Hello, I just bought my first zilla! got a great deal on her, traded for my stock banshee. I am having a couple issues with her first trip out, and looking for a bit of advice. I have a 39pwk keihin carb on it with k&n filter directly on the back of the carb. It is running super rich, and will not rev out past half throttle. going to get a couple leaner jets, and see what that does, but speaking with jerry hall, he said I need to get the original intake tube for the bike in order to be able to jet it properly. does anyone have one available or know where I can get one even if it is some aftermarket solution? it currently has a 185 main in it, It has fmf pipe and a fresh trinity stage 3 motor. riding at 2000ft elevation. any idea what jet may work well with this set up? could timing also play a role in this problem? thank you in advance for any help. cant wait to feel the full potential of her POWER!!!

thank you, will check with suzuki on the intake tube. any idea why so many people diss the fmf pipe setup on the zillas? It seems alot of people do not recommend them. what pipe is best on a tight budget?

FMF's have decent power down low but completely fall on their faces on the top end.  Seems like i remember them coming off the pipe about 5500 RPM.

Typically, the "Big Boy" pipes will come on the pipe about 4000-5000 RPM and not fall off until about 7500-8k.

They will cost you a good bit though but they're well worth the money with the HP and RPM gains.

A great budget pipe is the AAEN and it performs similar to the Hall and Q pipe.  Last i heard they were about $380 raw.  Be sure to ask for the new design.  If you go with a Hall or Q pipe you're gonna spend about $1000.

As far the carb goes, i prefer the bored 88'+ stock zilla carb over a keihin carb.  They are just hard to fine tune compared to the mikuni.

a 185 does sound pretty rich for an FMF at 2000ft.  I wouldnt imagine the FMF pipe would require much of a main jet change over the stock pipe and I dont really know what the stages mean in terms of porting from Trinity.  I had a Trinity motor about 12 years ago and hated it.

Mr. Hall is absolutely right about the intake tube.  Don't run the filter clamped on the carb, they are just hard to tune.  You need at least a 3" tube coming off the carb.

My advice, since you just got the bike, is to have the head sent off to get reshaped and to set your squish clearance correctly.  Need to eliminate the detonation issues first.

 The joys of owning a zilla!   

Also, welcome to the forums!

thank you again everyone for all the good info. sooo.. if I change out the fmf for a pipe that is a better top end pipe, would I lose the bottom end umph that she has now? I do all trail riding in the desert, and mountainous trails and hillclimbs. that is why I got rid of the banshee, it just didn't have the bottom end pull that I needed to be able to slow her down a bit when climbing nasty rutted out hills. I do not want all of my power band to hit up top so that I have to scream up a hill. as fun as it can be, I do not have a death wish LOL.

Honestly, the 500 has so much low end torque there really isnt much of a difference to be felt down low unless your luggin' down the trail at 1500rpm and get on it.

just a thought, I talked to the previous owner, and he seems to think that timing could be off as well? could timing play a role in not reving out properly? if so, how do I check it, and where should it be set at? I forgot to mention, I am running Sunoco 110 fuel, and klotz oil @ 32/1. Thanks again, I love this site!

Posted some time ago, I have had the same issue with a 86 lt 250r not wanting to rev out, but it is much worse. maybe if you all help me to figure out the zilla, it will help me figure out the 250!

Welcome to the forum.

Also, you want to make sure and run an OEM stator.  The aftermarket ones for the 500 are nothing but problems.  I would second the recommendation for the PT pipe.  That pipe came with my Zilla when I bought it back in 2010.  It is a great low-mid pipe and has an OK top end.... perfect for trail riding IMO.

My Zilla is only for the dunes, so I went with a Q v1 pipe next and the bike really woke up and had tremendous overrev (probably near 9k RPMs).  I went with the no bling look, so that pipe was too shiny with the Nickle plating.

Current setup is a built motor with a stock TM38 taper bored by Jerry Hall and Halls HPR#19 pipe.  Good power in low RPM and great power mid-high RPM.

If your trails are wide enough for the Quadzilla, then it should be a good trail bike with the right pipe, once you iron out the kinks.  Make sure to read up on the engine standard reliability modifications.  Doing those will yield a dependable Zilla, unless you start going big power and you will find the next weakest link in the engine... been there and I'm fixing my engine now.

Again, welcome to the forum and there is a lot of information if you search around.

Good luck,
Larry

The Qv1 Pipe was an over rev beast.

Just took awhile to get on the pipe.

I run a modified version of it so that it gets on the pipe sooner.

Open a Photobucket account. upload to your account. Post direct link right in your post. It saves memory on our site here..

I'm like Rogue in that I also have an HPR #19 pipe. I ride the bike in the dunes as well and unless I'm riding with guys like Bfuss or Glamisrider, I usually keep the bike in 3rd gear as it has almost diesel like torque to practically idle up a lot of the hills out here. Then I can roll on the throttle and be gone. As Q2W said, the big boy pipes are worth every penny. 

I had a PT pipe on my 500 and was hesitant to put out the $$$ for one of the big pipes.Got a good deal on a Q pipe V1 and was very happy when I made the switch.For me the 500 had plenty of tourque on the bottom anyway so its was a great switch for my riding.