To tweak or not to tweak

[Froggy]

I have been driving my 750 Kat now for 2 years and have racked up 18,500 km. I have started to undergo cosmetic changes to the bike and have been thinking of putting the stage 1 jet kit and new slip on muffler. My question, is it worth it? Would a new muffler help with performance, or does it just make the bike sound different. I am a female rider, always on the bike alone, with no intention of ever taking the front wheel off the ground.

[BeekMan]

Getting a new muffler is definitely worth it. A slipon is mainly for sound and looks but gives marginal if any performance enhancement....but that won't matter since the new sound will make you think you've got more power. It'll feel like a whole new bike.
You probably will only need a jet kit if you got a full system though. After getting my Yoshimura, I'd never go back to stock.
Good luck in your decision.

[Matt]

IMO, the stage 1 was a waste of my money. The -1 sprocket up front offered way more bang for the buck and it's not just for wheelies, but it accelerates a HECK of a lot faster.

The slip on is great for sound, I noticed NO power improvement but then again, I guess the power improvement comes at 8K RPMs plus and I'm not up there much.

We did a -1 on my wife's 600 as well and it made a major improvement to that bike too. Much more getup and go. You can't beat the price either - it should run you under $20.

[Katgirl]

Tweek it baby!!

[WildKat]

tweaking is always fun...if ur just looking for alittle more get up n go, and a nicer looking/sounding bike...get the slip on, they are much less expensive than full exhaust,and sound AWESOME!! definately going the lower sprocket in the front as well is a less expensive way to get the same type of performance benefits. thats one of the mods im doing over the winter.

[ghelper]

t thats one of the mods im doing over the winter.

so what are the rest of the mods

[The CyberPoet]

Re: To tweak or not to tweak

I have been driving my 750 Kat now for 2 years and have racked up 18,500 km. I have started to undergo cosmetic changes to the bike and have been thinking of putting the stage 1 jet kit and new slip on muffler. My question, is it worth it?

Flat out:
Depends on how you equate dollars to power and ridability.

If your bike is your baby, then you want to give baby the best, and money for baby is a high-priority item (as verses to those stretch-boots advertised at payless if you're a girl, or that new color TV for the bedroom). If it's a ride, and that's where the line is drawn, then no, it's not worth it.

Exhaust: Most mufflers (end-cans) will gain you no power (not significant enough an amount to notice anyway), and depending on the type may carry a hidden charge of having to readjust your carbs with the help of a dyno & gas analyzer (most don't, a few mandate some changes). Mostly it just changes your impression of the bike by changing it's sound. If you're going this route, be wise and listen to other Katana owner's mufflers to decide what sound you want to hear -- and what sounds you don't want to wake the neighbors up with on a Sunday morning...

Stage 1 Jet Kit: Don't unless you swap exhausts and need it. 90% of the same benefit can be accomplished as readily by changing a few key components in the carbs and a little enrichment on the idle settings without investing in a full carb kit. Or, if you're sticking to the stock exhaust, you can get much of the benefit simply by enriching the idle settings a small amount...

The real question is about when/how/where you ride, and what would benefit that kind of riding the most. If you do lots of commuting and/or highway miles, consider a better seat as a primary upgrade, to increase your own comfort. If you tend to rail (tearing through curvy roads), consider an improvement in your tires and or suspension instead for better handling.

Also: do you do your own wrenching? This is a critical factor in deciding cost vs. benefit, as those who turn everything over to a shop to have done will end up paying substancially more for the same benefit; it may be enough of a difference to not justify the upgrades in your mind.

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[Froggy]

I have to put the bike in the shop in a month or so (still hoping to get some good ride time in the mean time). I have already purchased the Suzuki gel seat, which I LOVE. The only complaint I had with the bike the first year was that my a** hurt after a days ride. The gel seat fixed that, but I did find it changed the riding position a bit, and my back had to re-adjust. When my bike goes in for service, I was getting my carbs adjusted (or needle valves), sorry I have to profess being very female at the moment and not knowing the right lingo. As for mufflers, so far as I can tell, the only slip on that I can get thru the bike shops (in the Maritimes) is a yoshimura. Also, what is a -1 sproket?

[The CyberPoet]

Also, what is a -1 sproket?

The chain that drives the rear wheel rides between two toothed gears (called sprockets). The number of teeth on these sprockets dictate what RPM correlates to what speed. Reducing the number of teeth in the front or raising the number of teeth in the back effectively reduces your absolute top speed in exchange for more get-up-and-go (and does so quite cheaply).

Generally speaking for Katana's:
Reducing one tooth on the front sprocket is effectively the same as gaining three teeth on the rear sprocket.
The tighter the chain has to turn, the more strain it has to tolerate, and thus the shorter the chain life. I tend to recommend changing the rear sprocket instead of altering the front sprocket, if you aren't changing the sprocket ratios so much as to require changes in both.

For more information on this, read:
CyberPoet's Understanding Sprockets and Sprocket Math, and the more platform-specific CyberPoet's Katana Sprocket Info Page.

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[Froggy]

Just read the articles, thank you. Just to clarify, if the rear sprocket is changed, the speedo will remain correct...

[floxera]

Just read the articles, thank you. Just to clarify, if the rear sprocket is changed, the speedo will remain correct...

No any change to the sprocket ratio will throw the speedo off.

[The CyberPoet]

Just read the articles, thank you. Just to clarify, if the rear sprocket is changed, the speedo will remain correct...

The bottom line is it depends on which model you have... Pre-98's take the speed measurement at the front wheel and it won't matter. 98 and later models take the reading off the front sprocket via a sensor, and thus the speedo will become inaccurate by the same degree as the change in gearing ratios. The webpages (especially the Katana-specific one) explain this, as well as solutions to correct for it.

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[Matt]

Just read the articles, thank you. Just to clarify, if the rear sprocket is changed, the speedo will remain correct...

Nope, it'll be off.

It'll be effected as a percentage (of your speed) across the entire range, so the faster you go, the more "off" the speedo is.

Mine is off roughly 7% from that -1 mod and I do a quick calculation on the fly, however I do have a Yellowbox (speedo correction device) to correct that problem.

[QuickKat]

I went -1+3 and slaped on a D&D show and go (canad's like the hindle it seems )easy mods slip on was about 15min. The Kat now is WOW faster kitty faster you will love it, I got no gain from the slip on but it sure is loud. I feel sorry for the neighbors.

[Waltari]

Just read the articles, thank you. Just to clarify, if the rear sprocket is changed, the speedo will remain correct...

Nope, it'll be off.

It'll be effected as a percentage (of your speed) across the entire range, so the faster you go, the more "off" the speedo is.

Mine is off roughly 7% from that -1 mod and I do a quick calculation on the fly, however I do have a Yellowbox (speedo correction device) to correct that problem.

This is only true if your running a 98+ katana. On pre 98 katans the speedo is driven off the front wheel, not the gearbox and hence WILL NOT BE AFFECTED AT ALL BY A SPROCKET CHANGE!