I recently purchased a honda VLX 600. Budget was tight. Test drove the bike on the flats seemed to have a enough power to hall my large body around. I found that it lacks power when climbing up grades. Wide Open to stay up to speed. The parts guy at the dealership said pipes and jet kit would resolve the problem. The question I have is most of the guys are looking for noise. I am not afraid of noise. But I dont want to harm fuel mileage by using the wrong pipes. What we be the advantages ofer a slash pipe or drag pipes or other styles of Pipes? Or would just a jet kit help?

Forgive me if you've already tried this, but when you're climbing a grade and you need full throttle to maintain speed, that's when you downshift. It'll make more noise, but you should be able to accelerate.

If that's not enough, your bike might be running a bit rich. I fly into Seeley Lake in the summer and if I recall correctly, you're at about 4,500 ft. If the bike is jetted for flatland elevations, then you'll be running too rich, particularly in the summer when the warmer air is even less dense. A common fix for high altitude bikes is to rejet for a leaner mixture. This is actually the opposite of what the jet kit that comes with the aftermarket pipe does.

If you're on a tight budget, an aftermarket pipe and jet kit will not give you that much bang for your buck on that engine. You get a lot more noise, but only a few more horses near the top of the power band.

That 600, when properly jetted, should make enough horsepower to get you over the hills. I'd check with a local mechanic (who should be familiar with the altitude problem) and see about swapping out the stock jets for some leaner ones.

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Bikin' John
'93 Honda CB750 Nighthawk

Thanks John. I will give that a shot. But being familiar with the area loud pipes are not a bad idea. If you wish send me a pm when you come to town.