300/440/550 New member help/Advice?

[86vintage]

Hi there all,
This appears to be a wonderful platform for questions about stand ups. You guys have something great here!
Im a new owner of an 86' js55o. I weigh 225lbs and 6'2". My buddy told me I was to big for it, but could pass up the deal.

It is completely stock. SO, I ordered straight bars, new face plate safety lanyard, and a primer for fuel to take replace the choke ( it seemed to be real hard to cold start. )
Once started it ran well. I it bogs a bit but I don't know if its my size or something else. And it porpoises pretty good. I know my riding technique will need improving.
Removing the old bars have been a complete nghtmare. All the screw on the start/stop switch are almost marred off. Probably going to have to drill and tap them out. MAY have to put a lil heat to em.

So here is where I need help.....is this ski to small for me? If not what can I do (cost efficiently) to improve performance? Or at the end of the day is it still a 550?

I read about lots of simple mods like air filter, water by pass, ride plate , quick steer plate, exhaust and so on.

But I haven't found any how-tos on these mods.

What do you guys recommend?

Thanks in advance and looking forward to alot of practice and playing with this new toy.:bananajump:

 

[naticen]

The water by pass is for the stock pipe, but for your size, I would recommend a different exhaust. An air filter is called a flame arrestor, and they are cheap, but don't really wake the ski up like an exhaust will. A ride plate, bars, and experience are probably the biggest helps in the handling department. That stock thumb throttle always killed me too.

I'd recommend learning to ride it and then if you like it, buy another 550 with some of those parts already on it. It'll save you a lot of money and you'll be a better rider for it when you master a stock 550.

 

[86vintage]

Thank you for the wisdom! I believe your right. I want to learn how to ride before dumping a bunch of money in this. Are any parts made still for this machine? What type of exhaust would you recommend? Where would I find it used? eBay or Craigslist?
How much do you think I'd be? With exhaust also come intake as well correct? Then carb work???

Where would be the best tutorial type stuff on these things?
Again thanks a million.

 

[naticen]

550's have a huge price range. On ebay you can find a few new parts that are reproductions with original molds or NOS(new old stock). On craigslist, you can get an entire 550 with a pipe for $100 or you can pay $200 for just a pipe or anywhere in between. pwctoday.com has a bigger 550 crowd and therefore more parts for sale and either of these forums will have more consistent prices.

There's a lot of different style pipes for top end and bottom end and rebrands of the same pipe by multiple companies. I find the best way to gain info is from using google and I don't mean that rude like most people. Both forums searches are annoying so type what you want in google followed by "site:x-h2o.com" with no quotes. It'll give you good results.

Try looking for factory, pjs, and westcoast for pipes and you will come across more as well. The intake for 550's is tougher. I've run the stock BN44 with good results, but an SBN44 is the better carb for many reasons, flows better, replaceable jets, easier to tune... An SBN won't fit up against the motor with a stock intake though. You will need either a spacer to get it further out or a different intake.