Looking for CR 500 woods mods?

[n8sjh]

A guy that I work with has a CR 500 and wants to ride trails and woods with me. The bike is stock. He is looking for any mods to tame it down and make it a better woods bike. He has rode bikes for years and raced motocross so this is not a first bike for him.

I suggested change the gearing on it for one.

Any other suggestions?

[jbird710]

Massive bark busters! 👍

He'll need a spark arrestor for sure. Probably wants to go up a few teeth on the rear sprocket. Many people prefer a fly wheel weight but isn't necessary. If he doesn't have some kind of bash plate under the bottom of the frame, best to get one. If you go on long loops, he'll probably need a bigger gas tank.

[KcDavis]

An FMF Gnarley might work out good. They are supposed to focus a little more on the low end, but the 500 is the 4 stroke of 2 strokes, you can lug the crap out of those things. Gearing and suspension will be most important mods.

[Pat4wd]

A stock cr500 makes a great woods bike right from the get go if you ask me.. contrary to popular belief I think cr500's are a joy and very tame to ride as long as you ride them off the pipe.. they have gobs of off the pipe power and a awesome because of that.. But the best woods mod is a Rekluse Pro IMO .. Put one in and the fun level goes way up

here is a pic of mine I just built.. And yep. it has a rekluse:D

[Coolidge]

With my 500, I was shooting for a mods suited for desert, but may work for woods too? 1st off, I agree w/last posters.

On mine, I added: 3.5 gal (natural) IMS tank, bash/skid plate. GP (early GPR) steer stabilizer, Pro Connection rad braces, added 13oz Steahly flywheel weight, and added 1 tooth to rear sprocket (49 from 48 that I bought bike with) also added Excel rims, and Maxxis Desert IT rear tire. These mods make it a MUCH more rideable bike, esp in desert. It doesnt help that Im 5'-7" 150lbs. But, I think you get the idea 👍

[coley13]

a rad valve works well.

[Eddie8v]

Boyesen rad valve, smaller 36mm carb, Rekluse Pro Auto Clutch, thermostatically controlled cooling fan(s) plus the normal "woods stuff" (bigger tank, rad guards/braces, full-protection skidplate, shortened bars, bark busters, etc) and you're off to the races.

[-=Jughead=-]

All changes will be small, and only contribute to the whole. I also got my 500 for mostly low-RPM woods/trail riding. Power-on-demand that isn't "light switchy", plus a relatively light weight appealed to me.

Parts/changes as mentioned by others are all good. I also added a Moose Torque Spacer as it was an inexpensive item. Hard to say if it helped make it more woods-worthy, but I left it on anyway.

It was about $20US

[-=Jughead=-]

a rad valve works well.

Wouldn't these do the opposite of smoothing out the power?

[Kyron]

FWW, jetting, skid plate and suspension

[coley13]

Wouldn't these do the opposite of smoothing out the power?

No, You tend to loose that HIT in the midrange. It will pull a reasonably smooth curve from idle all the way through.

[yathump]

What kind of fuel mileage/distance can you figure on getting with a stock 500 steelie tank, any ideas?

Edited July 20, 2010 by yathump

[-=Jughead=-]

No, You tend to loose that HIT in the midrange. It will pull a reasonably smooth curve from idle all the way through.

OK, thanks coley13... good to know...something for me to look into. 😏

[atf8611]

What kind of fuel mileage/distance can you figure on getting with a stock 500 steelie tank, any ideas?

I really should try to calculate the mileage, but my 01 riding 95% single track seems to get very good mileage. I have ridden for 2-3 hours with no more than short breaks and have never seen the tank less than half full. I am able to really lug the engine in 1st and 2nd on most of my trails, and im sure that returns optimal fuel mileage.

[yathump]

I really should try to calculate the mileage, but my 01 riding 95% single track seems to get very good mileage. I have ridden for 2-3 hours with no more than short breaks and have never seen the tank less than half full. I am able to really lug the engine in 1st and 2nd on most of my trails, and im sure that returns optimal fuel mileage.

Thanks for that, i'm locked in on getting a 01 so i was just curious if i needed to hunt for a bigger tank, i'll have to watch it myself ofcourse but was just wondering as some of the loops around here can run a touch over 50 miles(all singletrack) and with my old 250 i wouldn't burn more than a 1/2 tank out of the 3.1 IMS that i had on it

[yathump]

How would a Pro circuit pipe be for a woods ridden 500(good bottom end)? I realize these bikes are torque monsters and it shouldn't be an issue just wondering how they run with the PC on them. The 1 i am getting has the PC pipe on it was wondering if i should go with a FMF Gnarly for more of a low to mid focus of power

Thanks

[atf8611]

I can't comment on the PC pipe, but I have a Gnarly and really love it's low end grunt. I do feel like I am missing something on top though, but this is the only 500 I have owned/ridden and it came with the gnarly on it.

I would recommend the gnarly if you are doing mainly woods, but give the PC a try before committing. If you do end up switching it out, let me know if you want to sell that PC pipe.

[yota]

I'm running a PC Platinum on mine and I'm very happy with it. Florida woods rider.

[yathump]

Thanks guys, definitely gonna run it with what its got on it 1st to see how i like it was just curious, the thing should be a low end monster anyways(besides being a 500) since i'm pretty sure the guy said he put a 52 tooth rear on it

Hey atf i'll be in touch if i do wanna get rid of it

Oh and Yota feel free to always post pics of your bike, its a awesome looking piece of hardware

[adam500]

I'm also trying to make my 92 CR500 better suited for tight woods riding. So far all I've really done was run 13/51 gearing, Perelli 120/100/18 rear(I think its a MT60?) I've only owned it for a month, give me a break.

I was also wondering about the cooling system and risk of overheating, running fans on the rads. How would you go about doing that? An aftermarket charging system?

I'm running 32:1 premix, It's starting to load up a bit after extended 1st gear trails. I would hate to lean it out if I don't have to.

Any ideas?