Just one tooth

[Pursuvant]

Talking gearing is like asking "what's the best tire?".

Even so let's go there into the quagmire. I changed my gearing - I went from 16/43 to 16/44. Ya, I gave that torque-kee wheelie machine a little more jazz (but not for wheelies, just the opposite).

For those who don't know I yanked the stock suspension out of my bike and slipped in Ohlins NIX 22 and STX 46. That move transformed everything, it's not the same class of machine that rolled out of the showroom. The bike is PLANTED, confident, capable of things most stock bikes can't deliver. It's another world, but that's a different story.

So I slipped on a 44 tooth rear sprocket. One more tooth. Here's what I ride now.

A bike where 6th gear is not "way out there", no it's been invited back to the party the rest of the transmission is having. And that transmission wall-flower 4th gear - wow it's suddenly discovered all kinds of things it can do.

That one tooth pulled the whole transmission together in a way that amazes me - I mean that totally. I never imagined the payoff I got. One tooth has made everything disjointed about that tranny come together like a great rock n roll song.

One caution, you know how the stock suspension when you launch at an intersection, those few ripples in the transition cause the stock forks to pogo cycle then loft the front wheel and you cooly carry the front wheel across the intersection. Ask yourself, is that a suspension operating outside its capabilities?

You all have an amazing motorcycle, so capable but held back by one item Yamaha neglected intentionally, they threw 1990 forks in an 2020+ machine.

You can fix that, then add a tooth, and have a planted racebike that will probably be the best handling machine ever owned. And you don't need Ohlins. I think emulators are about $500.

I wish that for you all, because it's like getting another new motorcycle

[Joaoduarte]

But adding a tooth increases your acceleration or speed? Can you explain it better to us

[Pursuvant]

2 hours ago, Joaoduarte said:

But adding a tooth increases your acceleration or speed? Can you explain it better to us

With just one tooth on rear sprocket, the seat of your pants won't notice the very slight increase in acceleration. What it will notice is a more uniform cooperative transmission

[Joaoduarte]

so we can talk about being smoothness overall?

[Pursuvant]

4 hours ago, Joaoduarte said:

so we can talk about being smoothness overall?

The act of physically shifting, the effort required remains the same. Be assertive in all your actions just as before.

What changes is the whole dynamic of how well matched each gear ratio is to another, and the rpm where shifting is taking place.

And gears you would normally shift right thru and on to the next higher, suddenly you find them very useful. I rarely had any use for 4th gear, and now is a powerful useful gear for cruising in certain speed zones.

And 6th, was always "out there" from 5th, quite a jump, an overdrive, is now a ratio close enough to 5th it's as natural as shifting from 2nd to third. No longer a shift into overdrive, it's tight and close. There is no overdrive.

There's just a tight, coherent tranny. Yamaha should have released this bike with a 44 tooth.

Definitely the setup for aggressive street riders, without taking a thing away from my long cruises on wide open country roads. 6th still has plenty of legs so the motor remains relaxed even when your cruising at a pretty good clip.

It just works better everywhere

[timjh]

..and here I thought this topic was about my old girlfriend.

[FZ not MT]

On 9/8/2020 at 7:55 PM, Pursuvant said:

Even so let's go there into the quagmire. I changed my gearing - I went from 16/43 to 16/44. Ya, I gave that torque-kee wheelie machine a little more jazz (but not for wheelies, just the opposite).

I did the exact same thing, and your description is spot-on.

2nd gear starts - no problem

3rd gear - noticeable more punch

4th gear is a do-all from 40-80.

5th gear has more compression braking which is great on the interstates

6th gear is as you say, no longer a lame overdrive

Totally agree, this is what Yamaha should have had from the beginning. Combined with a 2WDW flash and the OEM R6 thottle tube, it makes for a fine riding machine.

I did the 520 conversion and used the excellent DID EVR3 chain which helped even more.

Who would have thunk one tooth would make such a difference!

 

[Pursuvant]

19 hours ago, FZ not MT said:

Who  would have thunk one tooth would make such a difference!

Some things are counter intuitive. Like a nut siezure doesn't always need less torque, sometime more torque was needed.

It's a good mod for this bike, but perception says it's already a wheelie-monster

Edited December 27, 2020 by Pursuvant

[00RAH]

some things are counter intuitive, like how to spell things.

[scat2me]

Where did you get the sprocket? What manufacturer ?

[Pursuvant]

9 hours ago, scat2me said:

Where did you get the sprocket? What manufacturer ?

I didn't care what brand, my speed shop ordered for me. I think it's from DrivenRacing.com, but I may have wrong packaging/pn

Edited December 28, 2020 by Pursuvant

[mossrider]

6 hours ago, scat2me said:

Where did you get the sprocket? What manufacturer ?

If that don't float your boat call Vortex. They'll make anything to fit anything, just ask you for some simple measurements or what wheel and carrier it's for. Same price as over the counter too.

[mossrider]

On 12/25/2020 at 10:45 PM, FZ not MT said:

Who would have thunk one tooth would make such a difference!

Just for smits & squiggles here's a speed in gear chart showing 16/44 gearing with a 180/60 rear;

[Pursuvant]

16 hours ago, mossrider said:

Just for smits & squiggles here's a speed in gear chart showing 16/44 gearing with a 180/60 rear;

I'm having quite a bit of difficulty achieving that last row, farthest to the right number. Is that only avail after you go off the edge of a cliff?

