Rider Upgrade:
Learn to do more with what you have. Sport Riding Techniques covers all the basics.
Bleed the brakes:
Bleed them just a little. Put a tube on the bleeders, don't pump the brakes or anything. Just let gravity push a little fluid and any air out. You don't even need to touch the master cylinder reservoir unless they are already low.
6mm shim:
2nd best mod for no money is to put 6mm worth of washers on top of the shock to raise the rear some. Makes the bike turn in much better. Cut a notch in the washers and you can just loosen the top bolt on the shock and slip the washers in. Bike already too high? Lower the front 1/2 inch instead (see next item.)
Lower front and/or rear:
If you feel more secure with 2 feet on the ground, you can lower the bike 1.775 inches by rotating the triangles that hold the rear shock. Put the bike on the center stand and have some wood handy to prop up the rear tire. First just put enough to support the tire where it is. Remove the triangles and rotate so the marker arrow points up (was forward). You will have to add some wood to get the shock to align with the hole. Bolt up the rear and very carefully loosen the 4 allen bolts that hold the forks. Keep the bolts seated so as you wiggle the forks slide up an inch. Add a 1/2 inch to get a little better turn in like the shim does above.
Tire pressure:
3rd freebie is to run 36 front psi and 38 psi rear. Seems to make up for some of the short comings of the suspension. Do this with cold tires of course. Then go out and heat them up.
Reduce off throttle jerk:
Adjust the throttle cables so there is no slack and then go back just a hair. This makes going from off throttle much easier to be smooth. Keep chain slack on the bottom end of recommended. Oh, and practice a little maintenance throttle around the turn. Adding a few RPM on the idle is cheating - technically.
Drill stock cans:
People do complain about this mod but if you cannot afford a full system just drill the decorative holes at the end of the cans to make them functional and reduce the back pressure. To me this is all a slip-on does but that is just me. You can also run a hole saw up the large opening. If you take the can off first and point the drill up the hole will stay on the saw. I lost one and it never hurt anything. Even further up is a mesh baffle.
Clean your air filter:
Even if you do not have a K&N filter but especially if you do clean the filter every 5000 miles. For a paper element I use my shop vac. First vacuum the dirt side then tap the filter some to dislodge more dirt. Finally I put a hose to blow from the clean side while I vacuum the dirty side. I gentle blast of compressed air does the final trick. I do the same routine with cars, mowers, tractors, and even air conditioning filters. With the money you save you can do some cheap mods.
Add 1/2 bottle of Redline Water Wetter:
This is cheap and helps a lot. One $10 bottle does 2 bikes so it's $5. You can either open the radiator cap, remove some coolant and add the Water Wetter or just add it to the reservoir if you have the room. Your temp will drop 10F and unless you are stopped for a while your fan will almost never come on. That may help save your rectifier too.
You can just run Water Wetter and water in the summer or if you live where freezing is not an issue. Use a full bottle. Engine Ice works well too but costs a bit more.
Injector or fuel system cleaner:
Add half a bottle ($10/2 = $5) and fill up the gas. Especially if you do not use premium fuel which contains more detergent it is important to clean out your fuel system. The fun part is doing some full throttle runs to get that cleaner flowing. Carbs need it too.
Soft Grips:
Grips that absorb vibration are a nice comfort mod and do not cost very much. I think I paid under $20 for some Gel ProGrips. I just carefully cut the old ones off and used some of the wife’s cheap hair spray to make the new ones stick.
Throttle Rocker/ThrottleMeister:
Much cheaper then locks or ThrottleMeister This is a nice item for trips for about $20. Some guy said he just used a big rubber band which is free but I never tried it. I used a Velcro on rocker and it helped till I broke it. I use the ThrottleMeister bar ends but they are a bit pricey at $125.
