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HIDs and sprockets


rhubarbray

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Well, I tried the HIDs the last little while and I have to say :icon_surprised::icon_surprised::icon_surprised: . What a difference! Love them. It`s a little tight mounting the ballasts with the ram air tubes in the way but they fit. Thanks for the tip guys!

Ok, now the 18t front sprocket. ...........I could feel right away the way the clutch engaged it was different but I wasn`t prepared for how different. While each gear pulled longer, I found that the bike lost it`s grunt in the midrange to a degree that I switched back to the 17 after about 200 miles to try and compare.

I don`t think I`ll be going back to the 18!!

I know it may be in my head but it felt like it pulled harder in 4th with the 17 than in 3rd with the 18?!

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Depending on the tune of your XX, if carbed; my 98 with a stage 1 jet kit, 4-into-1 exhaust pulls nicely between certain engine rpm, I use stock 17T front sprocket and a 42T rear.

The bike behaves rather civil in lower rpm during city traffic, once the roads open up and I get playful, I ride mostly in 2nd or 3rd gear between 6-10k rpm, accelerates like mad into the triple digit speed. If I feel civil and want to save fuel, in 5th or 6th gear the rpm stays well below 5000 rpm, for triple digit cruise mode. Without the jet kit and exhaust, my XX probably doesn't pull as hard with the taller gearing.

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Which brings up a physics problem,,,,,I have long felt the calculations are different for the front sprocket than the rear, in that a larger front is not the same as a smaller rear, in the same ratio.

I have tried and I can really say that I would always go the smaller rear for the same ratio.

And I have done them all. I have from 14 to 18 fronts and 41 to 63 rears. I loved the 41 17. and still think it was the strongest ratio of any on the street..

So what do the numbers say?

I think it is a leverage thing.

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I have tried and I can really say that I would always go the smaller rear for the same ratio.

And I have done them all. I have from 14 to 18 fronts and 41 to 63 rears.

Was the 63T rear sprocket for drag strip racing, stunting wheelies or observed trials on the XX? :icon_evilgrin:

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I have tried and I can really say that I would always go the smaller rear for the same ratio.

And I have done them all. I have from 14 to 18 fronts and 41 to 63 rears.

Was the 63T rear sprocket for drag strip racing, stunting wheelies or observed trials on the XX? :icon_evilgrin:

Never had to mount it, the 58 was enough. Sand hills, and did 1/8 mile drags with some 20 inch tires. Tried some 22's and unbeaded them in the traps. Not really that well made for that speed. Even had tubes in them. Ran 7.5 at 100moh with the 20's. Knobbies. In the sand with the 24" paddles that were 14 X 1 and 1/4 " hard ripper paddels it would run to 120mph. Pretty quick. With stock gearing, second was a far as I could top out. Just not enough room. The picture of me in the hills for the photoshoot with Sand Sports was with stock gearing and the paddels, in first at about 50 with the front comming up.

Had noticed something the otherday looking at that picture, the chain. It gets loose when the rear unloads in a wheelie. I knew that it was getting loose as it climbed the rear teeth and jumped over. Rolled the teeth over and had to change the sprocket.

Blow it up and look at the chain on the bottom.

post-893-1256913948.jpg

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My 2000 bird`s all stock save for a K&N.

Has anyone overlapped a carb bird`s dyno and a fi bird dyno? From what I`ve read, the header configuration changup was supposed to give more midrange but at the expense of a little top end. I`m talking bone stock to bone stock. Would this give a perception difference when considering gearing changes?

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These birds are geared so high to begin that I would not consider going to an 18.

I always like a OEM front for the vibration/shock absorption so I went with a 47 tooth rear.

Right away the bike pulls harder in each gear. The gears are closer together. The drop in RPM is less so you don't drop out of the power band.

I don't have to clunk down into first to pull out of a tight corner and get all twitchy.

You also have some safety power on tap on the highway without going down a gear or two. The gas mileage is about the same.

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Put the 18 on my 2K and won't go back. It had a 16 from the previous owner. I like the extra leg it has on the top end and the added benefit of correcting the speedo error, mines dead on now.

Didn't notice that much of a drop in my performance myself and I just made a 2 up ride with my wife and another pair of bikes. A 1000 RR and a Busa and was able to hang with them quite well.

There is another added benefit in reduced chain stress the smaller front sprocket accelerates wear do to its tighter radius.

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I really like the 18T up here in the mountains. The ration seems to be much better

for this terrain. With the 17T, 1st always seems too low and 2nd too high, but the

18T solves that problem. It is a fact that starting up on an incline with the 18T requires

a bit more clutch slippage, however.

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  • 2 weeks later...
I really like the 18T up here in the mountains. The ration seems to be much better

for this terrain. With the 17T, 1st always seems too low and 2nd too high, but the

18T solves that problem. It is a fact that starting up on an incline with the 18T requires

a bit more clutch slippage, however.

I had a similar problem as far as 1st and 2nd, in a lot of corners I felt dropping to 1st was too much and 2nd was a bit sluggish so I went UP 2 teeth on the rear and it made a huge difference. Now I can leave it in 2nd and it pulls nicely out of the corners and makes it easier to lift the front as well :icon_twisted: The larger rear solves the wear issues on the chain :icon_think:

The 2 up on the rear did throw out the speedo though so I got a speedo healer, also my fuel usage has gone up as well (partly because of the slightly higher revs and partly because the Odo is ticking over faster :icon_surprised: )

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  • 2 weeks later...
Had noticed something the otherday looking at that picture, the chain. It gets loose when the rear unloads in a wheelie. I knew that it was getting loose as it climbed the rear teeth and jumped over. Rolled the teeth over and had to change the sprocket.

I wonder if you can fabricate a spring loaded chain idler to keep the chain from whipping around like that? :icon_think:

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Had noticed something the otherday looking at that picture, the chain. It gets loose when the rear unloads in a wheelie. I knew that it was getting loose as it climbed the rear teeth and jumped over. Rolled the teeth over and had to change the sprocket.

I wonder if you can fabricate a spring loaded chain idler to keep the chain from whipping around like that? :icon_think:

I have one for off road, but, did not think it would last on the highway. Been working on an idea to deal with both the lack of cush drive and change in slack.

Eric, came up with a VFR cush drive that would work, just have to cut new splines at a different diameter. Doable, but not that easy.

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  • 3 months later...

There was a little critter that would do just what you were mentioning with the chain. I had one on my race bike way back when but I can't remember tha name of it. It bolted just aft of the countershaft sprocket and basically was a spring loaded teeter-totter with rollers on each end for the chain to run on(mind you, the whole thing was about three inches long). Your chain tension had to be spot on but what it would do is eliminate a lot of the effect that chain torque has on your suspension on acceleration. Usually the physics of it all causes your rear suspension to essentially become rigid at a certain point. This doohicky gave you a little more 'stroke' ,so to speak, so that torque produced wasn't wasted on tightening the suspension and it got to the ground. I noticed a tremendous advantage after I installed it compared to stock. Might be something to look into. Especially when dealing with that much power.

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I really like the 18T up here in the mountains. The ration seems to be much better

for this terrain. With the 17T, 1st always seems too low and 2nd too high, but the

18T solves that problem. It is a fact that starting up on an incline with the 18T requires

a bit more clutch slippage, however.

Im in the same boat, went up to 18T and love it, your are so right about before bouncing between 1st and 2nd and neither seems to feel right, the 18T solves the problem!

I have not noticed the lack of pull in mid range with the 18T, the other advantage is with the 18T the speedo is dead on.

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