15 / 48 Gearing

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Mori Man
Blingmeister
Blingmeister
Posts: 1976
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 3:30 pm
My Bike: ZXR400J2
Location: JAPAN

15 / 48 Gearing

Post by Mori Man »

Don't do it ! It's shite !! shocking

Have bundles of front n rear sprockets for the bike but have never gotten around to experimenting with them until today !

With this set up the standard chain is on it's very first adjustment setting so plenty room for stretch :smt005

Initially fron cold I felt nothing , all the low down grunt has been lost, as the bike warmed up and I started to thrash it more that went to even lower levels shocking , midrange seems to have a bit more pace about it and the top end is just plain dead !

All in all, it's all show and no go :smt017 I was expecting arm wrenching wheelie popping take off's but nadda ! What it does do effectively is hit the rev limiter in every single gear with out hesitation , never had it hit the limiter in 6th before.

From an indicated 130MPH in 4th gear on the redline it is now a baw hair above 110 vsad and well into the red in 6th was struggling to show 130 shocking Normally by the time I am at the top of 5th it is already nudging onto 160 and set to go off the clocks on the next gear change so there is an indicated 30+MPH drop in top end performance so this set up is going. going, gone :smt005

I have always stuck with factory gearing in the past and when I built the bike 2yrs ago I remember looking at a gearing calculator and running through the combinations I had available, I can't remember why I came to the descion to use the set-up I chose but can now see I done something right :smt001

It's not all nightmare though, cruising at 4K in top you can crack it wide open and it's off up to the redline/ rev limiter like a whippet - just the speed isn't there ! I was constantly looking for another gear. In city traffic it's great for punching your way through with out dropping gears.

All in all, utter poo !

I will be going back to 17/43 , never thought the bike was a slouch , totally impressed with the top end , never struggled in the twisties with it.

Personally I feel the bike has more torque, better engine braking & a higher corner speed too with the 17/43. What I have discovered today though is the 17T needs the sprocket cover modified and will explain why some of the race engines I get just have a metal plate on spacers bolted across the holding plate. I had seen flats develope on the outer edges of the chain and was :smt017 about it , I discovered today that it has been wearing a channel away into the standard sprocket guard so I may further modify before fitting it back on or come up with another solution.

I guess gearing is down to your riding style as to what you get out of it but I canm't see a tooth either way being at all noticeable , it needs to be something extreme like this to show the benifits/faults . My brain tells me it should be effectively getting to 100mph quicker with the 15/48 set up than the 17/43 but it sure as hell doesn't feel it vsad It's like screaming a twostroke up hill to me confuddled

I do like the Gold sprocket though, almost perfect for the Ohlins so will invest in a 43T
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Robbie
Posts: 194
Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 9:20 pm
My Bike: zxr400
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Re: 15 / 48 Gearing

Post by Robbie »

The question is why would you even run that gearing on a road bike.you must have too much time on your hands.Pointless :smt003
AFM327
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Re: 15 / 48 Gearing

Post by AFM327 »

Are you on an SP or a standard transmission? 17/43 is what I used when I had a race with a really long straight, over half a mile. I could only hit redline in top gear if I caught a draft. Maybe you should try something like 15/45, that's what I've been running on my race bike for a long time. One track would be better with a 15/47 but it's only one corner that's an issue with the SP's tall first gear.
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