I have decided to once again upgrade my gearing. I wish I would have done this particular combination originally. On the rear I have reduced the sprocket size again. The original gearing was 48 and then I went to a 44. Now I have gone to a 42 and it is seriously like a totally different machine and I absolutely love it. It is so much more fun to ride.
I do have less torque and have once again needed to adjust my riding style but I feel the reduced power is overcome by reving a little higher before shifts. Nothing unusual just a bit more. The benefits of this new gearing completely over shadow the drawbacks which also includes a reduction in fuel mileage.I get about 40-50 miles less per tank. This requires me to fill up one day earlier than I formerly had to as I was in a pretty good routine filling up once a week for my commute of 40 miles a day. This was the thing that took me the longest to get used to.
The 4th gear is bigger and I find myself cruising through town on the faster streets in fourth gear. When I went from the 48 to the 44 sprocket my 4th gear got bigger but now it is even bigger.
Call Smitty @ JP Motorsports and get one or have your dealer put one on for you. You will not regret it.
3 comments:
Unless I am misunderstanding, shouldnt you be getting better mpg with the 42 than you were with anything larger? In theory you should be running lower rpms at the same speed, so consuming less fuel.
Also, you say that you lost some torque, I am considering a similar mod but live in a somewhat hilly area and require enough to pull some hills for many miles. How does this deal with hills with a 42/16 (I assume you have a 16 in front)?
Yes I agree that I should be getting better fuel mileage. I think it is either a result of new tires at the same time with a softer compound, the fact that I need to have the throttle pegged going up long, big hills or just because it rides better at higher speeds so I am cruising at higher speeds more consistently now. I do only use the bike for commuting. 98% of the 36 mile round trip journey is on 65 mph highways.
It did not take me long to adjust to the 16/42 gearing but the one place I feel it's a disadvantage is on the larger hills. For me I only hit one of the bigger hills in my commute and it is about 2 miles long but by drafting behind a car or truck I can still do 70 mph up the hill. I do tuck down on the bike like a moto gp rider in a race also.
As for this hill issue I would say you can overcome it by knowing the hills are coming and prepare accordingly by keeping speed up prior to hitting them and using the draft.
I think the benefits far outweigh this disadvantage. If you do it you should be happy with the bikes improved overall performance.
hey, i saw this post and hope like heck you see this comment!!! i have the same bike as you and would love to know if you have the part number for the 42 tooth sprocket?? jp doesn't have a clue and say they only offer the 44 tooth. thanks so much!!!
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