[MONSONwarrior]

Can you guys give me some suggestions on performance mods I can do while still maintaining a nice budget? I'm a freshman in college and just bought my bike and I feel like it's missing a little something when cruising so shoot me a list of budget friendly mods. Thanks.

 

[llory]

Can you guys give me some suggestions on performance mods I can do while still maintaining a nice budget? I'm a freshman in college and just bought my bike and I feel like it's missing a little something when cruising so shoot me a list of budget friendly mods. Thanks.

How about a full face DOT/SNELL helmet, a good motorcycle riding jacket with CE protectors, motorcycle gloves with knuckle protection and at the very least leather in the palm, good motorcycle riding pants with CE knee protectors, and motorcycle specific boots for starters??

Don't think performance mods until you got all of the right protective gear and use it

Edit: Oh let's not forget... Welcome to the forum!

 

[jkv357]

How about a full face DOT/SNELL helmet, a good motorcycle riding jacket with CE protectors, motorcycle gloves with knuckle protection and at the very least leather in the palm, good motorcycle riding pants with CE knee protectors, and motorcycle specific boots for starters??

Don't think performance mods until you got all of the right protective gear and use it

Edit: Oh let's not forget... Welcome to the forum!

To that I'll add - rider training - if you haven't completed it already...and basic tools...and a tire gauge...


Jay

 

[Ibex250R]

Welcome to the forum!

Muscle memory is the best performance mod! simply ride. Best to ride a stock bike proficiently than a Mod bike to the ground.

my 2 cents.

 

[CBR250R]

Welcome to the forum.

While the above posters have a point - it appears you are looking for a mechanical mod rather than a cortical mod.

With that in mind - I'm not sure there are any cheap mods available. What is it that doesn't feel quite right? Do you want a bit more spirited feel when accelerating in the city? With my CBR125/150R, the most common cheap performance mod that actually makes a noticable difference in how the bike performs involves switching the front sprocket to one which is one tooth smaller. This will give you brisker acceleration in the city, but the trade-off is the bike will rev higher on the highway (but you will have a bit better pull in 6th gear) and likely yield lower fuel-economy figures at highway speeds, and will have a lower (ultimate) top speed. It really livens up the CBR125/150R though.

My 2 pennies.

Mike

 

[r100]

Changing tyres now isn't budget friendly, but, when it is time, spend a few more dollars and put on premium rubber.
Your bike will be safer and corner better. And leaned over is where the fun is.

 

[MONSONwarrior]

How about a full face DOT/SNELL helmet, a good motorcycle riding jacket with CE protectors, motorcycle gloves with knuckle protection and at the very least leather in the palm, good motorcycle riding pants with CE knee protectors, and motorcycle specific boots for starters??

Don't think performance mods until you got all of the right protective gear and use it

Edit: Oh let's not forget... Welcome to the forum!

To that I'll add - rider training - if you haven't completed it already...and basic tools...and a tire gauge...


Jay

Have all of this. and I've been riding off road my whole life so I know a good bit about riding, I'm just looking for a little extra get up when cruising.

 

[killstrelok]

get rid of the heavy (and imo ugly) stock exhaust, slip-on will shed 5kg and give tiny bit more power.
cheap is just a matter of perspective.

 

[jkv357]

Have all of this. and I've been riding off road my whole life so I know a good bit about riding, I'm just looking for a little extra get up when cruising.

If you have all that wamentioned, and a bunch or off-road experience, you are way ahead of most new riders - good to hear.

Without replacing cams, I'd say an exhaust system and possibly some intake mods might be all you could do to the engine. Gearing will alter your RPMs and give your more snap (lower gearing) or smoother cruise (higher gearing), but if you've been riding a while you probably knew that.

There was a thread in the performance section where a person claimed to get a significant HP increase by removing the intake snorkel or air cleaner lid (not sure which), but it may not be quite as stated.

Overall, not many easy tricks to get any significant gains from what I've seen.


Jay

 

[kflaig]

I'd add an aftermarket exhaust.

It will save some serious weight which equals a little added horsepower even though the actual power increase might be minimal (with the insert in)

But, it will sound a whole lot faster!

I found an unexpected benefit after installing mine in that hearing the exhaust better allowed me to really tune up my downshifts into the lower gears. Maybe I'm getting deaf?

 

[jkv357]

Have all of this. and I've been riding off road my whole life so I know a good bit about riding, I'm just looking for a little extra get up when cruising.

If you have all that was mentioned, and a bunch or off-road experience, you are way ahead of most new riders - good to hear.

Without replacing cams, I'd say an exhaust system and possibly some intake mods might be all you could do to the engine. Gearing will alter your RPMs and give your more snap (lower gearing) or smoother cruise (higher gearing), but if you've been riding a while you probably knew that.

There was a thread here, in the performance section, where a person claimed to get a significant HP increase (2) by removing the intake snorkel or air cleaner lid (not sure which), but that large of an increase is questionable.

Overall, not many easy tricks to get any significant gains from what I've seen.


