i see some people put 15tooth and some put 14 whats the difference what is the stock one whats does a 14 of 15 do just one of the stupid ?s on the way to upgrading my bike i order my 1st parts today and going to order my front springs on payday all thanks to this  site
                                                                 thanks flipher
         p.s if and one has links where is a good place to buy let me know

Here's a good explanation of what each sprocket will do for you. I have a 15 tooth, stock is 16.

http://cgi.stanford.edu/~sanjayd/gs500/Upgrades/Sprocket

For more torque, you want to go smaller sprockets in the front and larger in the back.  I believe stock is 16 tooth in the front...if I'm wrong somebody please correct me.  My buddy put a 15 tooth in the front and left the stock on the back and can pop pretty decent wheelies in second gear.

-Lucas

haha whoops looks like you beat me to it Bucks1605

any good link to buy from and how hard to put the front on

15T front sprocket is very good mod and UNIVERSAL. You still can do around 30-40MPH (indicated) in first gear but you have more acceleration.
I believe 14T is nice too, but if you do a lot of highway riding it may not be the best option.

I've got 15T and I'm very happy with that!

cheers
KaMel

Quote from: kml.krk on March 15, 2008, 07:05:19 PM
I believe 14T is nice too, but if you do a lot of highway riding it may not be the best option.

why? how hard to change

The 14 tooth swap essentially removes the stock 6th gear and adds an even lower 1st gear.  Math: 16/14 = 1.142857. This means there is a 14.29% increase in RPMs. Top gear at 80mph will have the RPMs sitting around 6857 RPM(pretty much 7000 on the tach).  (Courtesy of the wiki.) So if you ride a lot of highway miles, it may not be a great option. Here's a thread about someond who installed the 14 tooth. http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=28026.0

The installation of the two is exactly the same, and very easy. Just remove the sprocket cover, pop off the clip and old rotor, and replace with new rotor followed by clip and sprocket cover.

what kind do i get i looked on ebay for 15 tooth sprocket and so many come up

Quote from: bucks1605 on March 15, 2008, 07:15:18 PM
The installation of the two is exactly the same, and very easy. Just remove the sprocket cover, pop off the clip and old rotor, and replace with new rotor followed by clip and sprocket cover.

Plus you'll have to adjust the chain when you're done with the sprocket.
Not a big deal though.
cheers
KaMeL

If you want to know what a 14T front will be like on the highway, just leave your stock GS in 5th gear and it will be the same as the 14T is in 6th gear.  When I used to run with big twin friends on the freeways I would just leave it in 5th to match their roll on speeds and drop it to 4th to leave them.     Engine speeds are the same for a stock GS in 5th and a 14T sprocket GS in 6th.  Changing gears is easier than changing sprockets.   

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/jcp8832/GS500gearing-sprocket-rpms.jpg

whats stock for the back if im going to put a 15 on the front whats a good size to go on the back without over doing it

Quote from: flipher on March 16, 2008, 11:33:59 AM
whats stock for the back if im going to put a 15 on the front whats a good size to go on the back without over doing it

isn't it just easier to go 14T front? I guess you want more acceleration, so 14T would be easier and cheaper to do.

BTW I don't know the answer to your question  sorry

so dont go down one and up one you say just go down two is the same ok but wont that be to hard on my bike on the freeway maybe i should just go with the 15 then ad just stick with at

Sprockets are cheap ($15.) and easy to change, so you can buy both and try each.
I'm glad I just went with the 14t, it is a much nicer bike to ride on the streets and twisties with the 14t, you are just going to shift sooner and a little more often on the streets.
gsJack is right about the fwys, it just feels like you're riding down a gear, which I often did anyway to have the power at hand to scoot out of the way of some cager who might be coming into my lane without looking. I got it up to 80mph on the fwy just fine and it had a lot left, but my tire squirm front and back on the diamond grooves was so bad I could never ride it over 65, even then the squirm was noticeable and irritating. The rpms aren't up that much more, the bike redlines at 11k, I don't see a problem with running it on a fwy at 6500rpm, but others may think differently. My bike seems to run lower rpms for the gearing change that the wiki states it should...

I got a JT sprocket online, can't remember who from. Sprocket Specialists has them from 11-17, but they are more expensive. I searched and got this link, but you should search the site yourself or call them if you use them.
http://www.sprocketspecialists.com/SearchResults.aspx?txtSearch=504

To me it didn't seem so radical but my hubby tried it and popped the front wheel up over two feet in a power wheelie in first. He only tried it out, he's used to wheelie-ing dual sports. You're not going to do it accidentally if you are smooth on the throttle. (If you crank it hard around hard, well... )
He just went down one tooth in front and up 7 in back on his DR, but he's lost his top speed so will go back up to his stock front of 15.

Edit for a note: If you do put a 14t on, be careful until you're used to how fast the power comes on, especially accelerating out of a turn. In a straight line, watch out for cops and cars! 
We had a couple of squidly moments coming home today with our smaller sprockets; testing the bikes' squirtability. I wound the GS up fast and hard on a big broad empty city street, I swear I hit 65 in 3rd at about 9.5-10k in what felt like about 4 heartbeats, chasing the 650. But generally when I roll on power unless I'm passing or getting up to fwy speeds, I'm twisting the throttle in 1/8 inch increments once within the powerband. And it's a sloppy throttle to start with. That's how much the gearing changes it, it will push you back in the seat if you lay it on, but I like it just fine. It's not an R1, it's no racer replica, but any bike can hurt someone who isn't paying attention.

A 15t front will give you power sooner, just not as soon as a 14t, and won't make much difference in fwy riding or gas consumption.

Just check the oil a little more often, I check it every other ride, so about every 60-100 miles. I just changed it out to synthetic, and it seems it's not burning any lately.