So I was talking to this young lady last night and then she smiled

Just kidding, I was too busy getting my bike prepped for the rally to go anywhere. Nothing like waiting until the last minute... I swapped out my 16T sprocket for the 18T and I like it a lot! What a different ride. It was much smoother for me (it's probably the way I ride) and felt much more comfortable than the 16T. I have to keep reminding myself which gear I'm in but I would do it again in a heartbeat. I put a quick 25 miles on it and mixed up the terrain a bit (highway, neighborhoods, in-town traffic) and was very happy with the feel.
I also put new spark plugs in, changed to braided throttle and clutch cables, and did an oil change. Turns out my back brakes were fine so I left them on, still around 3.5 mm. I checked the old plugs (stock) and I can't believe I never checked the gap before. One was close to what it should have been (.8-.9 mm) but the other one was at .5 mm. I also ripped an intake manifold hose clamp while removing it to take off the carbs and picked up a replacement at Lowe's but it's too wide so I'll find something thinner later. It works for now but it'll get replaced soon.
For anyone that has bought the braided throtte cables from Bellacorse, what did you do to tighten up the ends in the right hand control housing? The cables are fine but the ends of the cable (the L shaped tubes on the end that go into the control housing are a little loose. Have you tightened them up and if so, what did you use? I was thinking of trying to find a rubber O-ring or washer that I could pop over the end of the cable that would be small enough to fill the holes and keep the water out while making a snug fit in the housing. They don't fit snug because the end is a little different than the stock cable.