High end power. How to get?

[J_Walker]

so everyone is worried about low end power, take off speed ect. But I don't want low end, I want high end power, cause the highways around here are at 80MPH at the least! < that's the flow of traffic. and Passing some di%k who keeps slamming on his brakes or someones exhaust smells horrible is dangerous on a GS500f at 80MPH so I was wondering how to gain a few more high end speeds.. I know its a 500cc.. and not a crotch rocket, but Over all.. there's lots of new cars in my area or just rentals. And a lot go faster than me.. and passing someone/something could really put me down, Also lots of big trucks.. I can Either A Speed up and get in front of them, or B, back down into traffic and be all the way in the back of the traffic pack, personally on a bike, I rather be in the front because people drive like tards around here. "OMG I GOT A TEXT MESSAGE GOTTA READ IT RIGHT NOW WHEN GOING 80MPH A BIG TRUCK IN FRONT OF ME AND A MOTORCYCLE BEHIND ME!!"

that could be the reason why young girls aren't attracted to motorcycles as their first vehicle of choice.. They can't Text on them...

[Kijona]

The short and skinny is...there are a few ways in order of increased difficulty:

*Downshift
*Change your front sprocket from a 16 to 15T
*Increase the backpressure in your exhaust/tune exhaust
*Get a different bike

Obviously downshifting is the easiest way to pull the most muscle you can out of the old girl. At 80mph (indicated) you should be turning at between 6 and 7k. Drop down a gear and run her up to about 9k, then shift. A lot of people misinterpret this bike. It has almost zero gut and you have to wring its neck to get power. That doesn't mean it DOESN'T have power, it just means you have to know how to access it. Don't worry, she won't cry too much at 9K so long as you're not sitting there at that RPM with no load. What's most important is load versus amount of throttle being applied. Believe it or not, it's actually worse for the motor to open it all the way up at 80MPH in 6th than it is to downshift and open it up.

A 15T front sprocket may be in your near future if the above does not suit you. All it's doing, however, is changing the given speed at which the engine is turning versus traveling speed (MPH) - something you can do with your gear shift.

More exhaust backpressure (to a point) will grant you more horsepower. However, this will come at the price of low-end torque which you need for cruising around town unless you want to wind her up like a top just to ride normally. The opposite is true of torque. If you want more torque just open the exhaust up more. However, this will exacerbate your original problem.

If none of this works...then get yourself something like a Katana 750. Similar bike...heavier, more fairing, TONS more power. I don't know how it is where you live but GS500's and Katana 750's go for about the same price (all things considered).

What a thin line we as motorcyclists travel, huh? (no pun intended) Either the bike is too much for us and we hate riding it (if we have sense), or the bike that feels just right isn't powerful enough.

[J_Walker]

The short and skinny is...there are a few ways in order of increased difficulty:

*Downshift
*Change your front sprocket from a 16 to 15T
*Increase the backpressure in your exhaust/tune exhaust
*Get a different bike

Obviously downshifting is the easiest way to pull the most muscle you can out of the old girl. At 80mph (indicated) you should be turning at between 6 and 7k. Drop down a gear and run her up to about 9k, then shift. A lot of people misinterpret this bike. It has almost zero gut and you have to wring its neck to get power. That doesn't mean it DOESN'T have power, it just means you have to know how to access it. Don't worry, she won't cry too much at 9K so long as you're not sitting there at that RPM with no load. What's most important is load versus amount of throttle being applied. Believe it or not, it's actually worse for the motor to open it all the way up at 80MPH in 6th than it is to downshift and open it up.

A 15T front sprocket may be in your near future if the above does not suit you. All it's doing, however, is changing the given speed at which the engine is turning versus traveling speed (MPH) - something you can do with your gear shift.

More exhaust backpressure (to a point) will grant you more horsepower. However, this will come at the price of low-end torque which you need for cruising around town unless you want to wind her up like a top just to ride normally. The opposite is true of torque. If you want more torque just open the exhaust up more. However, this will exacerbate your original problem.

If none of this works...then get yourself something like a Katana 750. Similar bike...heavier, more fairing, TONS more power. I don't know how it is where you live but GS500's and Katana 750's go for about the same price (all things considered).

What a thin line we as motorcyclists travel, huh? (no pun intended) Either the bike is too much for us and we hate riding it (if we have sense), or the bike that feels just right isn't powerful enough.

I think the Katana is even more under powered compared to its weight class than the GS500f... Lol if anything I'd get an SV650. or something along those lines...

[burning1]

A smaller front sprocket doesn't really help at freeway speeds. It more or less causes 6th gear to be close to where 5th used to be. Gearing is never a magic bullet - the most important thing is that you have the right ratio spread for the way the bike delivers power. Lower is often not better.

[burning1]

Short answer to the original post... There's a lot of stuff that could be tweaked to improve top end power.

- Ignition advance
- Shorter intake runners
- Exhaust with shorter headers
- Rejet
- Gearing tweak
- Cam profile
- Cam timing

That's on top of the usual mods that improve power everywhere (high compression pistons, exotic fuels, etc.)

The more of those you adjust, the more top end power you get, but the smaller the usable RPM range will be.

[twocool]

All of the above suggestions will improve high end power...

But........none will make any significant difference........

Here's the problem.....as you want to go faster, the power required goes up by the third power....

In other words, if you want to go twice as fast, you need 8 times the horsepower.

Increasing a 40 HP engine to like 41 or 42 HP will have barely any noticable effect at all...

v (mph)       30             55           65         90        120         150      200
F (pounds) 14.5          48.7        68.0        130     232        362        644
horsepower 1.16        7.14        11.8        31.3     74.2       145       344

This chart, which somebody on the net developed for cars, (but would be similar for bikes) shows how the force (drag) goes up by the square of the speed, and the hp required goes up by the cube...

