Has anyone tried a 40 tooth rear sprocket?

[bonehead]

Gz chain is 520

[music man]

Originally Posted by Blackbird

In theory, the lower rear sprocket (40T) with a 16T front sprocket should work well as predicted.
My Yamaha 650 (I know, bad comparison) comes with a stock 17T/ 34T sprockets. Many owners are going to a 18T/30T ratio. The R's go down along with the vibrations. Will it work with a GZ? ...

The cost of the sprocket at $52.99 is really high. Plus it is aluminum, not steel. How long will that last? I'd rather have steel.

Is the GZ chain a 520 or a 530? :??:

Yes you are right that is a horrible comparision, if you have something with plenty of grunt to spare, then doing that could dramatically raise the ridability of your bike at higher speeds, (and raise your top speed for that matter) but considering the GZ barely has enough grunt to go "high speeds" in the first place, if you lower the rpm's at higher speeds (on the weak GZ) then you take away the only power the GZ has at high speeds in the the first place. It just simply doesn't have any torque to spare to sacrifice any for higher speeds, there are riding lawn mowers out there with more HP/Torque than the GZ has.

[Blackbird]

Originally Posted by music man

Yes you are right that is a horrible comparison, if you have something with plenty of grunt to spare, then doing that could dramatically raise the ridability of your bike at higher speeds, (and raise your top speed for that matter) but considering the GZ barely has enough grunt to go "high speeds" in the first place, if you lower the rpm's at higher speeds (on the weak GZ) then you take away the only power the GZ has at high speeds in the the first place. It just simply doesn't have any torque to spare to sacrifice any for higher speeds, there are riding lawn mowers out there with more HP/Torque than the GZ has.

I did not say horrible, I said bad. Bad is dropping your bike and skinning your knee. Horrible is dropping your bike and then realizing your leg fell off. Afterwards, everyone nicknames you Eileen.

By the way Music man ... what is high speed to you?

I think the chain is a 520 don't you?

[music man]

I did not mean that in any kind of derogatory terms whatsoever, I am sorry if it came across that way. And by the way, yes the GZ does have a 520 chain on it.


And high speed to me (on a motorcycle) is whatever the speed limit on a given road is,+10-15mph, that is high speed to me, if you need to go any faster than that, then you are definitely trying to modify the wrong motorcycle, and also need to find a Track where you can get some laps in on, because you don't need to be going that fast on a public road, Period, much less on a motorcycle.


Again I did not mean anything derogatory, I guess using the word horrible was a little extreme.

[Blackbird]

Originally Posted by music man

I did not mean that in any kind of derogatory terms whatsoever, I am sorry if it came across that way. And by the way, yes the GZ does have a 520 chain on it.


And high speed to me (on a motorcycle) is whatever the speed limit on a given road is,+10-15mph, that is high speed to me, if you need to go any faster than that, then you are definitely trying to modify the wrong motorcycle, and also need to find a Track where you can get some laps in on, because you don't need to be going that fast on a public road, Period, much less on a motorcycle.


Again I did not mean anything derogatory, I guess using the word horrible was a little extreme.

Speed wise ... I agree, on the x-way Raven gets to 80 and is a little light in the rear at that speed. 70 is fast enough for me when I need to use the x-way. Which is not a lot.
So, when are you buying that sprocket? We need a tester (Guinea pig).

[Water Warrior 2]

Originally Posted by Blackbird

In theory, the lower rear sprocket (40T) with a 16T front sprocket should work well as predicted.
My Yamaha 650 (I know, bad comparison) comes with a stock 17T/ 34T sprockets. Many owners are going to a 18T/30T ratio. The R's go down along with the vibrations. Will it work with a GZ? ...

The cost of the sprocket at $52.99 is really high. Plus it is aluminum, not steel. How long will that last? I'd rather have steel.

:??:

An Aluminum rear sprocket will last as long as a chain. Just keep things adjusted and lubed properly. Steel is much heavier and you have more unsprung weight which will lesson the suspension's ability to smooth out the road.

[alantf]

Originally Posted by Water Warrior

which will lesson the suspension's ability to smooth out the road.

I don't know if the European spec suspension is different to the American/Canadian, but I often feel (especially when riding two-up on a poor road surface) that my rear suspension is non-existant. I've tried different settings, but still end up with a bone jarring thud every time I hit a bit of uneven road surface.

Originally Posted by alantf

I don't know if the European spec suspension is different to the American/Canadian, but I often feel (especially when riding two-up on a poor road surface) that my rear suspension is non-existant. I've tried different settings, but still end up with a bone jarring thud every time I hit a bit of uneven road surface. :cry:

My wife (or my daughters, for that matter) and I weigh about 285 pounds together and experience the same thing, even on pretty minor bumps, potholes, etc. This bike suits my needs pretty darn well in every respect except for this one. If I move up to a bigger bike, this will be the primary reason.

Keith

[Sarris]

The ride issue is cheap rear shocks. If you upgrade to an inexpensive pair of Progressive suspension shocks ($250 +/- for a set for the Savage 650 aka S40) it will change the bike dramatically.

I have not done mine yet, but I have a friend that has and the diff is definately noticable.

Also, changing my fork oil at my 12k service has made the FE more compliant as well.

[bonehead]

I've been looking around the posts; has anyone actually gone to a 40t rear sprocket yet. I'd like to hear about it as I am thinking of going to a 40 or 39.