What would you do? Mods to a 990.

Supahflid · Jan 20, 2013

The time has come for me to do my first valve check on my 2011 990. I have seen tons of info out there about mods to the bike and I am intent upon making several of them. I would like to share the items I want to change and ask for opinions about what may or may not be necessary and find out if there are other things to do while the bike is torn down.

Here is the list of repairs or changes:
1.[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Air cleaner-change to CJ’s Rottweiler filter.
2.[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Remove SAS. Buy CJ’s blanking plates.
3.[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Repair oil leak. I think it’s the same oil leak as here: http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=855017
4.[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Replace “closed” throttle cable; there is some fraying of the cable near the throttle body.
5.Install threaded posts at the crash bar connection just above the battery box. I have beat the crap out of my skid plate; the connectors don’t quite line up just right and it’s a real PITA to get all the bolts in; I may have boogered up the threads a bit at the left side of this connection.
6.[FONT=&quot][/FONT]Install CJ’s radiator temp sensor.
7.[FONT=&quot][/FONT]Install CJ’s fuel filter rehab kit.

Here are some questions:
1. If I change the air cleaner, do I need to do any remapping? If so, I’ll need a TuneECU program and a cable; anything else? I don’t know a thing about mapping, although I see there is a lot of info.
2. [FONT=&quot][/FONT]I am thinking about going 2 to 1. If I do, any suggestions for a muffler? My buddy has a Wings and it sounds awesome. Does changing this part add performance? Definite remap with this change, right?
3.[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]If I do a 2 to 1, I am thinking of adding some fuel capacity; does Neduro still make his fuel cell?
4.[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]The shop repaired the water pump leak under warranty. Should I replace the pump/seals etc.?
5.[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Any other repair/replace suggestions?

tomdubz · Jan 21, 2013

Supahflid said: ↑

2.I am thinking about going 2 to 1. If I do, any suggestions for a muffler? My buddy has a Wings and it sounds awesome. Does changing this part add performance? Definite remap with this change, right?
5.Any other repair/replace suggestions?


Click to expand...

Lots of good questions. Here's my (2009) 1/2 cent:

I went 2:1 with the GPR system a while ago. Aside from a funky weld issue on the front header that resulted in a crack and a warranty replacement I've been pretty happy and man does it howl. The accompanying G-it bash plate has proven it's worth many times. I did not remap anything and it's been over 15k miles now. FWIW I removed Cannister and SAS too.

If I were you, I'd make my life easier with some stud mounts for your crash bars and you may consider drilling little holes in your swing arm under the chain adjuster blocks to let water out.

Supahflid · Jan 21, 2013

tomdubz said: ↑

Lots of good questions. Here's my (2009) 1/2 cent:

I went 2:1 with the GPR system a while ago. Aside from a funky weld issue on the front header that resulted in a crack and a warranty replacement I've been pretty happy and man does it howl. The accompanying G-it bash plate has proven it's worth many times. I did not remap anything and it's been over 15k miles now. FWIW I removed Cannister and SAS too.

If I were you, I'd make my life easier with some stud mounts for your crash bars and you may consider drilling little holes in your swing arm under the chain adjuster blocks to let water out.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply! I was beginning to feel like an outcast!

I have decided not to go to 2 to 1. Instead, I'm going to just change the cans to Akrapovic. I am going to the canisterectomy and the SAS removal.

I have been reading up on the SAS removal and apparently, TuneECU can turn off the SAS although I've only seen that stated once. I intend to mine through the "Got tunes" thread to educate myself about using the program, but I will almost surely use the Akra map unless I find information stating otherwise.

Good advice on the studs; I am going to do that for sure. I have read about the swingarm holes and I'll probably do that too!

rotarygirder · Jan 21, 2013

I've had my 990 for 7 months, and in that time done 12000 miles of street and a few multiday hard offroad trips. Here are the mods I have done:

BDCW sidestand relocator
I haven't broken it yet, so I guess that's good. Peace of mind mod.

BDCW second radiator fan[/B]
Stock the bike would not handle slow traffic during Texas summer heat without flashing all the bars at me. Seems to make a difference.

HID Low/HID High beams
Did the high beam after I hit a deer at night. I had no idea how many deer I was driving by before that, and after a few weeks I decided to do the low beam also.

Remus Roxx Ti and 2-1 pipe
Nice growl, louder at low speeds but unnoticeably on the highway. MPG seems about the same, All of the joints on the silencer itself leak exhaust to some degree.

Roxx Risers
Great for tall guys, I was worried about them rotating but they lasted through a lot of hard front suspension bottoming offroad without budging.

