When I got my bike it was so detuned that it looked like a grounded acrobat with smoke everywhere. This is what I have done to my bike and my cousin who is leary of the kx500 said it was one of the smoothest dirtbikes he had road. I have a gnarly pipe on it, KIPS valve adjusted, carb tuned, good heat range sparkplug, good air filter, using 50:1 fuel ratio, and flywheel weight. This dirt bike is the best one I have ever owned and is one of the best trail bikes I could think of.