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New Rider with Questions on performance.

Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 6:31 am
by Sneekee853
I just got my bike last month and I'm loving it! I have actually put a thousand miles on it in just a few weeks. I have made two trips to Vegas from SW Utah to ride with friends. What a blast!!! I got a 1999 Suzuki Vl1500 it has Cobra pipes and I think it has been Jetted. Other that that I don't think it has any other performance parts.. I'm just trying to get some ideas on what you can do to these bikes to get a little more out of them? Without loosing reliability and longevity. I would appreciate any suggestions or tips..

Thanks!

Re: New Rider with Questions on performance.

Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 6:43 am
by totalmotorcycle
:welcome2: Sneekee853 to the Total Motorcycle Community!

Sounds like you had an awesome motorcycle trip to Las Vegas, something I'd love to do myself on my bike in the future. Hopefully you have some photos you can post to share of your ride.

About increasing the performance for your 1999 Suzuki VL1500. From the sounds of it you have one what you can that is cost effective for an increase in performance. The only other suggestions are to drop in a K&N air filter in there and change the sparkplugs to the top end iridium type (this mod might not make any difference, some say it does, others no, but its a $10 upgrade so...) also changing the ignition coils and plus wires to mid/top line ones will help too.

Remember more power = Fuel + Air + Spark

You can also break out the wallet and do internal engine work, but it's expensive.

Mike

Re: New Rider with Questions on performance.

Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 7:15 pm
by Wrider
Hey there, welcome to the boards!

As far as improving your performance. Honestly there's not much to do to those without breaking out big bucks. You could do cams of course but those are pricey to buy and pricey to install. I'm with Mike on an air filter and spark plugs. Hyperchargers don't make too much of a difference, but do make some. They also dirty your air filter faster. After those three and if you're properly jetted then you're looking at lifting the valve cover and that's where expensive stuff begins!

Re: New Rider with Questions on performance.

Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 11:17 pm
by totalmotorcycle
Wrider wrote:After those three and if you're properly jetted then you're looking at lifting the valve cover and that's where expensive stuff begins!
I'll second what Wrider has said. Doing almost any interior engine work isn't cheap and will cost you in labor fees as the engine might have to be pulled from the bike to be worked on. While some bikes are easier to remove the engine from the bike others are not so easy and require special tools and time.

Also, what is it about the performance you want to improve?

Mike

Re: New Rider with Questions on performance.

Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 11:07 am
by storysunfolding
You could always go custom supercharger. I just saw one on a V-max last week. It cost about $2500 but that bike purred

Re: New Rider with Questions on performance.

Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2013 2:25 pm
by fzrbiker
Hello and welcome, for bolt on parts get aftermarket filter like knn, also you can upgrade your ignition system to produce more spark as other forumer stated.

Re: New Rider with Questions on performance.

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 4:58 am
by storysunfolding
Nice. I need to try my hand at thread resurrection ;)