Have you purchased a factory manual for your bike yet? The CD is avail. online, or go old school and have a print copy, my preference. Read about your systems, familiarize yourself w/names of parts, and begin your VMax education. You will be able to understand better what others here & elsewhere write. Do you mean the air intake system? I think that's what you are referring to instead of the exhaust headers. They have some velocity stacks displayed on the site, good for strip HP but really-bad for engine longevity, feeding dirt to your carbs or the fuel injection/air intake system is never a good idea! Yes, they look cool, but proper air filtration is what you want. Get a K & N drop-in at first, and if you want to get more power later, it's the stage 7 individual air pods in-place of the drop-in filter, along w/mods to the diaphragm springs in the carbs, jetting (what size holes in the carbs allow gas into the engine) & carb slide mods...but be aware you need to get an expensive exhaust to make all this work well together. And if it's not tuned correctly, you will be very unhappy compared to your nicely-carbruerated ride before all that $$!
Since you are using probably 1/3 of your top HP at this point, learn how to recognize the parts of your bike, what they do, and proper maintenance, and get at least a season of riding under your belt before you go modding things. I recommend the Motorcycle Safety Foundation Experienced Rider Course to learn inexpensively about riding dynamics beyond your licensing exam course. Your local community college probably has a motorcycle owner's course where you can learn about basics of maintenance, from oil changes, to tires, brakes, adjustments to clutch, brakes, the throttle, bulb changes, and basic electrical and mechanical theory. There is great satisfaction in maintaining you ride yourself. You also get to check it out for leaks, worn parts, and wear. Things do wear out. Checking your bike periodically means a safer ride for you and will help your bike last longer because you catch developing problems early.
One final bit of advice, beginning riders should not carry passengers. You have enough to keep busy with getting down the road yourself without having to deal with the handling changes which arise from a passenger. They are considerable. And if anyone tells you that because your state doesn't require helmets, "c'mon, let the breeze through your hair," "those things limit your vision," " you can't hear anything with that on," or the popular (in some circles) "that thing will cause injuries!," remember you need protection from everyone else on the road, including wildlife choosing the wrong time to share the road with you, to derelict, leaking cars and trucks leaving puddles of fluid, coolant, oil, grease, fuel, and even tar (ever been behind a tar kettle and watched the molten tar drip-off the spigot onto the pavement?), to say nothing of "Big Nassau Daddy's" septic cleaning rig leaving a brown stain for you to follow down the road. You can be the most-cautious rider, but you can't have a 'do-over' to stop and put your helmet on before you impact that nitwit eating Mcdonald's, smoking a cigarette, talking on the cellphone, and adjusting her makeup in the rear-view mirror who turns left in-front of you. I have seen and treated people from these and more incidents than I care to recall.
There are people here who will disagree with me, they can, should, and will do as they wish. Think of your family. Would you rather replace some clothing containing torn-up body armor, a helmet, gloves, and footwear, or have your survivors wonder about how-to replace the primary wage-earner? That stuff might not save you from certain death given the right tragic circumstances, but it's much cheaper and less-painful than orthopedic surgical implants, reconstructive surgery, and skin grafts. I take students weekly into the E.R. of two different Level 1 trauma centers, and inevitably encounter someone who is a victim of others' behavior, and that person is there because he or she is a motorcyclist. Give yourself the best possible outcome potential, dress the part so when you "hit the road," you have a sequential chance of survival far-greater than the free-spirit who likes to ride 'in-the-wind" unprotected. Chain wallets don't do the trick, when you need protection, turn to prophylactics or the proper motorcycling gear.
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