A new one was meant to make 46hp, so forget tuning it what you need to do is repair it first. Check the compression, the condition of the exhaust (collapsed baffle?) the fuelling, etc. etc. If it has already been on a dyno, then you should have a graph of the fuelling which will help you.

30hp sounds suspiciously like it may have been restricted for the learner market. Take off the carbs and look for some dodgy washers between the carbs and the head.

In the end it's a low tune air cooled motor. If you try and get too much out of it without at least fitting an oil cooler somehow, she's gonna blow!

 

Jet and a decent exhaust with a quality air filter is really about it. I had a gs500 and had fun on it. other than what Ive listed, I never got around to it, but have always thought a decent suspension setup and better braking would have really set the bike up for very fun times on a tight road. I really wouldnt mind having another one just to build and ride again. I wasnt tinkering with them back then as I am now. I bought it as a second for my wife to putt around on.

ahh the memories

 

If it's mechanically sound I would just ride it until your ready for something bigger. This is a good bike to get your feet wet on, but most likely it wont be your last one ever. I thought my SV650 would be all the bike I ever wanted so I put a good chunk of money into it. Now I ride a modified Z1000 and am much happier with the extra power.

 

cheers guys ill get onto the engine! i'm riding a zx6r at the minute and honestly im not having anywhere near as much fun as i had on my old gs. plus everyone and their mum has a speed gun up here haha. apparently the best air filters you can buy are the K&N lunchbox ones but i dunno lol :S

 

Sometimes it just comes down to the fun factor and not the HP. Ive seen a lot of poeple leave big sportbikes and go to DRZ and KLR and have a blast. All the top end is gone. But seriosuly who needs it other than to just get in trouble.

Now I understand the pull for HP and speed, been there done that. Ive been as fast as I ever need to be. Ive also had just as much fun riding smooth on an older bike, and not feel like im about to run off the edge.

 

If you want a performance gain, chuck a small shot of nitrous on it, a 50bhp shot will give you a good kick in the arse. If you want a bit more or get fed up of bottles running out at inconvinient times, then look at fitting a small turbocharger on it. Failing that look into a big bore on the motor. I would have thought that pistons from another model should be able to be grafted in. I've built several "one off" hybrid motors and with some careful scouring of the parts fiches and some lateral thinking, there's lots of options. I've another one of my motor builds in the new issue of Streetfighters mag out in a few days, I had another in there in the Feb issue which was a complete "one off motor build"
Have a look at DR350 pistons you may be able to slot a pair of those in there and liven things up a bit. GSXR oilcooled camshafts are another thought, you may be able to chop cylinders 1 and 4 off them, and fit them into your motor. Think outside the box when it comes to tuning, you may well turn up a nice little motor package that has quite a punch.

 

I didnt think about pistons. I seem to remember reading something about that when I was looking into jetting my gs. ........gstwin.com . org or something. I dont even know if it is still running.

 

http://gstwin.com/racers_corner.htm

 

Anyone mentioned different sprockets? If you don't do a lot of highway riding they're a reliable way to get some speed out of a slower bike.

 

yeah i put a 15 tooth front sprocket on it a while back ( stock is 16) and noticed a bit of difference but my top end if suffering for it, ive heard alot about advanced ignition timing and improving the induction making a lot of difference, just wondered if there was any more ways of doing it

 

Yes GSTwins has a writeup on the timing advancxe mod.

 

Straight pipe, pods, bigger jets, wrapped pipe, advanced timing, lightweight any of the drive components that you can-aluminum sprockets, lighter rotors.