Tick, WD-40 is good but a LARGE hammer is better. Mine was so far gone when I bought it, that the rear-end wouldn't compress when you sat on it. The bolt was friction-welded with a little rust to boot. I soaked it and wailed away for a couple of days before it "fell" out. Champagne is good though.

p.s. watch your fingers

 

Hmmmm.... If it was just the motor and pipe I'd probably be very interested.... I'm building a hybrid that I need another 500 motor for... but don't want the chassis (Way too heavy to be a fast drag bike).. I'll find a deal on one someday.
You shouldn't have any trouble moving the TICK... pretty clean/nice looking machine!

Regards,

 

"Dirt Rider" (an offroad bike mag) recommends "Permatex 598 Ultra Black High Temp Silicone Sealer" at all exhaust joints. A higher quality pipe spring should go a long ways towards stopping leaks at the exhaust flange. Use the very heavy exhaust springs often found on stock snowmobile exhausts (the aftermarket ones are often weak junk). If the spring doesn't go on and come off very hard it is not the right one.

"Duncan Racing" appears to have one of the best exhaust clamps but, after you factor in shipping, it's going to cost around $50. TM designs makes billet exhaust seals that are custom made for each type of exhaust (since different brand exhausts have different OD's). I used a TM clamp for my last pipe/silencer and it worked well. I believe it cost between $25 and $35.

The PSI pipe for an LT500R is a POS! I had one before moving up to a Paul Turner pipe. Getting rid of that PSI provided me with the most noticeable gain in power to date! Even the porting, Powerjet, and VForce II reeds didn't seem to make as big of a difference! The only other mod that came close to improving performance as much as the PT pipe was a switch from the stock Mikuni carb to a Keihin 39mm PWK.