Should I drop the front sprocket 1 tooth?

[bara954]

hey everyone, just turned 16000 miles on the '02 954. going to be getting the big service done and part of it will be chain and sprockets. i was thinking about dropping my front sprocket down 1 tooth. what do you think? i know the negatives are worse fuel economy and slightly slower top speed. and positives are snappier throttle response and increased acceleration. any other positive or negatives? will this affect the length of the new chain i get? will it hurt my engine? any recomendations for a brand of chain or sprockets? where can i get them cheap?
thanks

[gsxrjack]

if your going to make one change then id go up 2 or 3 in the rear, not the one in the front...theres many reasons for this, and not sure if i agree with them all but it does seem better to go up in the rear instead of going down in the front sprocket...just my 2 cents

[TheIglu]

Stop messing around and get a turbo kit.

[Nazo]

I'd suggest it.
I always re-geared my bikes for more torque.
Its cheaper to drop a toothe in the front and thats what I did in my '02 R1.
One tooth in the front is equal to 3 in the rear
-So dropping one in the front is like adding 3 to the rear.
Obviously your chain is gonna become looser if you drop a tooth in the front and it will become tighter if you add 3 teeth in the rear.
Either way you should have plenty of room to move the wheel forward or back.
I've ridden a friends 954 for awhile and I think it will really make your bike feel more lively. You may lose a little off the top end of each gear, but you got 6 gears and the bike will still go around 160 MPH. AND your bike will feel like you got 10 H.P added to it in 1st and 2nd gear.
Also, be aware that your speedometer will not be accurate.
If it says 35 MPH....your really going about 31 MPH, and as you go faster it becomes even more inaccurate. This will also cause your odometer to increase how many miles are on your bike falsely.
You can have this fixed at the shop though
...Also, if your getting new chain and sprockets, I would suggest getting a 520 chain and sprocket set. They are lighter and its a good upgrade. Lightening up moving parts will let more HP travel from the engine to the rear wheel.

Thats just all my opinion. Hope it helps.

[bara954]

excellent advise nazo, very helpful. im on my way to the dealer now to discuss the service. i will ask about 520 chain and sprockets. ill let you know how it comes out

[Honclfibr]

I have mixed feelings about the 520 conversion. Yes it made for a snappier powerband but this was in conjunction with a +3 rear and I'm not sure how much difference the 530->520 change really made. On the other hand, the 520 definitely requires more constant chain maintenance, I've noticed a good deal more stretch with the 520 than with my old 530. This problem would be magnified with a high horsepower bike like a 954.

[gsxrjack]

Originally posted by bara954
excellent advise nazo, very helpful. im on my way to the dealer now to discuss the service. i will ask about 520 chain and sprockets. ill let you know how it comes out

good thing to ask the dealer about it, like i said, there are many do's/dont's about just changing the front sprocket and one of the dont's is that it puts more strain on the output shaft...again like i said im not sure i beleive all the do's/donts but ive always just changed the rear, unless i was going down in the front and up in the rear at the same time...ask the dealer

[Awesome]

I went up two in the rear on my 929 and it's way more power than I need. I'll probably go back to the stock gearing next time I switch up. Which will be very soon because I swapped to the 520. The 520 conversion isn't reccommended for larger displacement engines such as ours. You'll tear through the chain in no time and there will be just about 0 noticeable power or weight gain. Being up 2 teeth in the back I can put it on one wheel in 4th gear without the clutch, and you have 30 more cc displacement. The 954 is already twitchy as hell with a very light front end. I don't know how you ride the bike but go out and tool around at a higher RPM, it will blow your mind how much power the thing has when you're up near or at redline. You might want to gear it, but going with the 520 is a stupid waste, learn from my mistake.

[bigred875]

i went +2 in the rear of my Z and love it...

[bara954]

thank you for your feedback. after reading what heessogood said, im starting to have doubts about doing it. im not crazy about the idea of spending money when not necassary. my original chain and sprockets made it through 16000 miles i would like the replacements to be good for as long. i asked around at the dealership, they werent much help, i may have to go to another before i decide. ill check into it this weekend and decide where to go.

will i run into the same problem of the chain wearing out fast if i bring it down in the front (shorter chain) or up in the rear (longer chain)?

