Big cheap carbs

[SteveC#222]

I often wonder what easy tuning mods have been proven to improve performance on an XBR500.  Lots of people post here and there on the internet about all sorts of mods, but there never seems to be much info about what difference they actually make. 

I've even read adverts about brand new flat slide carbs that will "dramatically" improve performance, but upon questioning the manufacturer, they cannot quantify their claims. 

If anybody can describe and quantify the improvement in changing carb (or anything else) on an XBR500, I'd like to hear from you.

Like most tuning there isn't really one magic bullet. if you just fit ,say, a bigger carb, or a straight through exhaust or gas flowing it probably won't make that much difference on it's own, it's only when you put them all together as part of a package it really works.

For an XBR a 600cc convertion, gas flow, reworked cam and free flowing exhaust and  xl600 CDI would make life a lot more interesting.

This is a good guide . http://www.champsclock.com/gb500hu.htm

..Oh and a nice big flatslide carb too.....forgot that bit...whoops

[johnr]

i remember when i had a gn400, it was bloody awful in absolutely every respect but one. the engine was fabulous, but it had a crap frame awful running gear, terrible styling, and inexplicably, 6v electrics. after a year of ownership i threw it all away, all except the engine. that i shoehorned into a twin shock honda xl185 frame. it still had crap electrics, but suddenly it was a hoot to ride and i could bimble offroad too. anyhow, one of the mods i did to the engine was to fit the carb off a kawasaki klr650, it was a cv flatslide and was fecking huge, iirc it was getting on for 40mm and the bike went like merry hell with it on. i could cruise at 80mph and it would just touch 100mph on the motorway. amazing for a lowly gn motor, most of the added oomph i put down to that whopper of a carb.

[SHimmer45]

this would be of interest to me also as i have a fruity pipe running on my 500RS and the standard carb and i think a bigger carb would work well with the pipe but there is sooo much info about what sort of carb to fit