Sport Bike modifications

Okay, I'm a bit new to the motorcycle scene, especially sport bikes (I'm a cruiser guy by preference) but I might be working on/aquiring an 86 Suzuki Ninja 600 at some point this summer.

My question is, what kind of mods do you DO to a sport bike? Other then adding a loud-as-ass exhaust (which it already has) I'm not sure what you do to these things to make them faster/more fun. A supercharger/turbocharger? Compression seems kinda high for that, not to mention that chucking the piston through the block wall at 11,000 RPM probably won't do anything good for my leg either.


What kind of shortcomings do these bikes have? The bike has less then 20k miles on it, I don't think I need to do any engine rebuilding, but I'm not sure.


How about a hand, fellas? Any helpers are welcome to a beer and a brat if you're ever in my area around barbecue time :wink:

I assume you mean GSXR 600?

There are plenty of things you can do to modify motorcycles, but I wouldn't spend the money modifying a bike that old. I would use it as a tool to learn how to ride, then at some point if you feel you need more bike, buy a late model sportbike instead. You will never get a return on your parts investment with a bike that old, and you will end up with a bike far more expensive and still less capable than a new stock sportbike. That said, there is really nothing the new sportbikes need in terms of power. By far the best investment in modifications is sorting the suspension. Have it correctly sprung and setup for your weight and application, and that will make a night and day difference in the way the bike handles, whereas extracting a few more horsepower will make no difference whatsoever.

And no matter what you do, buy some real gear. You will appreciate it the first time you end up on the ground.

As with any modding that happens, there is no real chance of recouping your investment... I just have fun with the actual modding ;-) Thanks for the heads-up on the power thing though, I didn't really think about the suspension much, but that would make a bit of difference in ride (i'm a heavy guy).

I need to get some decent riding pants and boots, but other then that I've got the safety gear down pat... nothing like a mother to make sure you have your safety gear :rolleyes:

The official title for this bike is "1986 kawasaki ninja zx600a2 US"... not that I know what most of that means!

http://rds.yahoo.com/TID=V012_111/S=96781308/K=499+hp+hayabusa/v=2/OID=a0970c2e91dfda88/SID=w/l=VDP/;_ylt=A9FJpPUCwDpEwUMBlyz8w8QF;_ylu=X3oDMTA4NDgyNW N0BHNlYwNwcm9m/SIG=13976i0ru/EXP=1144787330/*-http%3A//211.141.107.26/lyq/disw/jinchashiping/suzuki%20hayabusa%20turbo%20499%20hp.wmv

New to sportbikes and looking to put a turbo on it? Sounds like a quick way to become a smudge on the road.

New to sportbikes and looking to put a turbo on it? Sounds like a quick way to become a smudge on the road.


eh, i was just curious what kind of aftermarket there was for these things... having seen a supercharger on a cruiser (The style of bike i really prefer) i had to assume that some idiot had strapped a turbo to a crotch rocket to see if it'd go faster :P as it stands the thing is MORE then fast enough to keep up with and pass traffic... and what more do you need? I'm not dumb enough to do any kind of street racing, and i'm not really interested in track stuff.

speaking of, i just rode the ninja home... not to stay... yet. buddy has to finish painting and assembling his honda, THEN he'll sell it to me. until then, i get to steal it periodically and have fun for a while.

thanks for the tip, and the... interesting video.

cheers!

You need to learn your bike first before you do anything to it! Get a couple of years under your belt before you think of turbos and etc..,