I need to replace my sprockets on my 2003 Gen1 thou and I am thinking of lowering the gearing. Is a tooth down on the gearbox sprocket too much? Is the chain long enough to fit round a 46 tooth rear sprocket? Will it make the bike feel any different? Any thoughts in general?
BTW what is the size of the sprocket nut, please? Just need to make sure I have all I need before I start.
Try this site , hopefully I have remembered it correctly. www.gearingcommander.com you can play around with different gearing setups for your bike and get an idea as to how it will playout on the bike.
Lew
MT-09 Tracer for those who no longer can handle a BIG boy Fazer
i put 2 on the back, reacts like a trials bike in the first 3 gears, but now always looking for 7th gear.
The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people's money!
(30-07-14, 04:56 PM)Jez link Wrote: I need to replace my sprockets on my 2003 Gen1 thou and I am thinking of lowering the gearing. Is a tooth down on the gearbox sprocket too much? Is the chain long enough to fit round a 46 tooth rear sprocket? Will it make the bike feel any different? Any thoughts in general?
BTW what is the size of the sprocket nut, please? Just need to make sure I have all I need before I start.
Why do you want to lower the gearing? Must admit I'm confused by this.
Our Gen 1 1000 already feels geared too low as standard - it doesn't need to rev so highly at everyday road speeds to still have plenty of overtaking poke without having to drop a gear. Using it at the Nurburgring I didn't notice any shortage of acceleration/responsiveness, again on standard gearing.
So, I'm interested in what you want to get from putting a smaller sprocket on the front (other than slightly accelerated chain wear)?
Will they take a 17 front, had the front cover off, but not sure if there is room. I would quite like to drop the revs for motorway riding to see ifit improves mpg. Could drop 2 or 3 on the rear I suppose. Anyone done either of these?
I dropped a tooth on the front sprocket on my 2004 mighty fazer thou and there is a very noticeable difference in acceleration. It revs higher and the speedo is out a bit....but its well worth it.
See results from Pats Fazer Website here
http://www.cartestsoftware.com/fz1/image...ntable.gif
01-08-14, 06:52 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-08-14, 07:10 PM by Jez.)
(01-08-14, 06:19 AM)woodwizzard link Wrote:Will they take a 17 front, had the front cover off, but not sure if there is room. I would quite like to drop the revs for motorway riding to see ifit improves mpg. Could drop 2 or 3 on the rear I suppose. Anyone done either of these?
:hijack 
01-08-14, 07:03 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-08-14, 07:10 PM by Jez.)
(31-07-14, 11:05 PM)Millietant link Wrote:Why do you want to lower the gearing? Must admit I'm confused by this.
Our Gen 1 1000 already feels geared too low as standard - it doesn't need to rev so highly at everyday road speeds to still have plenty of overtaking poke without having to drop a gear. Using it at the Nurburgring I didn't notice any shortage of acceleration/responsiveness, again on standard gearing.
So, I'm interested in what you want to get from putting a smaller sprocket on the front (other than slightly accelerated chain wear)?
I was just asking the question without feeling the need to justify myself :eek .
My thinking is this: unlike hijacker I mean woodwizard :kiss I rarely do motorways or sustained high speeds. The vast majority of my riding is rural a and b roads. I totally agree there is no shortage of oomph in the old girl but given that the top speed is in the region of 170 mph the top quarter or third is never used. Therefore why not sacrifice some of this in favour of yet more acceleration?
I went out today and avoided using top gear and for me it was fine even on dual carriageways. I even figure that if I am bimbling along at 50 or so behind a queue I could change up and rest the engine a little.
Also I was at Snetterton this week and everyone pulled out of the corners faster than me (might well be more to do with me as a first timer).
I am still interested to hear from people who have done this mod.
01-08-14, 07:08 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-08-14, 07:14 PM by Jez.)
(01-08-14, 09:26 AM)bigbluebear link Wrote:speedo is out a bit....but its well worth it.