High Fender
Necessary after I did a mud plow for a few hours that locked up the front wheel a bunch.

Fastway lowboy pegs
Another tall guy mod. Stock pegs are narrowish and hurt my feet after a long day.

Hepco Becker crash bars
Went down tons of times offroad with no issues until the deerstrike at 50mph and resulting slide. They saved my tanks/possibly frame from damage.

Tusk grip heaters
Okay mod, will make a cool day comfortable but definitely not enough to make a cold day warm.

And once the stock scorps wore down I changed to a Mefo Super Explorer rear and a TKC-80 front. The bike has progressively gotten less awesome on the street with these mods, but exponentially more awesome in the dirt. I have not done any SAS removal, cannister removal, ECU programming, throttle camming, or other forum wizard tricks. I doubt I will ever do those things since they cause as much headache as they solve in my experience; I'd feel bad if I ever sold my 450 exc to another person because of how wildly I had to reroute, plug, and modify unlabelled vaccum and fuel lines all over that engine to get to the commonly accepted level of de-smogged.

My only desire now is to get the stock suspension lengthened and sorted for my weight so I don't bottom as hard offroad. The still bike works great as-is.

Supahflid · Jan 21, 2013

rotarygirder said: ↑

I've had my 990 for 7 months, and in that time done 12000 miles of street and a few multiday hard offroad trips. Here are the mods I have done:

BDCW sidestand relocator
I haven't broken it yet, so I guess that's good. Peace of mind mod.

BDCW second radiator fan[/B]
Stock the bike would not handle slow traffic during Texas summer heat without flashing all the bars at me. Seems to make a difference.

HID Low/HID High beams
Did the high beam after I hit a deer at night. I had no idea how many deer I was driving by before that, and after a few weeks I decided to do the low beam also.

Remus Roxx Ti and 2-1 pipe
Nice growl, louder at low speeds but unnoticeably on the highway. MPG seems about the same, All of the joints on the silencer itself leak exhaust to some degree.

Roxx Risers
Great for tall guys, I was worried about them rotating but they lasted through a lot of hard front suspension bottoming offroad without budging.

High Fender
Necessary after I did a mud plow for a few hours that locked up the front wheel a bunch.

Fastway lowboy pegs
Another tall guy mod. Stock pegs are narrowish and hurt my feet after a long day.

Hepco Becker crash bars
Went down tons of times offroad with no issues until the deerstrike at 50mph and resulting slide. They saved my tanks/possibly frame from damage.

Tusk grip heaters
Okay mod, will make a cool day comfortable but definitely not enough to make a cold day warm.

And once the stock scorps wore down I changed to a Mefo Super Explorer rear and a TKC-80 front. The bike has progressively gotten less awesome on the street with these mods, but exponentially more awesome in the dirt. I have not done any SAS removal, cannister removal, ECU programming, throttle camming, or other forum wizard tricks. I doubt I will ever do those things since they cause as much headache as they solve in my experience; I'd feel bad if I ever sold my 450 exc to another person because of how wildly I had to reroute, plug, and modify unlabelled vaccum and fuel lines all over that engine to get to the commonly accepted level of de-smogged.

My only desire now is to get the stock suspension lengthened and sorted for e dmy weight so I don't bottom as hard offroad. The still bike works great as-is.
Click to expand...

Good stuff! I've done most of the mods you mentioned; not the hid light and not the high fender.

I still have trouble with the bike getting terribly hot in the summer; I've had the hot meter pegged even with the second fan, thus I'm going with the lower thermostat. I have a buddy with the same year model R who doesn't have nearly the heat trouble I have and he doesn't have the second fan.

I was torn about removing the emissions stuff after doing more research but since I've already started removing it, I think I'll go forward. I hope to catalogue the bits and bobs well enough to re-assemble it if I need to.

I've still got most of the scorpions left; I've been using a mefo rear and tkc80 front for a while and I've got a brand new set of front and rear mefos waiting to be installed. I have a smaller diameter wheel set with street tires for paved stuff.

The overheating issue drives me crazy. What year model is your bike?

rotarygirder · Jan 21, 2013

2011 ABS. I also changed the plastic radiator guard out for an alumunim one that has straight-through holes drilled in it, but since I did that (and the 2nd fan) at the end of summer I don't have a good feel for how they will perform in the middle of this summer. That guard snapped one of its mounts off in the accident but it's still in held in place by the other 3 so I'm using it like a cheapskate.

