Gear Ratios

[Demansia]

I know this has been covered in the past, but we have had a few leave & many more join.
So.. What gear ratios are everyone using & what feed back can you offer i.e riding styles (sport/track/touring)

Standard is 16/40, but i'm thinking of going to 16/42 for some more pickup without losing too much top-end.

Anyone care to add some thoughts?

Chad

[Bfef]

Also, a related question, does this affect the speedo read-out?
ie. does it read faster or slower than actual speed if you change the ratios?
Thanks.

[weirdo]

If you put a smaller rear sprocket on, the bike is going further for every revolution of the front sprocket (namely : faster)
This means the speedo will read SLOW, and you get done for speeding , since the speedo reads the RPM of the front sprocket.
If you put a BIG rear on, She'll tell you you're doing 170 when it's really 130 (redlining in top), but you probably won't care, you'll still be laughing from the monster wheelies you pulled on the way there!

[Fausto]

I have changed my front to a 15 and am not sure if I prefer it or not. It's certainly handier round town and at lower speeds but I think I'll pop the 16 back on for a bit to see how that feels again.

As Weirdo says it will affect your speedo. Mine now over reads a little. I can get used to that but am concerned that it's adding miles to the odometer faster than I'm actually doing them. One day I'll do the maths and see by what % this is affected.

[Red Mist]

Anybody geared theirs up? I'm more interested in doing that.

[kev]

ive gone up 2 teath on rear and it is quite surprising the diffference it makes it doesent make much difference to top end how often do you want to max out in top try it you will like it you can launch massive wheelies in third off of any little hump in the road off the the throttle

[Fausto]

Anybody geared theirs up? I'm more interested in doing that.

I think most people gear down on these bikes.

What would you be after gearing it up.... more top speed?

[Red Mist]

Anybody geared theirs up? I'm more interested in doing that.

I think most people gear down on these bikes.

What would you be after gearing it up.... more top speed?

I think that the standard gearing is fine so long as you don't look at the tacho! In practice it works well, but it just seems like the bike is revving high for such a big twin. I had my Commando geared up really high with a 24 tooth gearbox sprocket. It was doing just less than 5000 revs at 90. My Raptor, a modern 1000cc twin, is revving at 6000. It's unstressed, but I wouldn't mind it revving slower when cruising.

I'm not bothered about wheelying because I'm a jessie.

[Fausto]

I guess that's just a symptom of modern engines - higher revs for more power. It certainly pays to ignore the tacho and to wear earplugs.

If you do gear up let us know how it goes. May get a but lumpy round the town though.

[Miz]

This may help your decisions

http://www.gearingcommander.com/


Have been using it to work out what gearing to use on the FJ now that I have fitted a different rear tyre.

Altering the gearing will affect the speedo reading as the pickup is on the output shaft from the gearbox, so you will have to apply a little maths to work out your speed.

[dizzyblonde]

Totally different bikes, but I have two identical SV 's' 650s. One is standard gearing, one is higher geared. Theres a tooth up on the front sprocket on that bike. Compared to standard it revs less, but on a motorway I can sit at 90 @ around 6k revs in top gear, feeling comfy and not squeezing the life from it. The standard revs higher at that speed and feels almost like its screaming. Only thing with having a higher geared SV is that its complete pants in lower gears and you need to work a bit more around town, give it more of a fistful when getting out of a junction etc. Defo more sedate. Great for buggering off down the peages of France though!
I wouldn't have thought a Raptor would benefit from going in this direction, with its issues of hating the 3k revs thing!