Exhausts

[sportbikegirl]

I have a Ninja 500R ('07)... I cant afford to invest in a new exhaust but I had a guy tell me that I can break the baffles in my mufflers to get the sound I want. He has the same bike and did that to his and his sounded sweet. I havent run into that guy again to ask him more details so I thought I'd try here. Does anyone know anything about doing that?

[CB750F]

I'll advise against this because when you go to sell it might make it harder to do so because it's louder. Opening up the baffles will make it louder but you might not know if it's the sound you want until after you do it (if you don't do it the exact same way he did it) and you can't turn back.

Now with that out of the way there are 2 ways of doing it. One is find a heavy piece of steel rod and make the end pointed and beat it through the end of the muffler with a hammer. The other way is not quite as brutal but you can drill out the pop rivets that are on the end, take the muffler apart and cut out the baffles then put it back together and pop rivet the end back on using the factory holes. I have heard of people being able to get the little center pipe out using vice grips but i can't say that works or not.

You may or may not have to rejet the carbs to match the freer flowing pipes. I doubt you'll have to but one common EX500/Ninja 500R mod is open the pilot screws (located under the carbs, hidden under aluminum caps you have to drill out unless it's already been done) 2 to 2.5 turns (you screw them the whole way in lightly then unscrew them) which will richen it up some (the stock setting is like 1.5 to 1.75 turns) and help with if it's running a little lean.

What you'll find after opening the exaust up on that bike is every time you let off the gas you'll get a lot of backfiring/popping. This is from the PAIR valve injecting cool air into the exaust. The bike actually does it now but the mufflers keep that sound down to almost nothing. You can disable it various ways but I did mine by unhooking the vacuum line from it and plugging the opening from the airbox to the PAIR valve. it's located right on top of the engine, it will have a couple black hoses going to it. You'll have to remove the gas tank to do it, unless the popping doesn't bug you (it drove me nuts).

My advice is still keep the stock mufflers and save up for aftermarket pipes if you can. You can get slip on mufflers kinda reasonable and every now and again a used set pops up on Ebay or the EX500 forum. D&D, Sato Racing, Cobra F1's and Sarachu (that's the set i have) make slip ons for the EX500 and I think they all can be bought for under $400. I don't think you can get Cobra F1's anymore new but the Sato's can be bought from denniskirk.com. Sarachu's are tough to come by (they are made in Brazil) and are the only ones who claim no rejetting is needed (it isn't either IMO but the opening of the pilot screws deffinatly helps). Muzzy and Vance and Hines have a 2 into 1 system but you'll have to remove the centerstand (which sucks). They are all much louder than stock.

My Sarachu pipes. Any other Ninja 500 stuff you may need to know holler.

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o200/CB750F/closeup.jpg
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o200/CB750F/full.jpg

[sportbikegirl]

You have a very nice ride there... and thanks for all the info... it actually sounds like it might be more than I can handle (Im not the most mechanically inclined), so I think I may just leave it. I didnt really think about that making it harder to sell when the time came. I'll just save up and get me a nice Muzzy system on the next one. D&D said they can make a system for the 500R but it would run right at $400. Thanks again for all the info! Stay safe...

[CB750F]

Yeah it's kinda pointless to do anything with it if you are going to sell it anyways.

I'm thinking about converting mine into a mini Concourse. I have soft saddle bags, a converted backpack for a tail bag and a big tank bag. It makes a pretty fair ultralight sport tourer. :D