Best Jet Kit

[dat1boyjay]

Hey guys, I am quite new at this, so I am lookin for some advice, I have a 2005 Kat 600 with a D&D slip on. Does anyone recommend that I get a jet kit? If so, what type and brand, I have hear Ivan's but their website doesn't have one for an 05 Kat. Also, how about the airfilter, should I stick with the stock or change that out too??? Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thanx guys

[ZukiFred]

The Ivan Kit is the way to go. The 98 to 06 models will all be the same. And yes with the Ivan Keep the stock airfilter.

[dat1boyjay]

Thanx for the advice. One more question tho. What exactly does a jet kit do. I am at the Ivans website, it says that its for off-road use only. What's the deal with that?

[BRkat]

A jet kit, from my understanding, will give you a smoother and more reliable mixture of gasoline, resulting in better throttle response, smoother idle, and a bit more power. Rejetting after a slip on is not absolutely essential, but you'll get slightly better performance.

To the best of my knowledge, the '05 uses the same carbs as any 98+ Kat (being 4x32mm Mikuni carbs)... As far as I know the same jet kit would likely work, but could someone else please agree or disagree?

My question is this...I have a '01Kat 600, and i also want to rejet because of adding an aftermarket exhaust and a K&N filter.

BUT, the Ivan website says you NEED to use stock air box and filter, and to use an aftermarket filter a bigget jet has to be used.

Is running an Ivan kit with a K&N going to be pointless, damaging, or what? Keeping in mind that I'll also have a 2brothers exhaust, and perhaps a set of 750 headers?

[The CyberPoet]

Thanx for the advice. One more question tho. What exactly does a jet kit do. I am at the Ivans website, it says that its for off-road use only. What's the deal with that?

off-road use only:
In plain English: Installing it means your motorcycle does not comply with the DOT and EPA's laws concerning exhaust pollution levels any more. Rather than get into trouble with the law, he does the same thing as all the other jetkit manufacturers and states that it means the bike will officially be for "track use" or "private land use" only. Nobody sweats it and nobody cares -- it works.

What exactly does a jet kit do:
It replaces specific parts within your carbs with replacements that have been engineered to provide more power through changes in the fueling delivery in the carbs.
When the original manufacturers (in our case, Suzuki) build a motorcycle, that motorcycle has to meet specific exhaust pollution and sound level requirements to be homologated (approved) for the US/North American market. To meet these requirements, at certain RPM's, the fueling is set particularly lean, which is good for gas mileage and pollution levels, but bad for performance. Oddly enough, the spots where the carbs go lean just happen to coincide with exactly the same RPM's that the government measurement are taken (imagine that!). After-market jet kits eliminate this artificially leaning-down of the fuel supply to provide more power and smoother power across the full RPM spectrum. Different brands do it with different degrees of success; on the 98+ Kats, the Ivan's Performance Products version provides the largest and most clearly apparent improvement out of the three brands available to fit the 98+ Kats.

To the best of my knowledge, the '05 uses the same carbs as any 98+ Kat (being 4x32mm Mikuni carbs)... As far as I know the same jet kit would likely work, but could someone else please agree or disagree?

Yes, the same jet kits will work for any 98-06 Katana of the same displacement size (i.e. 98-06 Kat 600 share the same kit because they all share the same 32mm Mikuni carbs, 98-06 Kat 750 share a different kit because they all share the same 36mm Mikuni carbs). You can not use a 750 jetkit in a 600 or visa-versa and expect it to work.

My question is this...I have a '01Kat 600, and i also want to rejet because of adding an aftermarket exhaust and a K&N filter.

BUT, the Ivan website says you NEED to use stock air box and filter, and to use an aftermarket filter a bigget jet has to be used.

If you read closely (or call Ivan directly -- he's chatty about it), what it means is that:
Given you already installed the jet kit in your 98+ Kat (which gives you the primary performance boost in terms of power), AND
You then go off and install a K&N filter in order to attempt to get more power, THEN
You will not see any performance boost by installing/using the K&N compared to using the stock OEM air filter, you may see less performance with the K&N filter than you would with the OEM filter, and you will probably need to increase the jets one size to make up for the reduced vacuum levels that occur when you install a K&N filter. BUT
This is not to say that you won't get a performance boost out of his jet kit no matter what filter you use -- just that the performance increase will be as big as it can be when the jetkit is used in conjunction with the OEM Suzuki air filter.

Since the K&N filter doesn't give you the big performance boost, why not remove it and resell it, and reinstalling a stock filter instead? The stock filter definitely does a much better job of filtering out debris and particles, which should also translate into longer engine life...

Is running an Ivan kit with a K&N going to be pointless, damaging, or what? Keeping in mind that I'll also have a 2brothers exhaust, and perhaps a set of 750 headers?

Running a K&N with an Ivan's is pointless -- the K&N provides no direct performance benefit, while the Ivan's does.
If the 750 header you are using will be the Suzuki Kat OEM 750 header, it will be fine. In conjunction with a set of aftermarket headers intended for the 750, you may need to have some post-installation tweaking done.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[squiggy]

Since the K&N filter doesn't give you the big performance boost, why not remove it and resell it, and reinstalling a stock filter instead? The stock filter definitely does a much better job of filtering out debris and particles, which should also translate into longer engine life...
Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

The one reason I wanted to keep the K&N was for the lower cost of the air filter element over it's lifetime. If I remember correctly the stock filter from the local dealer is around $50. That, times how many times to replace it for the life of the bike. Whereas with the K&N, once you purchase it, your done spending the bulk of the money. The rest is in the cleaner and oil.

[The CyberPoet]

The one reason I wanted to keep the K&N was for the lower cost of the air filter element over it's lifetime. If I remember correctly the stock filter from the local dealer is around $50. That, times how many times to replace it for the life of the bike. Whereas with the K&N, once you purchase it, your done spending the bulk of the money. The rest is in the cleaner and oil.

The stock filter ($34 - $37, good for 18k miles by the schedule and 30k miles in most realities) is marginally more expensive over the ownership of the bike, if you keep the bike for 54k miles or more (the cross-over point I figured between cost of the K&N, the cleaning compounds, the filter oils). I can appreciate that sentiment, although I do tend to look upon it as penny wise and pound foolish, since the K&N doesn't filter as well (does a close job if it's in ideal shape, but most people don't clean & oil that often), which translates into accelerated component (primarily rings & cylinder walls) wear due to debris.

If you're going for a jetkit, on the 98+ kats you'll still get the best bang for the buck out of the Ivan's, you'll just need to go to a slightly larger pilot jet (mention the K&N to Ivan when you call for the kit and he'll make sure you get what you need at no extra charge). I've run the dynojet and the Ivans, and the difference is amazing to me.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[ZukiFred]

I am using the UniFlo reusadle air filter in my Kat, It is just a reusable filter and allows about the same airflow as the OEM filter, and seems to work well with the Ivan Kit.