Jay

 

[killstrelok]

I've tried removing the airfilter lid and it seemed to lose low end power, may gain at top end, but I personally didn't like so I reinstalled.

 

[jkv357]

I've tried removing the airfilter lid and it seemed to lose low end power, may gain at top end, but I personally didn't like so I reinstalled.

That does make sense, as the airbox is tuned. Dumping a large amount of turbulent air into the throttle body will most likely kill your throttle response and mid-range torque, but as you said, it may technically give you more HP at the power peak and WOT.


Jay

 

[r100]

I found an unexpected benefit after installing mine in that hearing the exhaust better allowed me to really tune up my downshifts into the lower gears.

Ah yes - empathy with the machine.

 

[Aufitt]

Can you guys give me some suggestions on performance mods I can do while still maintaining a nice budget? I'm a freshman in college and just bought my bike and I feel like it's missing a little something when cruising so shoot me a list of budget friendly mods. Thanks.

http://www.cbr250.net/forum/cbr250-performance/1402-ultimate-cbr250-performance-mod-3.html

Welcome to the forum.

 

[bungie4]

I found an unexpected benefit after installing mine in that hearing the exhaust better allowed me to really tune up my downshifts into the lower gears. Maybe I'm getting deaf?

I'll vouch for this one. All my riding buddies say my bike sounds like a motocross bike EXCEPT when I'm downshifting and braking fast at the same time. Then they say it sounds F'N AWESOME!

I'll take that as a complement

 

[Carolina Slim]

Dropping weight on the CBR won't be easy on a budget. There are lots of carbon fiber parts available but they ain't cheap. Might start by removing the rear pegs and fabricating an exhaust hanger. Drill tasteful holes in places like the brake and clutch levers (guys will pay a lot of money for "custom" levers when all you need is a few drills), front peg mounts, lower cowl, fuel tank cover, drive chain cover. For larger holes use hole saws. Remove the grab rails, reflectors, clutch cable adjustment rubber and the silly plastic pouch under the seat containing an allen wrench. if you're not concerned with safety remove the turn signals. You get the idea. Don't drill holes in the frame or swing arm. You also might consider losing some body weight. No slam intended. Be careful. You can get really carried away with weight loss on a budget. However, "Performance" is all power to weight. Take your license but leave your wallet at home.

 

[MONSONwarrior]

Dropping weight on the CBR won't be easy on a budget. There are lots of carbon fiber parts available but they ain't cheap. Might start by removing the rear pegs and fabricating an exhaust hanger. Drill tasteful holes in places like the brake and clutch levers (guys will pay a lot of money for "custom" levers when all you need is a few drills), front peg mounts, lower cowl, fuel tank cover, drive chain cover. For larger holes use hole saws. Remove the grab rails, reflectors, clutch cable adjustment rubber and the silly plastic pouch under the seat containing an allen wrench. if you're not concerned with safety remove the turn signals. You get the idea. Don't drill holes in the frame or swing arm. You also might consider losing some body weight. No slam intended. Be careful. You can get really carried away with weight loss on a budget. However, "Performance" is all power to weight. Take your license but leave your wallet at home.

I'm gonna look into dropping weight off the bike and see what I can spare but as far as my body weight I'm 5' 11" 142 so not much for me to lose. I think I'm going to try an exhaust in the near future and maybe the snorkel thing but will any of this affect my ability to use this as my daily driver? My mechanics skills are a little rusty because when I rode moto my dad was my mechanic but he has since passed away so I'm trying to figure it out on my own.

 

[Carolina Slim]

This is only an opinion but be careful just replacing the exhaust. Putting on a slip-on may make the bike harder to ride and slower overall. Yoshimura knows performance. According to their site they make a replacement ECM and O2 sensor for their pipes for the CBR250R. These parts are very expensive but probably worth the money if you're going to race it. My guess is if they thought you could get away with just replacing the exhaust for max performance that is what they would have done. From the sound of some posts a lot of guys aren't happy with their exhaust changes. Many think their pipe is too loud. Loud does not necessarily mean the bike is faster just louder. I'd like to change my exhaust but so far no one makes a good sounding, affordable slip-on that actually helps the performance. My fingers are crossed that the exhaust guys are reading our posts.

 

[Aufitt]

This is only an opinion but be careful just replacing the exhaust. Putting on a slip-on may make the bike harder to ride and slower overall. Yoshimura knows performance. According to their site they make a replacement ECM and O2 sensor for their pipes for the CBR250R. These parts are very expensive but probably worth the money if you're going to race it. My guess is if they thought you could get away with just replacing the exhaust for max performance that is what they would have done. From the sound of some posts a lot of guys aren't happy with their exhaust changes. Many think their pipe is too loud. Loud does not necessarily mean the bike is faster just louder. I'd like to change my exhaust but so far no one makes a good sounding, affordable slip-on that actually helps the performance. My fingers are crossed that the exhaust guys are reading our posts.

Akrapovic already make a resonably quiet wonderful sounding lightweight carbon slipon that has loads of midrange torque gains and slight top end gains.

Check the Akrapovic thread by Biohazard.