What to do or what to do first ? AIS, flapper mod or exhaust

Hey guys/gales how's it going I'm pretty new to this site an I love it by the way. So here's my problem. I recently bought a new 2008 wr250x. Its my first road bike and I frickin love it. I'm from Windsor Ontario and its 0 to -8C and I'm still on it everyday.
So the bike is pretty much stock except for a few cosmetics(12oclocklab tail light, custom sliders, blue LED lights) also I put in a K&N air filter and removed the spark arrestor.
I want to get the most performance I can out of the bike. I've read about the AIS removal and opening the airbox flipper. But I don't know which one to do first?? The bike doesn't really back fire to much so if I remove the AIS and do the airbox mod will that still increase performance even with the stock exhaust?? Or should I do those mods after I get a new exhaust??

What do you guys think?

First, buy yourself one of the fuel injection programmers like an FMF Power Programmer.
It will give you much better throttle response and is, basically, a requirement if you expect the bike to actually run better.

What I do is:

*FMF Power Programmer.
*FMF Q4 muffler (and FMF Powerbomb head pipe if you have the money).
*Airbox flapper removal.
*AIS removal.
*Gear the bike down to something that the engine can accelerate quickly - stock gearing is too tall for performance riding.
On my WR-250R, I used 12/47 sprockets.
On the WR-250X I just bought, I'm gonna' use 13/49.

Sweet sounds good. Now does the FMF power commander come with different settings or do i have to play around with it?
Also whats the EXUP? is it the attachment that's on the middle of the stock pipe before the muffler or is that the catalytic converter? and is that part scraped when i put on the FMF Q4 and Powercore header??? Thanks!

My buddy at my work just bought a 05 DR-Z400SM and now he"s trying to chirp me and say that his Stock Suzuki is gonna kill my WR so where gonna race after winter so i need to add as many pony's as i can lol

I want to do everything to it but the 290cc big bore kit and a turbo for now!

The Power Programmer can be installed and run as delivered, or you can diddle with it if you feel a need as it has some adjustability.

The EXUP is, basically, a butterfly-type valve in the pipe just in front of the muffler.
It gets removed along with the muffler since it is welded to it.

I used to own a 2009 DR-Z400SM, too.
When stock, they're nothing to write home about. :)

So the Q4 will get welded(muffler silicone) straight to the powerbomb header and that EXUP that would be in between will just get removed is what your saying, right?

Excellent, I know its a 400 but he has these huge heavy enduro tires, stock everything and it has like 50000kms on it from the last owner. So it should be a close race. I guess 50000kms isn't that bad for a 6year old bike. I have 10000kms on mine and i bought it in August

programer first.The FMF has steavakus ,from tt, program in from Dobek ind.
Friend of mine has the suzi,its close.

Awesome cant wait

Now would a 12t front and a 44t rear keep my acceleration up and top speed up? Or is the 13 front and 42 rear the best of both worlds???

I found i hardly ever use my 6th gear. It doesn't pull enough, the power kinda drops.

Does this go away after the mods or do i have to change the gearing???

The 13/42 gearing is too tall even with the mods listed, in my opinion.
The 12/44 is a step in the right direction.

Be aware that since the speedo pickup is off the transmission and not the front wheel, you'll either have to buy a little electronic gizmo from 12o'clocklabs.com to correct the error from regearing, or just live with your speedo and odometers showing the wrong speed and milage. :)

Will I still be able to keep the stock chain if I go 12/44?
So if going a bit bigger on the rear I will increase acceleration/torque and smaller on the front will increase top speed. Your saying I shouldn't loose any torque in the 1st & 2nd gears and I should grain some torque in the 6th gear? Maybe even some top speed as well, or should I go a bit bigger on the rear?

Yes, I think you'll be able to use the stock chain with 12/44.
Buy a new front sprocket nut before you remove the front sprocket, too, because it has a locking rib built into it that's meant to be a one-shot deal.

Going bigger on the rear will gear the bike down, giving quicker acceleration.
Going smaller on the front does the same thing.
Think of this as when you rode a 10-speed bicycle, and how switching to the different size gears on the bicycle works.

With gearing, you trade something to get something.
There is no magical free lunch.
Gearing the bike down so it can accelerate and get out of it's own way means shifting gears more rapidly, but, if you want to blow your buddy away, it's a requirement.
Your top speed will still be plenty fast.
On my WR-250R that I used to own, I used 12/47, and topped-out at 84mph according to the recalibrated speedometer.
To me, it was a very good compromise in gearing, as the bike accelerated much better and 84mph was plenty fast, especially on the back roads where the bike really excells.

The way I see it, you have around 30 horsepower to use, and just how fast do you really think that will move you?
I think that with a WR-250X, it's silly to worry about what the actual top speed is because acceleration is where it's at.

In my opinion, do not gear the bike taller looking for more top speed as it already is way too tall for the engine to pull with force.

YZEtc wrote:

On my WR-250R that I used to own, I used 12/47, and topped-out at 84mph according to the recalibrated speedometer.

Hmm that's where I seem to top at too using when I was using 12/43 and also now on 14/48, recalibrated speedo with SpeedoDRD. I guess something ain't so right...

Air box is gutted, Q4, powerbomb, and FMF programmer set to: 3-5-0.5-8-4-4

I still haven't gotten around to remove the AIS (I've received the block off plate 2 days before storing the bike for the winter). The EXUP servo is also still there and plugged but it turns free without pulling any metal wires.

Will removing the AIS and EXUP servo fix that for me? I planned to do that during the winter anyhow... I also didn't mess with the "pilot screw" setting we are supposed to have on the console.

I was thinking of going on 13/49 but giving my 84ish mph top speed atm I didn't want to gear more down. :(

Maybe I should get a K&N filter?

What is it you're looking to fix?
You want a higher top speed?
If that's it, you'll probably have to experiment with different gearing to find the sweet spot you're looking for.

My own view on WR-250R or X top speed (and acceleration) is that, compared to any other 250cc dual-purpose bike I've owned, the WR-250R/X already has a pretty good advantage, and I'm satisfied with what it tops-out at.

I don't remember the removal of my EXUP motor or AIS parts making the bike any more powerful, but it's a good thing to get that stuff off the bike, anyway.

I've read, from a guy who is an acknowledged motorcycle guru on the Thumpertalk forums, that in order for a K&N air filter to flow any better than the stock oiled foam air filter, you have to cut back on the K&N oil to the point that the K&N filter will be doing a lousy job of actually filtering.
Myself, I don't use them and stick with oiled foam filters, using a real, petrolium foam filter oil.

YZEtc wrote:

What is it you're looking to fix?
You want a higher top speed?

I was comparing your top speed to mine. It looks like we have both the same despite me having a taller gearing. (14/48) I'm wondering if it's because my setup isnt tuned right or if its because my gearing is still too tall (despite being less tall than stock) for the power my bike makes.