FROM: Clarke, Bruce R. DATE: 10/28/94 09:43 TO: Clarke, Bruce R. CC: SUBJECT: EX-500 FAQ v4.2 (94-09-27) PRIORITY: R ATTACHMENTS: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kawasaki EX-500 FAQ v4.2 (94-09-27): ============================================================================= >1) I want something I can ride long distances, maybe 500 interstate >miles in a day tops. It doesn't have to be *too* comfortable, because I >won't do it often, but I'd like it to be doable. This eliminates the >Ninja 250, and possibly the EX-500. (Opinions?) I've done three tours in the last year: 1800 miles in New Zealand on a rented '93 EX-500, 1600 miles in British Columbia on my '90 EX-500, and 1800 miles in Mexico on an '85 BMW R80- GS. I really liked the BMW more for touring, but the EX500 was acceptable. I'm short (5'9") and have a 30 inch in-seam. Even so I found my legs didn't have a lot of room to wiggle around on the 500. After riding for more than four hours, I would have to pull over every hour or so to stretch my legs. With that 800 cc boxer I could ride for eight hours before feeling tired - and I never felt cramped on it. I would say the 500 is acceptable if the majority of your riding is < 90 minutes at a time and you aren't tall. I learned how to ride on a 250 CC. My first bike was an 82 Yamaha Seca 400, which I bought for $600 US with about 21,000 miles. I outgrew it after about 10 or 11 months, then sold it for $500 US after putting 3,000 miles on it. A new EX500 is usually around $5000 to $6000 CND (about $3800 to $4500 US). I strongly recommend buying used: I found a used on with only 3700 kilometers (about 2300 miles) for $2800 CND (about $2100 US). I've been riding this '90 Kawasaki EX500 for 20 months and have put about 11,000 miles on it. I've been thinking of selling it to get something a bit bigger, but I can make do with the 500 for a while. It's a very good bike: ideal for commuting or other city riding. I also use it for 'sport'-riding in nice weather, and an occasional tour. The bike has a 'peppy' engine. It has about 45 horsepower at the rear wheel, fairly good for a 500. The Suzuki GS500 has about 40 HP and the Seca 600cc II has about 50 HP. The engine is a liquid cooled parallel twin. The EX500 was in production from '87 onwards, with no major revisions until this year. (So it obviously is a reliable design that sells well.) The handling is very good (compared with the two other bikes I've ridden). One problem: to do even simple maintenance like changing spark plugs, cleaning the air filter, checking the battery, etc. you have to pull the gas tank of the bike. This is annoying, but the bike is very reliable so you shouldn't have to do this often. In the last year, I've had the routine 10,000 KM and 15,000 KM services done, and had to get the rear tire patched due to a nail. The last service found that the steering head bearings were shot, and so I had them replaced with tapered needle roller bearings. They also replaced the brake fluid for the front disc brake at the same time. This cost $120 US ($40 for parts, $80 for two hours labor). This really improved the steering. The bike does not like cold weather. When the temperature drops below about +2 or +3 Celsius (about 35 or 36 Fahrenheit) it tends to 'bog'. When the temperature drops below freezing, it gets quite bad. I've talked to other Ninja owners and they have the same problem. Apparently it's caused by carb icing: the flow of air over the carb causes it to ice up, restricting the flow of fuel. The EX500 is really not what I'd call a hard-core sport bike. Sure it has the little fairing, but it has a fairly broad powerband that is quite suitable to slow speed stop'n'go commuting. The clutch is very smooth and gradual, and the transmission shifts easily and surely. The handling is *very* good. The front brake is good. The EX500 has only one major flaw: the back brake is a drum and locks up fairly easily on slippery surfaces. Of course, this is going to be the case with most smaller cheaper bikes. I think it'd be ideal as a first bike. Not too powerful that it'll get you into trouble, but then again it does have enough power to accelerate you out of a trouble spot if you twist the throttle hard. The next bike I get will probably be a BMW with hard luggage; soft luggage sucks for long tours. Of course, this is a problem with any smaller bike. The March '94 issue of CYCLE WORLD has a comparison of the latest version of the EX500, the Yamaha Seca II and FZR 600, and the Suzuki GS500 and Katana 600. You might want to give that a read. If you have any other questions, please ask away!! Bruce Clarke ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ FROM: Clarke, Bruce R. SUBJECT: Metzelers & fork springs follow-up