Also the stock skidplate is cheap but I've beat it pretty hard and not even broken the plastic pieces. All the screws still line up for me so far, so I'm stickin' with it.

Supahflid · Jan 22, 2013

rotarygirder said: ↑

2011 ABS. I also changed the plastic radiator guard out for an alumunim one that has straight-through holes drilled in it, but since I did that (and the 2nd fan) at the end of summer I don't have a good feel for how they will perform in the middle of this summer. That guard snapped one of its mounts off in the accident but it's still in held in place by the other 3 so I'm using it like a cheapskate.

Also the stock skidplate is cheap but I've beat it pretty hard and not even broken the plastic pieces. All the screws still line up for me so far, so I'm stickin' with it.
Click to expand...

You helped me remember to order a radiator guard last night; maybe I'll get some better airflow.

I can't believe you haven't changed the skid plate!!! I've broken my aftermarket one trying to bend it back in place to fit the bike from beating it up so badly; no telling what kind of chopped suey I woulda made of the stock one! You are a brave man!

Jarno123 · Jan 22, 2013

What I was thinking, is if you would go 2 to 1 on the exhaust, could you install a tube about the same size as the muffler, so to pack some tools in it?
Any thoughts on that? I came across this when I was reading the Sibirsky Extreme thread, and Prutser mentioned something along those lines.

Supahflid · Jan 22, 2013

Jarno123 said: ↑

What I was thinking, is if you would go 2 to 1 on the exhaust, could you install a tube about the same size as the muffler, so to pack some tools in it?
Any thoughts on that? I came across this when I was reading the Sibirsky Extreme thread, and Prutser mentioned something along those lines.
Click to expand...

Yes, there are all manner of uses for that extra space. I would probably lean toward extra fuel capacity. Ima stick with two cans for now.

Jarno123 · Jan 22, 2013

Auxiliary tanks in addition with a Safari tank (or similar)? Or would that be overkill? I can imagine that having a capacity of 1000 km's is nice but it seems like a lot to me

*edit obviously I would have a Safari tank installed, buy maybe you don't

Qwik · Jan 22, 2013

12+ gallons in my safari tanks last night. That extra space on back with the 2-1 is great for a tool tube. As for necessary mods, I love the sound and weight savings of the single exhaust. I added CJs peg extensions and Rox risers and a Renazco seat. Three of my favorite mods

BykBoy · Jan 22, 2013

Qwik said: ↑

That extra space on back with the 2-1 is great for a tool tube.
Click to expand...

I made a tool tube out of my original LHS can after I switched to a Ramus 2-1:

Open can with nothing inside:

Used the original end and plugged the opening from the inside to prevent water from getting in:

I put a spare front tube, a tool roll, and a tire repair kit in it. It's very convenient.

Was considering using the original RHS can for a fuel, but ended up giving it to my friend so he can make a tool tube out of it too.

Supahflid · Jan 22, 2013

Jarno123 said: ↑

Auxiliary tanks in addition with a Safari tank (or similar)? Or would that be overkill? I can imagine that having a capacity of 1000 km's is nice but it seems like a lot to me

*edit obviously I would have a Safari tank installed, buy maybe you don't
Click to expand...

No, I don't have Safari tanks! You're right, surely the Safari tanks would be enough by themselves!

Qwik said: ↑

12+ gallons in my safari tanks last night. That extra space on back with the 2-1 is great for a tool tube. As for necessary mods, I love the sound and weight savings of the single exhaust. I added CJs peg extensions and Rox risers and a Renazco seat. Three of my favorite mods
Click to expand...

I have the peg extensions and BRP risers and Scott's stearing damper, but not the seat. I may do the seat sometime.

BykBoy said: ↑

I made a tool tube out of my original LHS can after I switched to a Ramus 2-1:

Open can with nothing inside:

Used the original end and plugged the opening from the inside to prevent water from getting in:

I put a spare front tube, a tool roll, and a tire repair kit in it. It's very convenient.

Was considering using the original RHS can for a fuel, but ended up giving it to my friend so he can make a tool tube out of it too.

Click to expand...

That is fantastic! Making me consider going to 2 to 1.

Related to that, aren't the cats in the mufflers not the pipes?

BykBoy · Jan 22, 2013

Supahflid said: ↑

Related to that, aren't the cats in the mufflers not the pipes?
Click to expand...

They are, near the base of the muffler (where the pipe connects to the can). Removing the cat without cutting the base or the can was the hardest part of the project....

Supahflid · Jan 22, 2013

BykBoy said: ↑

They are, near the base of the muffler (where the pipe connects to the can). Removing the cat without cutting the base or the can was the hardest part of the project....
Click to expand...

