I got up a little early this morning and decided to do the DIY Timing Advance from the modifications page. If anyone on here was wondering it it will work on their 500f's, the answer is an astounding YES-everything is basically the same as in the illistrations. The whole process took about 15-20 minutes from start to finish. The only thing I did different was instead of using a file to elongate the holes I simply measured the 3mm from each hole, center punched it, then drilled new holes. I'd rather spend 10 seconds drilling than a half hour filing. This way you don't have to fiddle with repositioning the clamp. To revert back is also a sinch, but why?
Is there any performance difference? Hard to tell yet. We had a cold front move in overnight and the temp is only a high of 70 as opposed to the normal 100+ and the bike always runs better when the engine or temp is cold. It definately runs a lot smoother and has a stronger pull thoughout the RPM range. Again, I won't know for sure until Tuesday when it warms back up. I can say that it was COLD and for the first time I didn't have to choke the bike to start it. Wouldn't think the mod would effect that, but it'll fire right up now, plus no throttle lag anymore-smooth, rapid rpm accell/decell...