A few months ago I upgraded from a 2007 Ninja 250 to my current 2009 GS500F I acquired with 2678 miles on it.  At first I was very underwhelmed by the power (not as much as I was expecting); so within a week I set about re-jetting it; installed a K&N drop-in filter and settled on 20/60/142.5 jets resulting in a very spirited bike that's fun to ride.



Now a buddy of mine has a GS500E, which had a "slip-on" when he bought it and he took it off to do a custom underbody exhaust.  He thought it was a Yoshimura slip-on, but it turned out to be the back half of a Vance & Hines full exhaust system.



So I set about cleaning it up.  First off I took off the plaque, put in new pop-rivets, and gave the can a very thorough cleaning/polish with a cloth buffing wheel.



I just received a set of stock headers from adidasguy; and the bend locations actually match the V&H pipe very closely.  Note: I have covered the can and cleaned off the link pipe.



I also cleaned off the paint from the headers.



I cut the ends off both pipes leaving the longest possible straight pieces to work with on a transition; you can see here that the V&H is actually a bit bigger (50mm ID) than the stock header (45mm OD), so I'll either have to make a transition or have the header swedged to fit snugly into the V&H pipe.



More to come ...


Also in the works will be a fender eliminator; Candidate for that being the Balu-Racing undertail piece from adidasguy.  Just have to decide how to finish it.



Please let me know your opinions on finishing the undertail.  Thoughts that came to mind are painting it Pearl Splash White to match the tail or paint the tire well with rhino-lining.

adidasguy also sent me a stock fender that had been chopped down; so I may do an über-fenderectomy on that for winter use.  Another thought that I just had was to cut it down and use it as an insert under the Balu-Racing undertail so I can leave it out for show or pop it in for wet weather.  Thoughts on this as well.

Hey that was my exhaust! Good to see it's going to good use.

That under tail will look sweet, excited to see what you do with it.

You have to drill the mounting holes in the Balu. Use an OEM as a template.
Also you'll have to cut out/off the end flap where the tail light goes.

Quote from: jacob92icu on January 14, 2014, 12:56:44 AM
Hey that was my exhaust! Good to see it's going to good use.

That under tail will look sweet, excited to see what you do with it.

Actually ... It's not; unless you meant the headers. 
I got the pipe from a buddy of mine locally here in WV.  Either way, both parts are going to good use.

Quote from: adidasguy on January 14, 2014, 01:34:08 AM
You have to drill the mounting holes in the Balu. Use an OEM as a template.
Also you'll have to cut out/off the end flap where the tail light goes.

Yeah I noticed that the back flap goes exactly where the tail-light mounts.  I'm probably going to use some extra fiberglass cloth and epoxy to make hooks for the elastic holding the tool bag.  Then just have to decide what I'm going to do in terms of paint/finish;  not sure if I want to go pearl splash white on the whole thing or do the well in black or what.  Ideas?

I'm gonna try to see if I can get the headers swedged up to fit snugly into the link pipe.  Once I get that all figured out, I'll  paint the headers and link pipe; then I can start removing the plastics and get it all put into place.

Jake - he got your headers.
The Balu tail is designed for racing or street use. Racing you don't need the tail OR you cut it to fit whatever tail light you want to use. There is a metal bracket for the tail light end of the tool kit strap. That is on your bike already and you can re-use that. Just the forward catch for the strap you need to add.
Keep us posted. We love pictures!

If you're doing fiberglass work, check the front bottom of the Balu. I think like the OEM fender, it leaves a gap between it and the top of the swing arm. That lets crap get into the suspension. Airbrush's hugger blocks that gap. Extend the front bottom end of the Balu to insure there isn't a gap between it and the swing arm. Look there on your bike with the OEM fender still on and I think you'll see what I mean.

I'll definitely be adding more pics as I make progress 

Yeah it's the front catch that I need to make for the tool kit strap.  And I noticed the difference in the forward length of the fenders when comparing the Balu with the chopped OEM you sent me.  I could probably make a fiberglass extension or maybe use a section of the chopped fender.  The one thing I don't want is for it to look like a patchwork job that was bodged together.

Quote from: adidasguy on January 14, 2014, 05:47:30 PMIf you're doing fiberglass work, check the front bottom of the Balu. I think like the OEM fender, it leaves a gap between it and the top of the swing arm. That lets crap get into the suspension. Airbrush's hugger blocks that gap. Extend the front bottom end of the Balu to insure there isn't a gap between it and the swing arm. Look there on your bike with the OEM fender still on and I think you'll see what I mean.

The OEM actually extends a bit further than the Balu.



But even with the OEM there is a good gap where the dogbones are.



At the very least I could cut the end flap off of the chopped fender and use it as an extension.

One guy here made an extension cut from a black oil jug.
You know there is a small fender under the swing arm? I always though of putting one on top of the swing arm, extending up. That would plug the gap.

That's one nice thing about airbrush's rear hugger: it blocks that gap.

Goes to garage and looks at lower swingarm fender ...

Stock must have left a gap to allow for swingarm movement.  And it looks like the Balu is even shorter since they also offer a "Hinterradabdeckung" (rear wheel cover) for the GS500, which has an integrated chain guard as well.

True, perhaps. But if you extend UP from the swing arm, it won't interfere with the inner fender.
Extending the inner fender down, it might need to angle in to prevent rubbing the swing arm.

I'll probably just find a way to attach an extension on the swingarm.  Maybe take the part of the chopped fender where the plat mount is and use a heat gun to bend it the way I need it.

I wonder if airbrush has one rear hugger available?

I'll be taking a closer look at it; might have to get creative and do a glass layup hugger myself.

Hello.

I have this one:












I hope terminate on next weekend.

@ vapporel, Thanks for the pics; it's sure giving me some ideas about possibly doing my own layup

Made a lot of progress today 

First off I cleaned up the exhaust hanger bracket for the new can.


Short clip revving up the bike before dis-assembly


Stripping down the bike


Basically all the plastics gone


Removed the stock exhaust


Test-fitting the new can


There's a bit of a clearance issue with the exhaust hanger bracket and the end of the link pipe is butting up against the 2-into-1.  I'm hoping that when I shorten the pink pipe a bit the hanger alignment will sort itself out




I think while I've got her all apart I should look into removing the pair system as well; who needs the stinking emissions crap anyways 

Made a lot more progress.

I moved the exhaust hanger to the back side of the peg mount resulting in a much better fit and keeps the can a lot closer to the frame.


Got the undertail mounted in place; just needs a coat of white pearl paint.




I used a section of the chopped OEM fender to make a hugger.


And mounted it to the swingarm along with the stock lower hugger




Now on the the headlights:
Opened up the housing


Slightly reshaped the hole to allow clearance for the wires to the High/low shutter and Angel/Devil CCFLs


Got the projector in place




And the headlight put back together




Wired up the ballast and inverter for the CCFLs




Now I can start putting the front end back together (still have to finish plasti-dipping the windscreen and as soon as I get the undertail painted the back end will be reinstalled as well.

The exhaust pipe stretcher tool from advance auto wouldn't stretch the stainless headers (threads stripped out of the nut); so I've got a heavy duty tool coming, where the description clearly states that it works on stainless pipes as well.

Very clever for the hugger!

Im thinking the same thing as I have a spare...mmm

Sent from my GT-I9210T using Tapatalk

The key on the hugger is to make the bend more than 90 degrees (maybe 110-120) so that once you install it the bend will be straightened out a bit keeping the hugger snug against the crook in the swingarm and giving good clearance for the tire.

BTW, I used a heat gun to soften the plastic then it bent very easily; hold it in the position you want it while it cools.