Eggsellent! Splain to us how you keep the end of the pipe on.

BykBoy · Jan 23, 2013

Supahflid said: ↑

Eggsellent! Splain to us how you keep the end of the pipe on.
Click to expand...

I use two press fit spring plungers. One on top and one on the bottom.

The plungers are fitted to a sleeve made out a duct metal from Home Depot. The sleeve is glued to the inside of the can-end. The sleeve and can-end serve as a cap for the tube. You can see one plunger at the left side of the cap in this photo:

The plungers are inserted into the sleeve from the outside and are held in place on the inside with a small black o-ring. The o-ring is only there to prevent the plungers from falling out when the cap is removed from the tube. You can see the black o-ring at the base of the plunger, flush with the inside of the sleeve.

When the cap is put in place, the sleeve slides into the tube. The plungers line up with holes in the tube.

As the sleeve and cap are pushed all the way into the tube, the plungers are pressed so they can fit inside the tube. When the cap lip reaches the tube end, the spring loaded plungers pop up into their respective holes. Then the cap is secure in place and the plungers have no were to go. You can just see the tip of the top plunger under the turn-signal.

Finally, a large o-ring is fitted around the sleeve between the tube end and the cap lip. This 0-ring prevents water from leaking into the tube and muffles any rattling noises.

To remove the cap, both plungers are pressed and the cap slides right out.

Supahflid · Jan 23, 2013

BykBoy said: ↑

I use two press fit spring plungers. One on top and one on the bottom.

The plungers are fitted to a sleeve made out a duct metal from Home Depot. The sleeve is glued to the inside of the can-end. The sleeve and can-end serve as a cap for the tube. You can see one plunger at the left side of the cap in this photo:

The plungers are inserted into the sleeve from the outside and are held in place on the inside with a small black o-ring. The o-ring is only there to prevent the plungers from falling out when the cap is removed from the tube. You can see the black o-ring at the base of the plunger, flush with the inside of the sleeve.

When the cap is put in place, the sleeve slides into the tube. The plungers line up with holes in the tube.

As the sleeve and cap are pushed all the way into the tube, the plungers are pressed so they can fit inside the tube. When the cap lip reaches the tube end, the spring loaded plungers pop up into their respective holes. Then the cap is secure in place and the plungers have no were to go. You can just see the tip of the top plunger under the turn-signal.

Finally, a large o-ring is fitted around the sleeve between the tube end and the cap lip. This 0-ring prevents water from leaking into the tube and muffles any rattling noises.

To remove the cap, both plungers are pressed and the cap slides right out.

Click to expand...

Why, that is just by god ingenious. It looks like you did a good job too, having to work with those thin edges. Good job!

Supahflid · Feb 3, 2013

So, I finally finished all of my upgrades and valve check. Heres what I did:

Valve check
Removed all of emissions equipment.
Removed the stock airbox:

I had ordered the valve check kit from CJRacer that included the locking bolt, but I was too impatient for the part, so I made my own and went forward with the valve check.

The clearances on both the front in rear cylinders were on the low side of the range; the rear cylinder intakes were in the middle. After doing some reading and talking with a fellow inmate, who is a mechanic, I decided to not make any adjustments to the clearances and use this check as a baseline for the next check. So, having made my notes about the clearances, I buttoned everything back up.

Supahflid · Feb 3, 2013

SAS and Canisterectomy

I had read that it wasn’t necessary to do the resistor mod to the SAS since you could change the settings for that with TuneECU; however I wasn’t sure about the charcoal can circuit, so I went ahead and made the in-line resistor.
I used the blades from a 15 amp fuse:

I thought I had taken a picture of the resistor wire plugged in, but I can't find it. I used silicone gasket seal around the connection between the blades and connetor; not much since I want to be able to re-use the plug, but just enough to seal around the blades.

A pic of one replacement blanking plate after SAS removal:

Fuel Pump

Since I was in repair mode, I decided to replace the gaskets, filters and other items in the fuel pump with the kit that I ordered from CJRacer.

Supahflid · Feb 3, 2013

CPR Rottweiler filter

The last big mod I did was to change the air filter from paper to foam. The installation was fairly easy, although one should pay close attention to both the direction of the check valve and the routing of the crankcase breather hose. The crankcase is vented by the intakes so the valve should be oriented so air can be pulled into the breather. In routing the crankcase hose, I initially had it pinched the hose as it came over the top of the motor and under the throttle body.

The plate and breather hose fully assembled:

Filter on with red pre-filter:

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