One month ago I had Progressive Suspension fork springs, SBS brake pads, and some new tires put on my EX-500. The tires are a Metzeler ME-33 Laser and an ME-55 Metronic. I've put about 2000 miles on these, having just gotten back from a tour of B.C., Canada. The tires are moderately better than the old Bridgestones in the dry. However in rain they stick MUCH better; the old rear tire had a tendency to slide easily when wet. Rear braking was something I pretty much had to avoid in wet weather. With the new tires I have had to brake hard once or twice and the rubber of the Metzlers seems to stick better to the pavement when wet. Situations where I may have locked up the rear brake before have proved to be no problem with the new tires. So the Metzelers get a thumbs up from me! I had to get the rear tire in a size 130/90-16 (the stock is 120/90- 16). The tire fits well, but raises the seat height slightly. This is fine as the old height was low for me. The progressive rate fork springs: I'd read that these would improve the handling. I haven't noticed much difference in *handling*, but I've noticed a *HUGE* improvement in front end braking. I guess it never bothered me as I was used to it, but my bike had severe front end dive under hard braking. A couple of weeks ago I had to brake very hard with both brakes when a "left turn bandit" jumped in front of me. Normally this would have been a bit of a pucker situation, but I was surprised to find the front end of my bike was rock steady: I was able to brake extremely hard with the front without the front end doing a nose dive and trying to pitch me over the bars. There is a bit of a caveat: the new stiffer springs seem to transmit minor road bumps to my hands more easily, meaning my hands pick up a little more 'buzz' from the road. Actually this is probably good from a handling point of view; it just makes it slightly less comfy for my hands. Another thumbs up! The SBS pads seem if anything to be a little 'softer' and have a more gradual 'bite' to them. In dry weather this is a bit of a let down, but in rain the brakes do not have the tendency to suddenly say "Hello, we've decided to start doing something now!" So if you ride a lot in the rain the SBS pads are better than the stock Kawi pads. Bruce Clarke ============================================================================= > How come you are selling it so soon? (Didn't you just buy it a few > weeks ago?) I keep a FAQ of EX-500 info, so if you have any gripes > with the bike I would like to put them in my file!! Bruce, nothing is wrong with the bike, on the contrary it is great. Yes I just bought it 6 weeks ago and love it but after a trip to Nags Head, NC, (300 miles each way) it seems to me that a slightly heavier bike is what I want. Don't get me wrong the EX500 runs great city and highway. Summer is over, and riding in the Fall and winter will be limited to sunny weekends since I have to drive to work (suit and tie not very adequate for a MC), I also started my Doctorate of Science and will be busy during evenings. To make things short I probably won't do much riding in the city and a heavier bike seems to be a better choice for highways and on long rides. I love my EX and enjoyed my first long trip on it but the best time to buy a MC here in Washington is around mid-Fall, so I was told, since I can't afford two bikes I have to sell my EX and get a CBR600F2 or maybe a 750cc sportbike if I find a good deal. PS I am 5'8" and 155 lbs, a slightly bigger bike seems more appropriate for me. Then again I've only been riding for 2 months and 1400 miles so how much do I know! Internet: waele@seas.gwu.edu / welshari@cap.gwu.edu ============================================================================= From: Jason Molenda I rode 1270 miles, over 23 hours (Denver CO to Mountain View CA), on my EX-500 a week or two ago; stock seat, stock handlebar grips, no throttle lock, no aftermarket fairing, no highway pegs. I'm six foot and maybe an inch tall with a 32-34" inseam. So it is possible to do some real distance on the EX500 if you're not too bright. :-) Speaking of things you can do on your EX500, I rode up to the top of Mount Evans with Todd Blachowiak on the back. Todd is around 200 lbs and I'm more than that. Mount Evans in Colorado is billed as the highest paved road in the US, a little over 14,000 feet. The EX500 handled great, lots of low-end torque for going through the switchbacks behind slow-moving MVs. I've put about 5k miles on my EX since I bought it nearly two months ago and I think it is just great. I've ridden a whole bunch of other bikes before and there is a lot to be said for this one. Oh, I did have the stock tires and brake pads ripped off the thing the first day I got it -- I'm