16 Tooth Front Sprocket:
Easy way to make a bird faster (but you loose a few mph on the top end) is to go with a VFR 16 tooth sprocket 23801-MCW-D00. IMO the XX is geared way too high for sport riding. Unless you can cruise at 140mph it is geared high for highway riding too. The speedo will be 13.3% off if you get a Speedo Healer or you can just use a GPS. Some actually go up a tooth which corrects the speedo. I guess you can ride around in a lower gear.
Peg Lowering Blocks:
This is the best $50 I ever spent. The fatigue factor goes way down.
EBC HH Brake Pads:
These are in the $50 range. No need to do the rears. That way you can still use your old front pads in the back. The initial bite is better even though the stock ones are not bad. These plus bleeding the lines (a good time to change the fluid too) and you can save $350 plus on SS lines not to mention perhaps save your ass.
HIDs:
The price of HIDs has come way down to $50. They work great on a XX. Cars pull over to let you by in the daytime so you know visibility is way up for safety. You could just do the low or just the high beam so the cost could be split with a buddy. Install is easy.
Fuel Pressure Regulator:
Getting a higher pressure FPR seems to be an all around improvement. The bike runs smoother and seems to have more power. If you have an 99-00 model I understand you can just get a $50 stock FPR from the 01-03 years. Someone did a write up.
I have an 03 so I went and got a $130 one which I understand is a modified stock unit. Turbo City will “tune” one if you have a full system. The money was well spent is way less than a PCIII. Unfortunately, Turbo City has closed.
VFR Bars/Heli Bars:
Price depends but you can use clip-ons from a VFR 800 or get Heli Bars to raise the bars up and back for comfort. Get lucky and you can find a used set for $100. They helped me a lot with neck and wrist pain.
Corbin Seat:
Finally for comfort I like a Corbin seat. Now you may not think they are cheap at $300 used or $375 or so new BUT you can always turn around and sell the thing so you basically only pay a rental fee or a deposit. Used ones go fast so watch the boards or bid on eBay. You do lose the shipping and they are kind of heavy but your butt will thank you.
Learn to do more with what you have. Sport Riding Techniques covers all the basics.
Bleed the brakes:
Bleed them just a little. Put a tube on the bleeders, don't pump the brakes or anything. Just let gravity push a little fluid and any air out. You don't even need to touch the master cylinder reservoir unless they are already low.
6mm shim:
2nd best mod for no money is to put 6mm worth of washers on top of the shock to raise the rear some. Makes the bike turn in much better. Cut a notch in the washers and you can just loosen the top bolt on the shock and slip the washers in. Bike already too high? Lower the front 1/2 inch instead (see next item.)
Lower front and/or rear:
If you feel more secure with 2 feet on the ground, you can lower the bike 1.775 inches by rotating the triangles that hold the rear shock. Put the bike on the center stand and have some wood handy to prop up the rear tire. First just put enough to support the tire where it is. Remove the triangles and rotate so the marker arrow points up (was forward). You will have to add some wood to get the shock to align with the hole. Bolt up the rear and very carefully loosen the 4 allen bolts that hold the forks. Keep the bolts seated so as you wiggle the forks slide up an inch. Add a 1/2 inch to get a little better turn in like the shim does above.
Tire pressure:
3rd freebie is to run 36 front psi and 38 psi rear. Seems to make up for some of the short comings of the suspension. Do this with cold tires of course. Then go out and heat them up.
Reduce off throttle jerk:
Adjust the throttle cables so there is no slack and then go back just a hair. This makes going from off throttle much easier to be smooth. Keep chain slack on the bottom end of recommended. Oh, and practice a little maintenance throttle around the turn. Adding a few RPM on the idle is cheating - technically.
Drill stock cans:
People do complain about this mod but if you cannot afford a full system just drill the decorative holes at the end of the cans to make them functional and reduce the back pressure. To me this is all a slip-on does but that is just me. You can also run a hole saw up the large opening. If you take the can off first and point the drill up the hole will stay on the saw. I lost one and it never hurt anything. Even further up is a mesh baffle.
