can't believe I wear it on a hot day but I tell them I would rather sweat than bleed or have road rash. Thank you for your concern and also thank you for your information it was quite helpful. Unlike DOD who apparently is too cool for school.

[jrains89]

man DOD no need to jump the guy...


anywho, i also suggest a 15 tooth sprocket because they are cheap, easy, and give a little more torque access.

[Ddub410]

Cool thank you for your help sir! Greatly appreciated.

[trumpetguy]

I would do Progressive Front Springs or straight rate racing fork springs first. 

You're never going to make significant power gains to this engine.  You will succeed in making it a lot louder and thirstier, both of which get old very fast!  You will spend a lot of money and time to get a small gain.

You want faster, get a newer technology engine!  I'm not being rude, just realistic.  A two valve air-cooled engine is old technology.  It has advantages in simplicity, weight, and cost. 

It won't ever be a fast bike; just learn to ride better and make the bike handle better.  It's still TONS of fun.

[werase643]

your money spend it how you want

a 14 or 15 t front sprocket is silly cheap and biggest noticeable change you can do  ( i prefer the 14T )

every dollar you spend pimping it will never be seen again when time for resale

again, your $.....

[DoD#i]

You say nothing, I can't read your mind and find out how much you've ridden it. If you sound like the typical kid that wants to mod the hell out of it without even riding it (OMG, no response for a whole 48 minutes, bump), I'll put in the stock response to that. More info, different response.

Why is the stock response to ride it for 3000 miles? Mostly so that the brilliant modder will actually have experienced what the bike does as stock, to an extent that they might recognize when their modifications have caused a reduction, rather than an increase, in performance, drivability, or general behavior of the bike. It also allows for discovering things that might need modding more than the powertrain does.

If you've put 10,000 miles on a GS, you might have noticed the stock fork springs are rather absurdly soft. Only thing I've bothered to mod, other than un-modding my exhaust as modded by previous owner (look left, search for soup can if you want the whole story, ran like crap). Unless you consider recovering the seat or painting a mod - I don't really. I'd certainly do the springs long before touching the engine, and you might also want to replace the rear shock (I'm fine with it thus far).

K&N - too much dirt makes it through, MHO. Good for racers, bad for engine life on a bike you want to keep running a long time.

If you are hunting for more power, modding the GS is a very poor option .vs. getting a go-faster bike. Stock I-4 600s put out something like twice the power. Here's a thread about squeaking things out that ran last year.

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=45924.0

In that thread (page 2) Black and Silver twin gave us numbers for the same bike, stock and modded variously; 12% increase, ultimately. I guess B&S never figured out the copier & posted the dyno sheets...

B&S twin bone stock 39 hp. Mod 1 41 - more jet 42 - more fiddling 44 - oddness with mix at 4400 rpm.

He also said:

P.S. a couple days before the install i put on a 15t front sprocket and I will say it made at least as much of an acceleration difference as all the above mods COMBINED

[gregvhen]

DOD What the hell are you talking about. I have been riding for 3 years. I am new to the forum but not new to riding. I want to do these mods after reading the gstwins mod page. I never realized people do much to these bikes. I got it as a starter and havent felt the need to move up yet. i have 10k miles under my belt at least and did dirt bikes my whole life growing up. Why don't you either answer my questions about the mods or not answer at all.

KML. I have never ever rode without my arai profile helmet that is the right fit for my head and I swear by, an alpine stars leather jacket with ce armor in the elbows shoulders back you name it. I have alpine starts leather racing pants with the ce armor all up the legs and the boots as well. High boots too not half ass ones. A lot of my friends make fun of me and call me a power ranger or can't believe I wear it on a hot day but I tell them I would rather sweat than bleed or have road rash. Thank you for your concern and also thank you for your information it was quite helpful. Unlike DOD who apparently is too cool for school.