[mossrider]

On 12/28/2020 at 4:50 PM, Pursuvant said:

I'm having quite a bit of difficulty achieving that last row, farthest to the right number. Is that only avail after you go off the edge of a cliff?

Fear and common sense are your friends.

[Pursuvant]

A post I made on another forum recently, has a good parts list for extra stuff you might want to consider when doing chain & sprockets.----------------

Here's my list I dropped off for order at the speed shop* today for reference. I replace some stuff the first time I touch it that's not necessary, just because I know a gorilla torqued stuff on at the factory. YMMV

Yamaha
NUT, SELF-LOCKING
6 x 90185-10011-00 $2.94
Sprocket spring nuts

Yamaha
NUT
1 x 90179-22018-00. $10.67
Countershaft front sprocket nut

Yamaha
WASHER, CONICAL SPRING
1 x 90208-22002-00 $7.51
Sprocket nut pinned washer

Yamaha
SEAL, GUARD
1 x 1WS-22151-00-00 $10.04
Swingarm chain wear guard

Yamaha
BRACKET 1
1 x 1WS-2537W-00-00. $10.06
Sprocket "plate" secured by 6 nuts

Yamaha
SEAL 1
1 x BU2-22358-00-00 $4.10
Swingarm chain wear sticker

Sprockets (drivenracing.com)
1 x 1036-525-16T FR sprocket
1 x 5008-525-44T RR sprocket**
1 x DID 525 VX3 Gold & Black chain

I was expecting to do a 520 conversion but looking at it closely it's a yawn for me, I'm not trying to shave tenths off of lap times, I just want to hooligan 'round town. It seems to eat swingarm chain wear guards faster than oem 525.

The oem front sprocket is (likely) JT with the rubber dampers on both sides to quiet the chain 2 db. Yes, 2 db... I'm feeling sleepy...yawn... Here is the JT Sprockets catalog page of the XSR700 sprockets for reference - JT Sprockets

*If you don't go to Yamaha for repairs, throw your local speed shop some biz this time of year, so they will be here next summer to service your bike

** Stock bike is 16/43, I run 16/44 teeth

[Joaoduarte]

What do you all think of tryibg 16/45, and using oem rear sproclet from R6 06-09 its plug and play as much as i know, but would it be tpp agressive?

[Loch]

Does the 44 tooth rear sprocket make 1st gear even more useless? The way you describe 2nd thru 6th sounds too good to be true

[Triple Jim]

3 hours ago, Loch said:

Does the 44 tooth rear sprocket make 1st gear even more useless? The way you describe 2nd thru 6th sounds too good to be true

For street use it would for me.  Stock gearing is very low.  Stock, 6th gear starts to get a little buzzy around 60 mph too.  I'm still getting an idea of what I'm going to do with the sprockets, but I'm leaning toward 17/40, which will put 5th gear where 6th is now, and spread them all out noticeably.  1st gear would end up approximately halfway between stock 1st and stock 2nd, which seems like a very good idea.

With the stock sprockets the ratios are so close I often skip a gear or two when accelerating to 60 mph.  If acceleration in 6th isn't enough after the change, I can always downshift!

Edited April 10, 2021 by Triple Jim

[Loch]

55 minutes ago, Triple Jim said:

I often skip a gear or two when accelerating to 60 mph.

I do as well, but not because the gearing is too close. I generally skip 4th/5th because a 2nd-3rd gear pull takes you up to 60 on one wheel the whole way, so I end up clicking up to the overdrive gear after that. If a 44 tooth just pushes all the gears down a bit and closer together, it would make downshifting on the highway less necessary because 6th would have a bit more pep, at the cost of 1st being useless and a bit more buzz while cruising... but it would let me wheelie in 4th

[Triple Jim]

6 minutes ago, Loch said:

but it would let me wheelie in 4th

Wheelies are near the bottom of my list of needed features.  

[Loch]

1 hour ago, Triple Jim said:

Wheelies are near the bottom of my list of needed features.  

You got the wrong bike then where’s the thumbs down button...

[Triple Jim]

Yeah I know... some guys like wheelies.  I get enough of that with an occasional accidental one.  I find turns more fun.  Here's my DT100 converted to road racer at the Kart track.  I'm looking forward to a week with it and the MT-07 at Deals Gap next month.

 

 

[FZ not MT]

16 hours ago, Loch said:

Does the 44 tooth rear sprocket make 1st gear even more useless?

Not at all - While I can do 2nd gear starts relatively easy, there are plenty of times I still use 1st gear, and am happy I do. The two biggest ones are anytime there is a potentially dangerous pullout such as city lights/stop signs and starting out on a hill. Threading your bike in tight spaces is another one.

Prior to the sprocket change, my FZ-07 was a 5 speed (1-5) with a semi-useless 6th gear (gas mileage and lower rpm only). After the gear change it's still a 5 speed (2-6) except there are times where 1st gear is quite useful. How versatile 4th gear becomes is amazing as you really can ride all day long in 4th going between 40-80 mph, which is where most folks ride on the backroads.

Everytime I ride my bike since changing sprockets, I am amazed how one (1) tooth on the rear sprocket can make that much of a difference. Like I said earlier, that sprocket change combined with a 2WDW flash and the OEM R6 thottle tube makes for a fine riding machine.

 

[FZ not MT]

On 4/10/2021 at 2:46 PM, Triple Jim said:

I'm still getting an idea of what I'm going to do with the sprockets, but I'm leaning toward 17/40, which will put 5th gear where 6th is now, and spread them all out noticeably.

Just curious, did you ever try that sprocket combo?