let me preface by saying i'm a fan of mendoteach, and follow his advice word for word, typically; however, my experience was much different in the aftermarket exhaust realm. i put the vance and hines xcr exhaust on (with a ceramic coated stock header), and it made a HUGE difference to me. i'm 250 lbs, and it will pull wheelies much easier now, even in third with a good yank of the bars and a little clutch. power over all is much better through the whole curve, with quite a bit more top end than before. my exhaust is definitely on the loud side, fyi. just my $0.02.
I don't use photobucket but I assume you can also just right click over the pic you want to post, click on "copy image location", come here and click on this button right above the space you type in, and paste the URL into the box that pops up. Just make sure you copy over top of the "http://" already highlighted or it won't work. Your copied location URL already has that included and should appear in the post once you hit "OK"... That is how I copied the pic of the button above. Now, if there is no option to "copy image location" then that wont work. and a pic from yesterdays ride....
The NX650 5th is awesome. I've got 15/45 gears and can run highway speeds with no problems at all. I've also got the NX second gear to move the gap from between first and second to between second and third where it's less noticeable. It was definitely worth splitting the cases and have really enjoyed getting back the grunt in 1-4th gears that I had to give up when I put a 43 tooth sprocket on for highway speed. As luck would have it, I should be able to get that 5th gear pretty easy in a few weeks -Barron
[QUOTEAs luck would have it, I should be able to get that 5th gear pretty easy in a few weeks -Barron[/QUOTE] That would be awesome
I remember hearing someone say that "Baldy", the one who runs advrider is somehow affiliated with smugmug, and it somehow benefits him if you use smugmug, but can't remember how. Anyone with insight?
Thanks for the confirmation Wayne, I'm thinking that might be the way I'd like to go with mine too. Besides It would be a shame to not keep our Honzuki's as similar as possible, wouldn't it?
I told Barron I would get back to him about some electrical issues I was having last week with the rear lights. Barron... Thanks for responding with some tips. I was never able to get the lights working properly. I did get the turn signals working somewhat but not the tail light. I don't think my tail light is fried because I was able to get both lights (brake and tail) to light by connecting one of the wires... I think the problem is in my green/yellow wire... never could get anything to light when connecting with it. I'm going to get back to this wiring issue later in the Winter and use the last few (somewhat) warm weeks here riding instead. I plan to completely rework the wiring, add heated grips, and maybe an additional power source/plug-in over the Winter... So I'll just deal with it all at the same time. Saturday was an exceptionally nice day where I live so I decided it would be better to forgo maintenance in the garage and spend the day riding instead! I quickly patched up the wires and hit the road. I just got my XRL a few ago and until Saturday had yet to put her in the dirt. Figured I head to an old 4wheeler trail that I hadn't been on in years....... I was just cruising along and all of sudden............. whoops! I never saw this mud hole! Perfectly disguised by the leaves! I knew that after looking at the front wheel I was doomed! This was damn sticky mud. I ended up having to call for help... Still after all of these years my dad is happy to come to the rescue for dumb shit I do! I don't have a pic of the truck and tow strap pulling it out but here's the front wheel after exiting the hole. That's a Kenda Challenger up front and Bridgestone Spitfire on the rear... Not recommended for mud holes! After picking as much mud out as we could with a stick I mounted her again for a very slick ride home. Here I am just before heading home. Notice that little tiny wet spot just beyond my left handlebar grip... That was the only indication of the mud hole... otherwise it was covered with leaves and looked identical to the rest of the trail. The rest of the day was spent with a hose pipe in one hand and a beer in the other. Little adventure and quality time with my dad... Not too bad of a day after all! Soooo... lessons learned: 1. Leaves hide mud really well. 2. Get new tires. 3. Probably better idea to ride with someone (this wasn't possible though). 4. Think of some way to self-rescue... Maybe bring a come-along with me on solo rides. Anybody have experience with a come-along, dual sports, and mud? Anyone know of a good compact come-along?
Same here, I put on a Big Gun slip-on, its a straight-through design, not internally baffled like Mendoteachs FMF quiet pipe, and it gave me big gains from the bottom all the way up...it revs quicker and pulls longer on top, plus gave me even more of the massive torque I love most about this bike....and made the throttle response snappier ta' boot My Big Gun is also much lighter than the stocker, and with the quiet insert in I can trail ride without earplugs no prob, it only barks when you're getting on it hard, and then it just sounds good to me, still not too loud imo. Plus it looks really good on the bike For me it was money well spent
That mud just looked nasty. Never thought about a come-along, but I had considered one of those small block and tackle rigs they use for lifting game up in the tree to field dress them.
I'm not sure whats worse, that suprise mudhole....or seeing all the smog stuff still stuck on the side of you're bike
Ha! Funny you mention that... I'm looking up de-smogging right now... One of the many things I plan to do this Winter... My Winter to-do list is getting really long.
I'm sorry to hear of the exorbitant shipping charges, CC. :eek1 Shipping inside the United States is only $7. Spud
Yeah but when you get those winter mods done you're not going to believe its the same bike that you bought stock