finally someone else whos not a fan of DOD. he can be alittle short, or rude sometimes with questions.  I dont konw why, but his reponses when people ask a question always sound like hes annoyed by the question.  Which if that was the case, why bother repling. but anyway, which mod to do first? if you have the money, you should do exhaust, filter, and rejet all at the same time, cause they all go with each other.  and the ignition advance afterward if you still feel you want to do it.  But i dont have ig adv. i just hear mixed opinions about actually feeling the differance.  but new sprocket is gonna be the most noticeable change for the money. you can get a new front sprocket, bigger or smaller, for like 30-40 bucks, or cheaper.  I assume based on your expeirience with riding you know what they do, bigger front, higher top speed, less torque, smaller front - lower top speed, more torque

[bassmechanicsz]

I have done both sprocket changes and K&N and exhaust and as others have said arleady it really only makes sense to save up and buy both the filter and exhaust at the same time and only have to rejet once.  No point in pulling the carbs twice if you don't have to. 

The sprockets are definitely a worth while upgrade also.  In addition to going down a tooth or two in the front you can also add more in the rear to do the same.  Going down one tooth in the front is equal to going up 3 in the rear.  Rear sprockets are a little more expensive than the front sprocket but allow for more adjustability to the ratio.

[black and silver twin]

1. sprocket, cheap ($15) and very noticeable
2. timing advance, free or very cheap and noticeable
3. do intake, exhaust, and jetting at the same time. much more expensive and less noticable

[Bluehaze]

Yea you get a lot of those people who will post off topic to what you really want. makes for a fun reading.

Suspension, suspension, suspension. Its what you really want to mod first. Front and rear.

Jardine and Filter should actually be done at the same time as it will require you to REJET. 

Makes no sense to do each at different times  and have to open up that carb 2 times more than you need to.

I honestly thought engine advancer were only for the older GS. I dont know if it will benefit the newer ones..but iam not sure.

Put on a Stebel Nautilus horn. You will love it. loud as hell and gets peoples attention. 

[Ddub410]

If you've put 10,000 miles on a GS, you might have noticed the stock fork springs are rather absurdly soft. Only thing I've bothered to mod, other than un-modding my exhaust as modded by previous owner (look left, search for soup can if you want the whole story, ran like crap). Unless you consider recovering the seat or painting a mod - I don't really. I'd certainly do the springs long before touching the engine, and you might also want to replace the rear shock (I'm fine with it thus far).

K&N - too much dirt makes it through, MHO. Good for racers, bad for engine life on a bike you want to keep running a long time.

If you are hunting for more power, modding the GS is a very poor option .vs. getting a go-faster bike. Stock I-4 600s put out something like twice the power. Here's a thread about squeaking things out that ran last year.

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=45924.0

In that thread (page 2) Black and Silver twin gave us numbers for the same bike, stock and modded variously; 12% increase, ultimately. I guess B&S never figured out the copier & posted the dyno sheets...

B&S twin bone stock 39 hp. Mod 1 41 - more jet 42 - more fiddling 44 - oddness with mix at 4400 rpm.









Thank you that is valuable. I have been riding my whole life I am near 30 sadly. My dad is 67 and still riding in fact he just got a new 1200 BMW last week. He has always had at least 10 bikes so I have ridden them all and I esitmate probably 10k of miles. My GS is actually pretty low in mileage still. I do not want dirt so no on the KN. I will do the sprocket and the jardine, it sounds awesome and I like it. I know it won't make it a SS. I will buy the Daytona 675 or Duke 848 when I can make up my mind. I just like gear and wanted to do a few mods. By rejetting you guys mean doing a dynojet kit correct?
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[johnny ro]

Its only a 40 hp bike and thats all I want or can get out of and I like 1uiet it so I'm leaving my exhaust alone. Same for filter. I rejetted. I am not resleeving for bigger bore or putting in cams or trying for 4 valve heads etc.

Major tuneup. Suspension, front and rear. Change handlebars to what is comfortable. Same for recontouring seat. Windshield enlargment. Grip puppies.

After that save for next bike.