In addition to trying to increase HP, another approach would be to reduce weight, and reduce drag (with aerodynamics).  Again, would be improvement, but little noticable improvement is possible.

Yet another approach to the OP's problem.... 

Use driving technique (defensive driving) to deal with bad drivers on the road...(superior brain power).  Try to "avoid" the problems, not try to "outrun" the problems.



I consider the GS500 to be about as "fast" as an "average" car. It's faster than "slow" cars, but not as fast as even a slightly "perfromance" car.    That's about all you're gonna get.  So you have to deal with that fact on the highways.


Cookie

[BaltimoreGS]

I think the Katana is even more under powered compared to its weight class than the GS500f... Lol if anything I'd get an SV650. or something along those lines...

Not another Katana basher!!  A Katana may be under powered in it's weight class but it is still a fast motorcycle when compared to a GS500.  It only weighs 80 pounds more than a GS and has double the horsepower.  And it is a has a revving 4 cylinder engine that is nearly bullet proof!  Add to it the fact that you can buy one dirt cheap and you have one of the best values in motorcycling!  Rant end...

-Jessie

[gsJack]

All the mods are of not much significance as far as I'm concerned, maybe a 10% power increase at the top end at best with no real midrange improvement for everyday riding.  Your stock GS power is made available to you thru your shift lever, keep it in the 7-9k power range if you want it to move.  Remember your stock GS will go over 100 mph in 4th gear before redlining.  Spent many an hour screaming thru the Smoky mountains on my GSs in the 7-9k range with bigger bikes.  Use to just keep it in 5th gear on the freeways when running with big twin friends to match their roll-ons.   

[Suzuki Stevo]

Dollar for dollar spent, it has never changed and it will always be the same answer, buying another bike is the ONLY cost effective way for any REAL increased in performance, . I buy a bike and accept it for what it is, if I wanna go faster, harder, deeper, I grab a bike with more ponies in the first place.
I have 6 bikes for a reason! 

[Suzuki Stevo]

I think the Katana is even more under powered compared to its weight class than the GS500f... Lol if anything I'd get an SV650. or something along those lines...

Katana's are sexy, curvaceous creatures! 

[Tombstones81]

^^ yes that is a smokin sweet friggin bike! 

[J_Walker]

I'll think about it.. Maybe I'll just work on getting my GS500 to work and possibly sell it sometime after January, when the summer season is coming back.. sell it for like 2grand. Buy another tad bit faster bike. btw I thought the Katana was a 650? Lol?

[SAFE-T]

Mostly, I think you just have the wrong bike, although I have read that a 1-tooth smaller front sprocket doesn't affect top speed while increasing rpm in all gears at every speed on the GS500. This may help to keep you in an rpm range where the motor is operating near it's maximum power output. On the GS500 this appears to be 9500 rpm.

[Phil B]

[
Katana's are sexy, curvaceous creatures! 

waitWHUT? I thought katanas were non-faired.wow was I off. 

It's funny how much the current hayabusa's look like the old katana though

[SAFE-T]

You change your mind more than some people change their underwear 

The Katana was a 600 all it's life. It's motor was eventually used in the Bandit 600 which later became a 650. This motor then found its way into the GSX650F.

[J_Walker]

You change your mind more than some people change their underwear 

The Katana was a 600 all it's life. It's motor was eventually used in the Bandit 600 which later became a 650. This motor then found its way into the GSX650F.

Problem is there isn't a lot around my area for slow riding... our "normal" roads are 45mph slowest is 35mph, now, our freeway/highways is 80mph Just getting up and past a D-bag on their phone trying not to get killed is a problem on my GS500f, I LOVE the fuel mileage on my bike.. and how nibble the GS is. If I could find a bike that's an upgraded version of the GS. I Don't wanna get a bike any bigger than a 750cc, If I can I'd also like to still have a V Twin engine.. I like my engine being louder than my exhaust. It scares people. Idc about how old the bike is... 1960 or 2010 to me it doesn't matter as long as shes a prudery gas saving, speed wielding bike. For now I will stick with my GS500.

[mister]

So if the traffic is traveling at 80 on a freeway (which means multiple lanes) why do you want to get past them? Why not do the same speed? Why not go in the slow lane and do 5 slower and bother noone?

Michael

[DaMuffinMan]

So if the traffic is traveling at 80 on a freeway (which means multiple lanes) why do you want to get past them? Why not do the same speed? Why not go in the slow lane and do 5 slower and bother noone?

Michael

+1

He lost me when he said he wanted to pass people on his GS who were already doin 80. WTF? 

[Phil B]

Problem is there isn't a lot around my area for slow riding... our "normal" roads are 45mph slowest is 35mph, now, our freeway/highways is 80mph Just getting up and past a D-bag on their phone trying not to get killed is a problem on my GS500f...

I have no problems with those speeds on my gs500 (2006)

If it is an issue for you, I would suggest this is a case of either:
a) something wrong with your bike
b) unreasonable expectations on your part.  (ie: expecting that going from 70mph to 80mph takes the same amount of time as going from 10-20mph)

Edit to match "tricky"'s post:  fyi, I weigh 150lbs.

[tricky]

I'm a big guy (240lb) and my GS has taken me up to an indicated 160 km/h no problems. 6th gear is very sluggish, I stay in 5th as long as I can to get up to speed a little quicker

EDIT: Indicated 160 km/h, less 15% for inaccuracy, that's around 85ish MPH. You could do better