Are these readily available at the Suzuki dealership?
Are these common as to fitting the GS500 "properly"?
From all that I've read this will only decrease my top end approx. 5 mph or so. No prob. All the roads here in South Louisiana are constructed from broken concrete anyway. I rarely get over 75. Every now and then I'll get a wild hair up my ass and shoot up to 90. Also I've read that this can be done in a very short time with minimal effort. I value all y'all's opinions and any help is appreciated. Thanks, Wilson

15T front sprockets are a pretty common item, but not all dealerships will carry them.  You can usually order them for less than $15.

There are at least two different types of front sprockets.  One has a "shoulder" on it, the other does not.  Do a search to find out which years require sprockets with shoulders.  Many people (including me) have ordered the wrong sprockets because we weren't aware of this.  Kerry has a sprocket and chain pages somewhere.

Some say it will actually increase your top speed.  Presumably you are putting the powerband to better use.  It will probably decrease fuel economy.  I didn't notice much of a change at all.

It should only take about 30 minutes to do if you take your time.  Redshift (I think) posted a nice little picture summary a few days ago.  Search for that too.

Since the sprocket switch only affects the final drive ratio, what's the big advantage? It seems to me that the only real gain is in the lower ratio in top gear. Everything else below that is cancelled out by the fact that you can select a lower gear anyway if you want it. For example you could just leave it in 5th and not use 6th.

Just thinking out loud here.

And another thing. So you achieve a lower overall ratio and use higher rpms per gear. That just wastes gas and engine life. What's the payback?

slightly faster acceleration, and the ability to pull awesome wheelies.

not so much on the wheelie part, but it does help alittle with off the line acceleration.

Jake

The 15 toother also narrows all the gear splits--like a close ratio gearbox--for better acceleration.  The lower ratio gives greater mechanical advantage throughout and top end shouldn't sufffer at all since the GS500 can't pull redline in 6th.  Alternately, a 17 toother will produce a lazy (boring) feeling bike, but with lower cruising RPMs.

Ooh, my ears were burning.

In case you're curious, here a link to the Sprocket Cover Cleanout & Clutch Adjustment thread that xtalman was refering to.

I'm curious what you "15-Tooth" folks feel about bombing around town and having to shift into 4th (perhaps 5th) to stay up to traffic.  I'm kinda tired of running through the gears all the time.  For that reason I'm considering the Boring direction, just to see if it'll leave me in 3rd more often.

Guess it's all a matter of perspective and riding purpose.  Perhaps it's age, but popping wheelies just isn't the sensation I'm looking for, but to each his own...

Correct me if I'm wrong, it's been a few years since I took physics, but changing the gear ratios means increased or decreased torque, right? I.e. torque and velocity vary inversely while power stays constant. So in a given gear, with a smaller front sprocket you have more torque but a lower top speed. This means faster acceleration but a lower top end; but since some people have reported that the GS can't use all of its top end in the first place because the stock gearing is too long, it really just means faster acceleration, for $14.95. Fuel economy will go down... I went from about 55 mpg to 50 mpg.

I say go for it. Even if the result is not that noticeable, it's so quick and cheap that there's no reason not to. Also, given that the GS can't redline in 6th gear, I see a 15 tooth sprocket as what should have been in there from the beginning.

@ Redshift: the sprocket change seems to have fairly subtle results. I personally have not changed my riding style since doing it, i.e. with the 15-toother I'm in the same gear at the same speed that I was in with the 16-toother. I assume this means my rpms are up (assume because I have no tachometer, and can't tell by ear because of the Wileyco installed at the same time as the sprocket) and explains the slight fuel economy hit. But I don't find myself shifting more.

i put mine on about 2000 miles ago and the mileage is the same.  the acceleration feels quicker and it doesn't help me with the wheelies.  i bought mine through the dealership for about $14

Thanks for all the responses................I need to "ponder this" a mite....

ok in theory

RPM for a given speed will increase by 16/15
torque for a given RPM will increase by 16/15
speed at min RPM will be 15/16
speed at max RPM will be 15/16
fuel economy will be 15/16

Because (allegedly) the GS500 cannot redline in 6th gear
the loss of top end speed should be negated by the better torque in 6th.

The 16/15 increase in torque doesn't sound like much, but as this
allows useful torque from slightly lower RPMs and those RPMs equate to lower speeds you get better off the line acceleration.
Also the lower minimum speed in 1st gear allows for better in town biking.

I used to have trouble with the engine lugging at about 3000RPM in slow traffic. Say this was 20MPH
Now I don't get lugging till about 2700 RPM which is about 16MPH

Not much difference, unless your average traffic speed is about 20MPH
which on my commute, much of it is.

Quote from: jeasti put mine on about 2000 miles ago and the mileage is the same.  the acceleration feels quicker and it doesn't help me with the wheelies.

+1 on all points...

So which is better a 15t front sprocket or a 14t front sprocket? I want more torque at the bottem end and just to take alittle bit off the top end. I also don't want to hurt the engine or the chain. I have a 2004 suzuki Gs500 do I need a front sprocket with shoulders?

.
Just for fun, at 70mph you will be running at the following RPMS:

16 tooth: 5500 RPM
15 tooth: 5850 RPM
14 tooth: 6300 RPM

Are you going to wear your engine out by sustained running at 6300 RPM?  I sure hope not...

Peak power for the GS500 is in the 7000's, which is why I am switching to a 14 tooth.  With a 14, 6000RPM = 67MPH, and 8000RPM = 89MPH.  That range covers the speeds that I cruise at, which is where I want the bike running in it's peak power.  

Coincidentally, with the stock gearing the GS runs at 68MPH at 6000RPM in 5th gear.

So basically, a 14tooth front sprocket is like trading 6th gear for an extra gear below first.

YMMV

Quote from: thirdman15 tooth: 5850 RPM

It's higher than that for me...  70 MPG is right around 6300-6400...  I think...

Hey thirdman
So the 15t and 14t tooth sprocket rase the RPM? The 15t and 14t sprocket lower the power peak? Where dose the 15t sprocket put the powerband? where dose the 14t sprocket put the powerband? Where dose the 15t sprocket put the torque? where dose the 14t sprocket put the torque? What did you mean when you said the 14tooth front sprocket is like trading 6th gear for an extra gear below first?
Thank you

Quote from: mountindewGSHey thirdman
So the 15t and 14t tooth sprocket rase the RPM? The 15t and 14t sprocket lower the power peak? Where dose the 15t sprocket put the powerband? where dose the 14t sprocket put the powerband? Where dose the 15t sprocket put the torque? where dose the 14t sprocket put the torque? What did you mean when you said the 14tooth front sprocket is like trading 6th gear for an extra gear below first?
Thank you

Torque and power stay right where they always were on the rpm band.  The speed in a given gear at a given rpm is what changes.  A 14 tooth is basically like adding a new lower 1st gear and moving your current first gear to second and so on - your top speed is basically unaffected as the GS500 cannot pull redline in the stock top gear - your 0-60 time may go up (I think you will need an extra shift in there) while your 0-100 will drop substantially.

Where is a good place to buy a 15T? the local stealership sells it for ~$25 and I know I can get one from eBay for ~$17. Is there anywhere else with better prices? :dunno: