Gearing It Deep

fz6xlr8r

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Okay, has anyone changed their chain and sprockets yet? The reason I brought this subject up is because for onething, even thou I've ridden bikes for over 17 years off and on, most of my bikes were shaft driven and I never changed anything on the drivetrain on any of them. I know my stuff on cars and have plenty of experience with doing performance mods to them. I just never messed with any of my bikes. Well, now I've decided that sence I do most of my riding in traffic about 90% of the time, I hardly ever need to use
6th gear because I'm usually only going 50MPH or under, I would like to gear my bike down and try to get a little more lowend performance out of it. I've found some aftermarket chain and sprocket kits for the FZ6 but I have no idea whitch one does what, how much reduction each gear offers. I see that they offer 520/530 pitch and different numbers of teeth but what would work best for my needs? I know fewer the teeth, lower the gear but what does pitch have to do with anything? I know the pitch of a boat prop determines how a boat plains out, does the pitch of the sprocket help flatten or fatten the torque curve? If anybody can give me the lowdown on this stuff I would greatly appreciate it. :confused:

Thanks, Roger
 
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wrightme43

Not a thing here man. Havent studied a bit on it.
I know if you go to www.ninja250.com and use the search feature you will find out quite a bit about it.
The people there are great, but it is a old board, and almost every question ever has been asked 50 times. If you have trouble searching tell me, and I will ask Brain or IanJ, they know alot, and anything they dont know they know exactly who does. If you just show up new ask one question that has been covered before they get a little testy. LOL I hope one day that our FAQ can compare to the one there. Basicly every action, change, upgrade, and anything else about the bike is set aside broken down, with photos and detailed instructions.
Almost all parts, accesories, tires, are reviewed and include good places to get them.
 

fz6xlr8r

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Man, they have one hell of a sight there. Lot's of info for the ninja 250. Thanks, looking at their infos got me on the right track now I think. I found this sight today that gives info on chain and sprocket pitch. It's pretty strait forward and simple so dummies like me can understand it.:D http://www.gizmology.net/sprockets.htm
 
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wrightme43

Well by gosh they do dont they? LOL That is cool thanks for the link. I am going to move it to essential viewing credit FZ6XLR8R.
 
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wrightme43

Nope it dont go there. I will just favorite it, so I will have it when I need it. Thanks again.
 

jamesfz6

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Useful info

Changing sprokets is the easiest way to make your bike faster......0 to 100. Anytime you go down teeth on the front sprocket you will have faster acceleration. The same thing will happen if you go up teeth in the back. I have mine set at 15teeth in the front and 48 on the back. I went down 1 and up 2 from stock. It is also the cheapest way to increase take off because you will spend about $20-$25 (U.S.) on the front and $60-$65 on the rear.
You will not have to get a new chain if you can do the basic change i did. You can go as much as you want when it comes to sprockets, but remember, having a faster take off makes your top end go down. You will also be in a higher RPM at highway speed which will decrease gas milage by up to 20 miles per tank full (thats what i experienced). If you want to take your bike to the drag strip i would recommend them. If you want to just get to 100 quicker i would recommend them. If you want better gas milage i would stay away.

Some people also ask me if they can go the opposite direction and get a faster top end. The answer is yes but you will be very limited because if you go too small in the back or too big in the front, you will be slower on take off than an 80 year old with cataracts.



Try a brand called Vortex for the best selection i have found. If you have any questions about sprockets that i didnt cover please start a thread. I am sure more people would like to know more about sprokets.





I dont know everything but i try to be as accurate in my info as i can. Everything from here is from my own personal experiences and from the experiences of my good friends.

be safe and have fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

jamesfz6

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Chain

I forgot to mention that chains to go really big. Like the ones used in stunting 130 links or better can run you $120 or more. If you do need a new chain for your new sprockets you will have to grind out a link on your stock chain since Yamaha puts on their chains before the swingarm is assembled. A o-ring clip master-link will do just fine. Make sure it is in Yamaha 130 pitch or it wont work. Every other bike maufacturer uses the same chain size where yamaha uses a different one, so please be careful not to get the wrong size.
 

jamesfz6

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One more thing

Remember that the FZ6 reads the speed from the trans and not from the tires, so when you change gears you will not be showing accurate speed. Going the one down, two up method will make the speedo read about 5 MPH fast. It will also make your bike rack up more miles on the odometer. Since the bike thinks you are acctually going faster. My bike has about 100 or more extra miles on it than it should just from 3 months of this regearing.
 

jamesfz6

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Yes it will mess with the speedo, but the stock speedo reads 8% fast anyway.
So you will now be miles out, not a problem so long as you are aware of it.

Neil. :thumbup:




The faster read on the speedo makes me go a little slower because i dont want to get a ticket, at least thats what i keep telling myself.:p
 

Nelly

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Remember that the FZ6 reads the speed from the trans and not from the tires, so when you change gears you will not be showing accurate speed. Going the one down, two up method will make the speedo read about 5 MPH fast. It will also make your bike rack up more miles on the odometer. Since the bike thinks you are acctually going faster. My bike has about 100 or more extra miles on it than it should just from 3 months of this regearing.
Is this a common thing that riders do. Im well happy with the way mine rides. I didn't realise that the speedo margin was so big 8%?
 

gmickey2001

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I rode past a Highway Patrol radar trailer on Sat. My speedo said 83, it said 73. I can tell it's off considerably at these speeds just based on the flow of traffic. This could be different of course on the european models.
 

Nelly

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I rode past a Highway Patrol radar trailer on Sat. My speedo said 83, it said 73. I can tell it's off considerably at these speeds just based on the flow of traffic. This could be different of course on the european models.
Im in MPH to, so it should be about the same. Whats to say that the sat is accurate? When I got my sat nav there was some blurb on it saying it was not calibrated for speed ect.
 
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gmickey2001

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No, it was not a sat nav thingy (I'm way too cheap to buy one of those :p) this was one of those trailers they set up, it has radar on it and displays the clocked speed as you pass by.

But the same question applies. I have no way of knowing if their equipment is accurate.
 

Nelly

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No, it was not a sat nav thingy (I'm way too cheap to buy one of those :p) this was one of those trailers they set up, it has radar on it and displays the clocked speed as you pass by.

But the same question applies. I have no way of knowing if their equipment is accurate.
Cool we don't got them. Does it take a picture of you to? If not can you ride by doing about 156mph so we can see how fast the top speed really is?:thumbup::thumbup:
 

rubyrabbit

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It's easier on the chain to increase sprocket diameters so if you're looking for an incremental change start off by adding on to the rear sprocket. If you reach the limits of adjustability and still need more you can drop the front.

Because. . . . . .when you drop the size of a sprocket you decrease the radius, increase the angular velocity, and increase the angular acceleration and load on the chain and sprocket. You get faster wear and shorter life of both parts. If you make a sprocket larger the forces go down.
 

jamesfz6

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Is this a common thing that riders do. Im well happy with the way mine rides. I didn't realise that the speedo margin was so big 8%?

Very common where im from. Changing sprockets is the cheapest way to get more out of your bike. It costs about $100 to change out both. $60-$65 for the rear and $20 for the front.
 

Neil

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Im in MPH to, so it should be about the same. Whats to say that the sat is accurate? When I got my sat nav there was some blurb on it saying it was not calibrated for speed ect.

A GPS is accurate for speed, error is so small you can forget it, Garmin used to quote better than 1% at 1000MPH.
Just look at it like this, the speed is calculated as part of the position finding, if it was out, so would your position, or to look at simplistically, the little arrow that represents you, would no longer be following the road.
I have used a GPS for many thousands of miles, and the little arrow has never lost the road.
I have also lost count of the number of police cars I have passed with the GPS reading 70, and the speedo showing the best part of 80 mph, the same holds true for the bloody speed cameras, not been caught out yet (touching wood)
Neil. :thumbup:
 
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