SPROCKETS CHANGED – WHAT A DIFFERENCE

Found a 46 tooth sprocket from a Honda Dominator that belonged to a friend of mine and had it changed over today, perfect match.

You would not think two teeth would make that much difference but when you lay the sprockets on top of each other the diameter is much smaller, I kept with the same chain, the adjusters had to be moved back about 5mm.

Before I set off I wandered how the clutch would behave, would it need to be slipped a little more perhaps, NO,the bike set off exactly the same, no difference at all. Went for a run out to the next town and it was a little weird at first,I  kept forgetting which gear I was in, first gear is different, a little longer and you don’t have to change up to second so soon, first gear is now useful around town.

Not much difference in second and third gear that I could tell, but 4th and 5th gear, WOW what a change, acceleration is now faster, at first I thought I had made a mistake and geared the bike down and not up. The reason for the improved acceleration on the highway is that I now enter that gear at lower revs, so I am  now in the torque and horse power band longer, took a bit of working out at the time but obvious once you think about it.

At 100kph  the engine revs have dropped exactly as predicted to 4300 rpm but now I have 700 rpm of torque and 2700rpm of horse power left in reserve for overtaking hence the improved acceleration. The bike’s great, it’s like having that 6th gear we all want for highways.

~ by travelswithmymotorbike on December 11, 2008.