[bara954]

bigred,
how long ago did you do that. what size chain did you get? do you notice any excessive wear? did you lose a lot on top end? why did you go up in the rear instead of down in the front?

[bigred875]

Originally posted by bara954
bigred,
how long ago did you do that. what size chain did you get? do you notice any excessive wear? did you lose a lot on top end? why did you go up in the rear instead of down in the front?

last memorial day weekend(04)

not sure..I think may need to get a new chaing and frt sprocket soon...but I am harder then most on my bikes... and my chain is stock 525 and have(and will) keep it that way for the reasons hessoggod said...a wise man once said "you can take a dump and lose more weight"

I lost about 7-9mph off the top end..speedo indicated..now i can only go 160..lol(aerodynamics is the main reason i do not have a huge topend)

and it rev's a little higher on the highway....

I went up in the rear because I got the sprocket from a guy on my z1k forum for $30..lol I was going to go down 1.....

Be advised that any sprocket change will mess up your speedo and odometer readings....going the change you want will read higher moh's then you are going and you'll clock on more miles....but you can get a speedo healer...

IMO - -1 in the front isn't going to be that bad...the biggest concern when you drop a tooth in the front is that you dont have enough room to on the sprocket for the chain to roll smoothly on and it kinks...

[Awesome]

the wear is due to the conversion. Sizing the front down is worse for the chain than putting the rear up, not at a level that you'll notice.

[13]

I would only suggest going one(maybe two) in the rear, I went one down(F) and one up(R) on my superhawk and first gear is now pretty much useless, I will be going one up in the front next time I change my chain. It won't wear as quickly either, but I think that's already been said.

[SVRACER01]

i say go for it. if you dont like it a front sprocket is only $15 to replace instead of $45 for the rear

[richw]

Except for 1st gear whats the point

Up in the rear for longer drive line life.

More shifting for short gears means more line disturbance probably you will cover less ground per real world time.

Only benefit is wheelies

Also probably end up with shorter rear tire life

[hooligan]

id stay away from the 520 conversion too. it may be worth it for the track, but not for the street. IMO. if you gear the back, you will most likely end up with an aluminum sprocket on the rear. that 520 chain will eat through the aluminum alot faster than the 530 will since the face of the tooth is smaller. i think youll be more interested in longevity of the sprocket/chain versus the weight saving you will get with 520. and yes, even with a 530 the aluminum rear will wear quicker than the stock steel.

one last word, buy quality sprockets. you get what you pay for. i know people with 600's that have sheared and worn teeth off of a vortex rear in 1 year of riding, while my rethal is still in great shape with 3 years on it.

[tls25rs]

My $0.02...............

If you want to change the gearing go on and change it, however I would recommend going up teeth in the rear as opposed to down a tooth in the front. The reasoning behind this is, when you go down a tooth in the front, the affect that it has on the amount of movement each link of the chain makes, as it travels around the sprocket in question, is amplified. For a link of your chain to go around the larger rear sprocket the link will only need to pivot say 30 degrees around the pin (just a guess and only a number to make sense out of). For the same link to go around the smaller front sprocket it will need to rotate more like 60 degrees (again just a guess and only a number to make sense out of)around each pin. This added pivoting over the life of your chain will wear it out faster than if you went with a larger sprocket in the rear instead.

Admittedly, how much more will it wear is a great question that I don't know the answer to, but it will wear more.

As far as sprockets go I believe in steel. I have Sunstar steel sprockets and have never had a problem with losing teeth or wearing out a sprocket prematurely. My bike has appox. 50,000 miles on it and I have only used the stock set of sprockets and the Sunstars that I have on it now. I know of many a rider that has used aluminum sprockets only to have to replace them twice as frequently as the steel equivalent and on the street the weight savings is unimportant.

520 vs. 530......stick with stock. The manufacturers work long and hard studying the effects of the bikes power on the chain that they select and select it based on longevity and strength. The 520 is again a great thing for the race track which has bikes that get new chains every couple of races, if not every race, and the weight savings can make a difference. However, again, on the street the difference can be insignificant.

One other thing, on the gearing, if you wanted to you could always calculate the mathematical ratio of the stock gearing and go larger on both front and rear to get a ratio just slightly higher than factory to satisfy your end goal of better rideability.

Hope some of this made sense.

L8R

Joel