Clean your air filter:
Even if you do not have a K&N filter but especially if you do clean the filter every 5000 miles. For a paper element I use my shop vac. First vacuum the dirt side then tap the filter some to dislodge more dirt. Finally I put a hose to blow from the clean side while I vacuum the dirty side. I gentle blast of compressed air does the final trick. I do the same routine with cars, mowers, tractors, and even air conditioning filters. With the money you save you can do some cheap mods.
Add 1/2 bottle of Redline Water Wetter:
This is cheap and helps a lot. One $10 bottle does 2 bikes so it's $5. You can either open the radiator cap, remove some coolant and add the Water Wetter or just add it to the reservoir if you have the room. Your temp will drop 10F and unless you are stopped for a while your fan will almost never come on. That may help save your rectifier too.
You can just run Water Wetter and water in the summer or if you live where freezing is not an issue. Use a full bottle. Engine Ice works well too but costs a bit more.
Injector or fuel system cleaner:
Add half a bottle ($10/2 = $5) and fill up the gas. Especially if you do not use premium fuel which contains more detergent it is important to clean out your fuel system. The fun part is doing some full throttle runs to get that cleaner flowing. Carbs need it too.
Soft Grips:
Grips that absorb vibration are a nice comfort mod and do not cost very much. I think I paid under $20 for some Gel ProGrips. I just carefully cut the old ones off and used some of the wife’s cheap hair spray to make the new ones stick.
Throttle Rocker/ThrottleMeister:
Much cheaper then locks or ThrottleMeister This is a nice item for trips for about $20. Some guy said he just used a big rubber band which is free but I never tried it. I used a Velcro on rocker and it helped till I broke it. I use the ThrottleMeister bar ends but they are a bit pricey at $125.
16 Tooth Front Sprocket:
Easy way to make a bird faster (but you loose a few mph on the top end) is to go with a VFR 16 tooth sprocket 23801-MCW-D00. IMO the XX is geared way too high for sport riding. Unless you can cruise at 140mph it is geared high for highway riding too. The speedo will be 13.3% off if you get a Speedo Healer or you can just use a GPS. Some actually go up a tooth which corrects the speedo. I guess you can ride around in a lower gear.
Peg Lowering Blocks:
This is the best $50 I ever spent. The fatigue factor goes way down.
EBC HH Brake Pads:
These are in the $50 range. No need to do the rears. That way you can still use your old front pads in the back. The initial bite is better even though the stock ones are not bad. These plus bleeding the lines (a good time to change the fluid too) and you can save $350 plus on SS lines not to mention perhaps save your ass.
HIDs:
The price of HIDs has come way down to $50. They work great on a XX. Cars pull over to let you by in the daytime so you know visibility is way up for safety. You could just do the low or just the high beam so the cost could be split with a buddy. Install is easy.
Fuel Pressure Regulator:
Getting a higher pressure FPR seems to be an all around improvement. The bike runs smoother and seems to have more power. If you have an 99-00 model I understand you can just get a $50 stock FPR from the 01-03 years. Someone did a write up.
I have an 03 so I went and got a $130 one which I understand is a modified stock unit. Turbo City will “tune” one if you have a full system. The money was well spent is way less than a PCIII. Unfortunately, Turbo City has closed.
VFR Bars/Heli Bars:
Price depends but you can use clip-ons from a VFR 800 or get Heli Bars to raise the bars up and back for comfort. Get lucky and you can find a used set for $100. They helped me a lot with neck and wrist pain.
Corbin Seat:
Finally for comfort I like a Corbin seat. Now you may not think they are cheap at $300 used or $375 or so new BUT you can always turn around and sell the thing so you basically only pay a rental fee or a deposit. Used ones go fast so watch the boards or bid on eBay. You do lose the shipping and they are kind of heavy but your butt will thank you.