I have a new to me '00. I love it but it needs some carb attention. I have a Remus exhaust on the way. I want to improve the bike but not kill the mileage. Does installing a jet-kit hurt mpg? Would I be better off shimming the needles and calling it quits? BTW, what size are the washers that are used for this procedure?

 

Since you don't even need to pull the carbs to shim the needles, you might try that first to see if it's enough. The washers used to shim the needles are roughly .020" thick. Guys have used .040" to .060" shimming the needles. I seem to recall washers being available at Radio Shack.
My needles are shimmed appox .045"/.050" for a K&N filter with stock exhaust.
I recently installed a Fram Air filter conversion.
(seen in tech section of this forum) and the same jetting works well for that as well.
Both filters flow more air than the stock filter and need the needles shimmed.

~Jeffers

 

Yup, this is a no brainer. Try the shims first ($1.98 or so for a large package at radio shack) and if they aren't satisfactory then buy a jet kit. Do a web search for the RS part number and a "how to" on the proceedure if you are unfamiliar with it. It's easy, cheeeeeep, and it works; my kind of mod!