using EBCs and Dunlop 591Ks now. (I should note that the previous owner, from whom I bought my bike a month ago, installed an illegally bright high beam. I haven't opened it up to find out how illegal it is, but it is a really wonderful add-on.) ============================================================================= From: Eric Gunnerson One thing you might want to add that will help handling - a good fork brace. The EX's fork tubes are a little small, and the brace helps keep them stable. It's also helpful under braking because the single caliper induces some twist into the tubes. ============================================================================= >From: ****@stanford.edu >Subject: Re: ex500 A poster writes: >i would like to know more about an ex500. is it like a ex250(ninja 250)? >does it get blown around on the freeway? does the engine buzz? >i think the engine is a twin like the 250, and a twin is not as stable >as a four cylinder one. bacically i would like to know if the 500 >is any good. thanks. (This is a little long to give the newbie an idea of how to take my advice...) I have an EX500 (before that a silverwing 500, a 550/4, a couple of honda '65 C90s, a passport, a 350 twin, all hondas, I guess I like Hondas). I also currently own a couple of Honda VFRs, an '86 (nice) and an '87 (sorta nice). I'm 32, I've been riding since I was about 20. I learned how to "sport ride" on the EX500. This means that I went up into the hills between Silicon Valley and Santa Cruz (like highway 84 behind Alice's down to San Gregorio, nice ride) with people that were far better riders than I and tried to keep up. Some people took the time to show me how to pick a line and keep the bike from sliding; most people just laughed. Sigh. I've gotten to the point were I understand a little about bikes, sport bikes in particular. Suspension and tires are really important :-), they keep you from falling down. My EX has progressive springs and dunlop sport tires (sportmaxes?). I also added steel braided brake lines. I suppose I could add better pipes and a stage II jet kit to get some more power. OK, background over. I love the EX. I live in SF and do a lot of city driving - the EX is a blast for that. My VFRs heat up too fast; they don't like city driving that much. One reason I like the EX is that it "comes on" at 6500 rpm. This means that the bike does not have even power from 3000 to 11000 rpm; that is a characteristic of 4 cylinder bikes. The Ex's twin sort of surges at 7K or so - I happen to like that, it feels like a turbo kicking in. Some other people hate it, they prefer the smoothness of a 4. Whatever. I also feel like the EX has more power off the block than the 600 4 cylinders. A lot of people will argue with me but I've ridden CBR 600s and Ninja 600s and I thought they sucked. I'd take the EX any day. I like the torque. My VFR 750 has a bit more torque but my VFR 700 has less. Don't less to those guys that quote horsepower, it has a lot more to do with feel than that, IMHO. Bad stuff about the EX: you have to fix the suspension (at least progressives at about $100 installed), you have to add the steel lines, and you should add a rear shock. The bike is squirrely, it does not track very well around corners. I've often scrubbed off speed in the middle of a corner because I "felt" like the bike won't hold the road. The problem is in my head - the bike has plenty of grip on the road, it just "feels" like it is about to slide. This is both good and bad - I've never slid the EX. I'm scared shitless in tight turns at speed. Scrubbing off speed works only because the bike has more grip than I think it does. It is dramatically different than th the VFRs - they feel like they are on rails and won't ever slide. Consequently I've over driven the vfrs into corners and slid the front wheels more times than I can count (yuck) and that in just a few months of riding them. Another bummer is that I can't wheelie the EX too well. The VFR 750 pops right up (yeah!). Anyway, I'm planning on keeping my EX and selling one of the VFRs. I think it is a great bike, quite comfortable, respectable in the twisties, and peppy in the city. I'm not sure you could ask for much more. If you can find a better bike, go for it. The only thing that I've seen that might be a better deal is the Ymaha TDM 850 twin. That thing wheelies without thinking about it. ============================================================================= The Fram number PF6010A is off the top of my head. Just find a auto parts store that sells them and check the charts. Far cheaper than stock. sturges@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Richard Sturges) =============================================================================