See results from Pats Fazer Website here
http://www.cartestsoftware.com/fz1/image...ntable.gif
Thanks for mentioning these, bear  .
Seems to me 2 on the back will be less than 5% difference. I can live with that .
(31-07-14, 10:08 AM)sadlonelygit link Wrote:i put 2 on the back, reacts like a trials bike in the first 3 gears, but now always looking for 7th gear.
I presume chain length / wheel adjusters are ok with this?
I think you've answered my question
My own approach would be what you've tried - changing the sprockets to make 6th gear the same as (or closer to) 5th gear just seems like a waste of money to me - I'm a tight-arse anyway - I'd do what you've just done, just ride around in 5th and keep my money in the bank.
Half seriously though a lot of other people post about the benefits of lowering the gearing - but I always have same view, just ride in 5th - then when you want to, you can also ride in 6th. I struggle to see what other benefit you get for spending the money, that's all
Just my tuppenny worth......
For what it's worth, I put an FZS6 standard 46T rear sprocket just for fun & yes it made a small difference in acceleration but the fuel consumption went up. I had to fit a new front sprocket when I discovered the sprocket nut had been loose for all of the 12K bike life & fitted a 15T Renthal on a standard chain. Unless I was touring or worried about fuel consumption it's opened up a new experience & made the bike wanting for a 7th, 8th gear. That said for A road riding on top of a full Monty tune it's raised the RPM range & makes the power available much, much earlier & it accelerates like a bat out of hell in every gear even in 6th. I know I'm shxxxxn the chain but it was fxxxxd from the loose front sprocket anyway but glad I tried it.
i changed mine for a trackday + the chain was on it's last legs.
the difference in low gear acceleration is astounding and short of 155+ you don't notice a lack of top end.
for the road, unless you are a stunt monkey or ride around london all the time, then standard or taller would be more suitable.
The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people's money!
I'm a fairly progressive rider when the mood strikes and don't have any problems with the stock gearing on my fully Ivanised bike, I can more than keep up with the Sunday afternoon power rangers (mostly because they can't corner for toffee) and full throttle over 8k in any gear provides sufficient adrenalin to remind me I'm alive.
Although I considered it when it was time to replace my C&S, along with the if it aint broke line of thought, my main issues were the initial expense of a speedo healer and the ongoing expense of putting ever more expensive fuel into a higher revving bike.
I dropped one tooth on the front and added one tooth on the back. Improves acceleration, makes mpg slightly worse and for motorway speeds in top the revs are about 500rpm higher.
I've done both the 15 T and the 17 T. One smaller for a blast around Brands and a bit more fun on the roads. Have to agree with SLG, it makes a hell of a difference and is not comparable to staying in a lower gear.
With the one tooth larger you have to take off the steel guide to get it on but it goes on alright, can't remember how it felt because I think I kept zoning out. 
I think I will try the larger sprocket thing. My chain is still the original, I think at 26K miles, so although it is fine now it will not last forever. I can always go back if I don't like it, right?
Capt says he fitted a 46t rear from an FZS6. Does any one know which model exactly and does it go straight on?
Also what size is the sprocket nut? I probably have a socket but I want to check before hand.
(02-08-14, 07:01 PM)dazza link Wrote:36 mm
:kiss
All done at last Hoorah . Now 16 tooth front and 46 tooth rear. Taken it out for a couple of spins today and here is what I have found:
At low speed the engine is less stressed so less cog swapping needed.
At medium speed not much change as the bike is fick as quck anyway.
At high speed the improvement in overtaking grunt is very noticable (big grin).
There are only two minor downsides:
I found myself looking for another gear once, only once mind.
I will have to get used to the fact that the speedo is now wrong.
All in all an excellent mod IMHO well worth it. And I have a nice gold coloured Renthal sprocket too .
BTW For anyone else thinking of changing the gearing the chain length was ok but would not allow a third tooth added (I presume mine is standard length).
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