Nelson and back on Boulevard

[Jerry74]

Verdict on Boulevard M50 ... very bloody good.

Excellent fuel economy 285 km on a 15 litre tank.

Bike did not miss a beat.

Now to start customising it... ideas anyone??

[outlawtorn]

hmmm, your mileage should get better, I get roughly 320 on a full tank, I have gone 335 but the bike did cut out as soon as I got into the petrol station, might have been a good thing

Look at getting some risers I reckon there is a guy in the US who custom makes them for the M50, buggered if I can remember how to find him though, but search some of the US forums, you'll soon find him. Everyone who has installed them reckons it has an amazing effect on their posture, once I get into some green I'll be doing the same.

You can do the usual mods, pipes, luggage rack, sissy bar, saddlesbags, mirrors, grips, pegs etc. The first I did to mine was remove the lovely stickers and boulevard emblem as they cover up the paintwork and then added my Stebel horn (139 decibels baby yeah! ) and some heated grips for the shitty winters over here.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do next!!

[Rockbuddy]

Verdict on Boulevard M50 ... very bloody good.

Excellent fuel economy 285 km on a 15 litre tank.

Bike did not miss a beat.

Now to start customising it... ideas anyone??

Ideas?? Yep trade it up for a vulcan

[Jerry74]

Ideas?? Yep trade it up for a vulcan

hahahaha thats true... will get a hog instead once the kids have left home.

Tried running on 91 octane and will see if it makes any change compared to 95 octane regarding mileage.

[Gizzit]

hahahaha thats true... will get a hog instead once the kids have left home.

Tried running on 91 octane and will see if it makes any change compared to 95 octane regarding mileage.

That will be interesting to see. I got told by my bike dealer to make sure I used the higher octane, and even suggested that it was good to use the 98 that some ? BP stations have .... ?
I haven't got a BP station handy that I use, so am not sure if all BP stations have the 98 octane stuff. However, he recommended I definitely use high octane for performance and economy.

Maybe after you have done more K's, the economy will improve .... ??

[Jerry74]

Hope the economy will get better as the bike has only just ticked up 5300 km

[Gizzit]

Hope the economy will get better as the bike has only just ticked up 5300 km

That is likely to be as good as it gets then, with that many K's ... wouldn't you think ? It should have loosened up by now I would have thought .... ??

I can't tell you what mileage I get .... as I have only gone around the block ... so to speak ... as the Dr says I'm not meant to be back riding yet ! lol

They are the same motors though ... so it will be interesting to see what I get.
I'll let you know .... but it will be a while .... (honest Dr !!!)

[Jerry74]

Seems to go a wee bit better on 91... could be the fact I have drilled my baffle end plate too using more gas

[Gizzit]

Seems to go a wee bit better on 91... could be the fact I have drilled my baffle end plate too using more gas

Yes that may account for using a bit more fuel ....... (but I'm not really up on the technicalities of that modification on fuel use). Interesting about the 91.

How much louder is it with the end plate drilled ? What size holes, and how many ? Have you noticed much more noise ? These bikes are pretty quiet as standard. They could do with a bit more noise. I doubt cars would hear us at all with the standard pipes ....

[Jerry74]

Drilled 8 x 10 mm holes around the baffle plate in each pipe, makes a bit more sound and lets the pipes breathe a wee bit better.

Plus side the baffles are still in so that I can still get a wof...

If you want to go the whole way then check out www.youtube.com and search debaffle exhaust.

Eventually would like to get a Vance and Hines or Cobra system.

[Angusdog]

You'll be wanting the M50 Secret Hideaway. The popular mods are:

1. Drilling out the silencers. Mine came from the original owner like that but I put V&H Cruzers on which were way too loud to be a good citizen. Wgtn MCs modded them and now they're perfect.

2. DePAIR, i.e. remove the PAIR valve from the LHS of the engine. Does nothing and looks like a hernia. The kit is about $50 from the US (PM for details or google it) and cleans up the bike a treat.

3. Lower it. 2", 2 1/2" and 3" drop dogbones are available (google or PM for details). I did 2 1/2" and it's fab. Doesn't scrape much more than standard but looks a little fatter & meaner.

4. Flat drag bars but you'll need risers otherwise the throttle cables hit the tank. I got some risers from the M50 forum above, but he only does them in batches so there might be a wait.

5. Drill out the bottom of the aircleaner cover. The intake hole as standard is about the size of a 50 cent piece, so can't hurt.

6. Pipes. You'll probably need a Power Commander or Cobra fuel injection manager. The PC III is apparently better as you can download new FI maps to suit your mods, but the Cobra is cheaper.

7. You can remove the fake swing arm tubes from the LHS of the swing arm. Does nothing.

I did all the above and stored the spare parts just in case.

Please don't debaffle the pipes - the stockers are too big anyway, and the sound is just loud, not nice. Plus it's a bit hillbilly, hammering tubes up the exhaust to knock out the baffle plates. You'd probably want to keep the stockers for WoFs.

[Jerry74]

Cheers Angus... lots of good thoughts for the future.