'02 Ninja 500R Question

Took the bike back to the shop today to have them go back through their work. I drove it only 2-3 miles, and the exhaust heated up the plastic to the point that I burned my finger on it when I touched it. Also, one head pipe has the black heat paint flakeing off already, so I imagine one bank is running real lean compared to the other. I asked the guy if they sync the carbs after the rejet. His response was only if the customer asks, then they'll charge for it. Com'on, you rejet, mess with the A/F mixture and NOT sync the carbs?

So now, my lower cowl is shot, it looks like a huge dent the the way the exhaust melted the plastic, the heat treated paint on the headers is flakeing, what's next?

The worst part is I could have caught the bike's lower cowl on fire if I actually went for a normal 100-200 miles ride last night like I wanted to. The plastic that was melting was liquid-like and running down the inside of the cowl.

I showed the mechanic the posts from this site, specially the jetting an ex500 for vance & hines pipes, he said that the 135 jets that the guy used in that post may not work for our elevation (about 450 above sea level).

Overall, his solution is, call Vance & Hines and Dynojet to see what their solution is.[/url]

MANNERS

I would calmly go in and see the manager. In a manner of fact, and aclear and calm voice tell him what you brought in and what you expected and go over the invoice with him. you expected them to do the checking and full sync and not guessing of what they were doing and now it has resulted in a ruined lower fairing as well as paint flaking off because the exhaust is not right. setting the idle up to hide a problem is not what you expected an dthough tthat it was only for a break in period, and that you want the carb jetting done properly and the lower fairing replaced at their cost. should you have been told that there would have been an extra charge for the sycn and adjustments than you would gladly of paid. but the work/situation that you currently have in not only unacceptable/inappropriate/but causing damage to your motorcycle. Save your receipts...get EVERYTHING IN WRITING...and find Sport Rider, April 2004, Page 88 Consumers Rule. Sometimes the dealers can be wrong and you just have to make them eat crow...it's tough to do it, but they have to if their reputation is on the line...
When you get a chance lok up www.por15.com for your paint, and if you have room for a thin heatshield you may want to stick one inside, although there shouldn't be a reason to have to do that .

key

The possable key to the situation is your statements written on paper for the dealership, saving all of your receipts and now making a nothre statement of facts,,,and reading Sport Rider April 2004 Page 88 CONSUMERS RULE... you may be able to get teh article hrough www.sportrider.com I'm not sure. Worst case you can't find it let me know, I'll copy and send you a copy of it. Just put it in writing and take the bike back to the dealer and give him what you wrote and what you want to have done o correct the situation...Getting hte bike to run right with the new jetting and replacing the lower cowling...IF the jetting was done properly in the first place you may not have had the melting, secondly if you were not informed that the pipe may cause melting that too is not your problem. In fact, V&H or you would have provided teh heat shield if you were told...I would also get a statement from V&H about the melting of the cowl...it will look good for you when you attach a copy of it to your letter to the shop..and should you have to go to small claims court...

Thanks for the info. Actually, I have that article. I just never read it before :lol:

I've never had a prob with the Denso Iridium plugs before. I've been running them in my '99 Honda Civic Si now for about 2 years. But, I still have the old plugs, which I can give a try when i get the bike back.

That's right , back. It in the shop AGAIN to get rejetted. I finally told the guy, " Listen, your son drives motorcycle and races motocross. I want him to test the bike after you rejet. Make sure he opens it up and contact me when it runs the right way."

He still won't do anything about the cowl, but they did put a 1" spacer in to lower it an inch from the exhaust.

I still plan on getting a hold of V&H, just haven't had the time yet.

The bright side is, the bike sounds really nice with the new exhaust. I tried taping it to make sound clips to post, but the recorder really sucks. Makes it sound like a 500cc dirt bike

The original reason your bike was running lean was because it was being starved fuel. With a full flow air filter and aftermarket pipe, they should have placed the 140 jets in. I'm not too sure how altitude would affect the whole thing, but my guess is it will have less air overall so the 136 makes sense.

The dealer trying to make it work the first time, set your idle high - that was dumb.

Had the dealer properly read and installed the pipes/jetkit properly the lower fairing would not have been cooked. I called Vance and Hines and they said that they had not experienced your issue and the first response was - was it touching the fairing? were shims installed to give it space?

I know on my Muzzy pipe instructions it implicitly states to check that.

INSTALLING YOUR NEW VANCE & HINES EXHAUST SYSTEM
1. Be sure to check that the stock exhaust gaskets are in good shape. If you have any doubts as to their condition, replace them.
2. Bolt on the front header section first.
3. Remove both springs from center stand and take out left side pivot bolt and clip.
4. Install the center stand stop bracket (supplied) with tang oriented toward top, inside of bike, placing the large hole over the spring anchor pin, and the center stand pivot bolt (removed in step 3) through the smaller hole.
5. Re-install the pivot bolt, clip and also both center stand springs.
6. Slide the rear section of the new exhaust system over the collector of the front section.
7. Slide the nut plate into the bracket that is welded onto the silencer can. Note: Be sure the nipple on the nut plate is facing towards the aluminum can.
8. Position the squared off end of the silencer mounting bracket over the nut plate while making sure the bend in the bracket is facing towards the aluminum can.
9. Install the two 5/16 bolts into the nut plate finger tight. 1
10.Position the rear section mounting bracket on the inside of the stock mounting bracket, where the stock system originally mounted.
11.Tighten assembly using the stock mounting bolt, washer and nut. Then tighten the two 5/16 bolts on the silencer.
12.Install the two springs over the tabs on the collector and tail section using the spring puller tool.
13.The stainless steel exhaust outlet tube may be redirected to suit personal preference or application. First remove the three button head screws on the rear aluminum canister. Slide the baffle assembly out about two inches. Loosen the three allen cap screws on the end cap. Rotate the outlet tube to suit and retighten the cap screws. Install the baffle assembly taking care to engage the baffle core over the end of tail pipe. Install the three button head screws and tighten.

Well, Finally got the bike back and it runs great!!! The New shop I took it to did an excellent job fixing the mess up that the other shop made when they rejetted the bike. It was Dyno tuned on a CycleDyne dyno, and the guy has been working with bikes and drag bikes for a while. It the shops specialty.

Here's what I was told:

• The other shop followed the DynoJet Instructions exactly, but the instructions themseleves were wrong. They have you modify the slides in a way that doesn't work well with the bike. Almost cost me new slides, but they were able to compensate.

• With the Bike having the Stage 3 rejet in it, it wouldn't run under load on the Dyno. After some tinkering and pulling the carbs off five times making adjustments, the bike would barely run .

• On the Dyno, the bike showed virtually no difference between the stock air filter and the K&N High Flow.

• The shop slowed down the slides to improve throttle response, set the bike up so that it now pulls strong all the way through the RPM range with no flat spots. And the warmer it gets, the harder it pulls. Also, I was told that the way it is now setup, I should see an improvement in gas mileage For those who wanted to know, the bike topped out at 50HP. But has alot more lowend and midrange kick.

• Downfall, due to the previous shops mistakes, my lower cowl is not almost completely shot. Once it started melting and getting close to the exhaust, (when the first rejet was way too lean), we added spacers to move it away. The just bought time. Now there is a hole in the cowl. My dad and I are going to see what we can to to cut it and modify it so it can go back on and not get damaged any more than it is.

• While on the Dyno, we also found that the Ignition system is showing signs of failure by spiking, then dropping under constant load around 8,000-11,000 RPM. Once fixed, my HP may actually improve.

Total Cost of DynoTuning & Purchase/Installation of Ignition Advancer- $360