I'm in the twin club….

[tkent02]

Got it licensed, and took it out for a night ride. Couldn't see much at all. No high beam, and just the wimpy little original sealed beam not even halogen or nothing low beam light. Took an H4 light out of an L headlight bucket laying around here, hammered on it a little until it fit into the 450's bucket, all good now. The only bulb I found was a 65/100 Watt Halogen off road bulb. Another night ride, farther back on darker roads, this little sucker really lights up the night now.

[pete]

Nice Tom, and yes a headlight upgrade is a must on these! I run an afternarket light with a standard 55/60 watt bulb and it makes a world of difference. The headlight relay mod made it even better at less than 2K RPM too...

[tkent02]

Nice Tom, and yes a headlight upgrade is a must on these! I run an afternarket light with a standard 55/60 watt bulb and it makes a world of difference. The headlight relay mod made it even better at less than 2K RPM too...

Hmmmmm, I should check the voltage in there...

[pete]

Yep, well worthwhile... with the single fuse on these everything runs through the ignition and kill switches etc. so a couple of volt loss is pretty easy with the aging electrics. The absolute best I could get without the coil and headlight relay mods was a 0.5 volt drop at the coils.

[tkent02]

Been riding it a while, seemed it might be a tad lean so swapped out the 115 main for 120s. Too rich. Blubbering slightly at full throttle, a little bit slower getting going from a stop.
Maybe it wasn't so lean after all, although the plugs looked Snow White.
Maybe the 117.5 will be the ticket.

Also fixed the oil leak it's had since it went back together. The crank seal was leaking into the ignition cover, then dripping all over the place... No more.

[pete]

Aaaaah jetting... it's so much fun!!!! I've been having much fun with the 500 carbs and velocity stacks but I'm getting there at last... I ended up waaaaaaay too rich on the mains and needle and too lean on the pilot. I've mostly sorted that out and it's a different bike...

[tkent02]

One size larger mains and I think it's running really well. Dull gray plugs, never sounds over or under fueled, great throttle response and seems like good gas mileage, except I'm always romping on it around town.... Very fun bike because I end up going full throttle all over the place.

[pete]

Nice! And yep I'm always on it on mine too... just can't help it... way too much fun

I have noticed she's a bit keener with the 500 carbs on though... probably not too surprising! Still haven't got it quite right on the pilot/mixture screws/needle yet but I'll keep fiddling as I get time.

[tkent02]

Been working on jetting, put in 110 mains, (actually 118 Dynojets as that's what I had here) what an improvement. Have been using bigger jets since I didn't want to go too lean. Fueling feels correct at all times, plugs are a lighter gray, seems a lot more eager to get going from a stop, and a lot quicker to get going when you whack the throttle open at highway speeds.... Getting closer.

[pete]

Great stuff Tom! Always good to hear the 450 improving! I still need to do some fine tuning on mine but I'll get there... the transition from closed to part throttle is a bit horrible at present.

[tkent02]

Not finished tuning, last tank got only 48mpg, and it was easy miles, putting around town and cruising back roads so no high speed stuff. I would have expected 60ish mpg?

Need to go through the whole thing again, plug chops, mixture screw and needle adjustments, etc. I guess it's time to retorque the head and check the valves again anyway.
I'll get around to it....

Meanwhile, I'm thinking of putting on my wire wheels from the 550 I'm not using, kind of lost interest in the 550 since this one goes better. Wider 19" front can't hurt, wider 18"wheels for wider rear tire can't hurt either, and they have brand new tires on them sitting here waiting away. I think it might ride better and be more stable in bumpy corners without loosing any of it's quick and nimbleness. Beside I just like spoked wheels. Anyone done this? I have a front fender to fit the 19" wheel, I think probably the rest will fit. The 550's drum rear brake is bigger than the 450's but I don't real care, never use it much anyway.

[Big Rich]

Tom, I put a rear wheel from a GS400 on my 450, with a 19" wheel up front. I think the 400 rear wheel went on with only one hitch - I needed the brake plate. The sprocket carrier swapped right over......which I'd want to double check on that 550 wheel.

In regards to the 19" front: I used a mag wheel and a spoke wheel, and liked them both. Only problem I had was the fender tapped my lower quarter fairing mount (remember, I have the S model).

[tkent02]

Had way too big main jets in it. Stock main jets are 115. I had 110s in there. Just went to 102.5s, it's a little funny on the needles but it goes like Hell at WOT.

Going to try smaller ones.... when they get here.

[smilinbrad]

At your elevation (10,000 ft) I would have gone with 105's (4 less than stock). If the 102.5s work best at WOT it sounds lean to me.

[tkent02]

Not sure yet, I have a bit of riding and tuning to do. Takes time and warmer weather, but I'll get to it. I think the bigger displacement is sucking in more air, making more vacuum and bringing in more fuel. I'll find out.