Hey everyone,

I'm a new rider who is trying to decide between a ninja 500 and the GS500. The ninja seems to be the better performance bike but it looks 20 years old. The GS looks beautiful but is kinda weak performance wise. I am awefully tempted by its looks though. Are there any cheap performance mods that could make this bike faster, preferably at the low end and midrange? (I know its tougher to get more power here)

Thanks

Check out the WIKI for gearing it down.

http://cgi.stanford.edu/~sanjayd/gs500/Upgrades/Sprocket

Welcome 

you can get little mini moto nitrous kits for about £20 over here, that probly give you a few hp for a few seconds.
not much you can really do easily to gain power

Get the Ninja if you want HP.  Or go with the GS for simplicity and beauty.  A Ninja can be made to look decent.  Wrenching the GS is a dream.  (To be fair, I don't know what wrenching a Ninja is like.)

Quote from: hmmmnz on December 15, 2006, 03:48:06 PM
you can get little mini moto nitrous kits for about £20 over here, that probly give you a few hp for a few seconds.

I bet that would break a rod or a crank in a few seconds. 

Welcome!

Doing valve adjustments on the EX(500 Ninja) requires draining the radiator, but because they are threaded adjusters, you can nearly get away with doing them for free.

If you do get the EX, make sure to go tight on the valves.

The GS may require a shim change, but if you're lucky you wont have to each time, and then maybe only one one time, two the next, three the next and by then you'll have your own little collection of shims to swap out.

Look into insurance between both of them, too.

welcome.
not really a noticable difference performance-wise between the gs and ex, especially to a new rider.
regearing the bike will give it more thrust so it will feel faster off the line. Both bikes are limited in terms of performance gains. As a new rider you shouldnt concern yourself too much with that. just ride the snot out of the bike and when you're ready you can move up to a bike with 100+ hp out of the box.

+1, I'll add that it's the rider that makes the bike, not the bike that makes the rider.

Even the V&H modified GS500E back in 89 barely equaled the EX500 (Ninja) performance and it had a big bore kit to increase displacement.  Here are test reports published over the years:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/jcp8832/GS500tests.jpg

I like the naked GS500 which is no longer sold in this country so if I had to choose between the current fully faired models I'd be changing my name to exJack.    You can throw that chin fairing away and minimize the fairing to upper only and it would look right that way since that's the way it was originally made.

There is always the Bob Broussard (BobB) ignition rotor modification. Best $5 you can spend on a GS. Too bad most do not take him up on his generosity.

I've had both, and I'd give the nod to the EX all things being equal (I prefer function over form).  However, the GS is easier to wrench on and is a more "elemental" bike.  By that, I mean more simple mechanically.  Some would say more "primivite" though...  Also, there are lots of cool mods for the GS that are basically bolt-ons from other Suzuki models that make it fun to improve (especially in the suspension dept).  At any rate, I would probably go with whichever I could the best deal on with a nod to the Kaw for a similar price. 

Adding a K&n air filter, re jetting the carbs and adding a sports exhaust should easily double your horsepower and improve your sex life dramatically!*

*results may vary

Quote from: galahs on December 16, 2006, 03:44:30 AM
Adding a K&n air filter, re jetting the carbs and adding a sports exhaust should easily double your horsepower and improve your sex life dramatically!*

*results may vary

Do a good job on the jetting, intake, and exhaust mods and you might get a 10% increase in HP like Annie & John did:

http://www.gstwin.com/dyno_run.htm

Hardly worth the expense in my opinion, but on the otherhand a 10% increase in sex life might be worth it at my age.   

Quote from: gsJack on December 16, 2006, 09:27:49 AM
Hardly worth the expense in my opinion, but on the otherhand a 10% increase in sex life might be worth it at my age.   

Oh come on! Too much information! 

Quote from: gsJack on December 16, 2006, 09:27:49 AM
Hardly worth the expense in my opinion, but on the otherhand a 10% increase in sex life might be worth it at my age.   

Alpha 13: welcome!! 

Quote from: gsJack on December 16, 2006, 09:27:49 AM

Quote from: galahs on December 16, 2006, 03:44:30 AM
Adding a K&n air filter, re jetting the carbs and adding a sports exhaust should easily double your horsepower and improve your sex life dramatically!*

*results may vary

Do a good job on the jetting, intake, and exhaust mods and you might get a 10% increase in HP like Annie & John did:

http://www.gstwin.com/dyno_run.htm

Hardly worth the expense in my opinion, but on the otherhand a 10% increase in sex life might be worth it at my age.   

Haha! 

Quote from: gsJack on December 16, 2006, 09:27:49 AM
but on the otherhand a 10% increase in sex life

Agree, switching to your left hand can do wonders! 

Quote from: galahs on December 17, 2006, 08:16:17 AM

Quote from: gsJack on December 16, 2006, 09:27:49 AM
but on the otherhand a 10% increase in sex life

Agree, switching to your left hand can do wonders! 

Speaking from experience?

well I can testify it does make my blow off valve engage earlier in the rev range 

Maybe your carbs need cleaning!