Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I've got a 1989 GS500E and I have just about finished with the chain on it, i've got the axle set back as far as it'll slide so now i'm in the market for a new chain and possibly sprockets.

I was wondering if anybody had any suggestions on a new chain, such as brand, pricing, etc., as well as whether switching out the sprockets is necessary if they show no obvious signs of being worn out? Thanks, looking forward to your answers

Check out www.denniskirk.com for chain and sprockets.  If you don't replace the entire set at the same time, the old parts wear out the new (or vice versa). And make sure you get either O ring chain or X ring chain- they last longer than non o ring chains.

If you have the shekels, buy a DID x-ring.

Thanks, I'll price a few chains and see what I can find. Any suggestions on sprockets, or would my best bet be to just order OEM ones from bikebandit or somewhere?

DID, EK and RK are the good brands I think. JT makes aftermarket sprockets that seem good enough.

Hi there everyone i have a 2004 gs500 i have been wanting to change the sprockets around for a while now and i ordered a 14t 45t just wondering what opionins there are to changing to these sprockets i want a boost of power but dont want so much that the bike wont be fun anymore so any imput would be appr. thanks

14/45 will be a very short shifting bike, be very careful as you will be popping it up if ya gas it

The motor produces power, the sprockets transfer it to the rear wheel. Changing the sprockets won't change the power. Changing the sprockets changes the torque and rpm at the back wheel.
You need to understand the difference if you want to understand the effect it will have on your bike.

Try riding your bike around for a day without using 5th or 6th gear (include some highway riding), that will give you some idea of the negative side of the effect a 14/45 will have on your fun factor.

A 14/45 combination represents a 31.86% increase in the final drive ratio over the stock 16/39. Way way too severe.....go more than about 8-10% either way and any perceived benefits will be outweighed by disadvantages. In this case you will require 31.86% more revs to hit the same speed you would if you were on stock gearing. Put another way you are knocking 31.86% off the top speed in every gear! First and possibly second would become useless, the sprockets would simply climb over each other.

Positive increases in the ratio allow a trade off between top end power and low end torque relative to speed, so again in this case you will see an increase in torque at slow speed which will give you increased acceleration...... but you will start running out of power at a much slower speed, consequently the bike wont pull the weight and starts being effected by wind resistance as it starts to max out.

So lets cut to the chase.......

If you go with 14/45 I estimate based on the percentages that you will be knocking about 45mph off the top speed, lets say a new max of about 65mph owing to the reduction in top end power....BUT it will get there much quicker owing to the now increased amount of low end torque. Assuming of course you can change gear quick enough without lifting the front wheel.........which I doubt very much.

ok here you go.  I ran a 14/45 for 2 yrs.  your top speed wont be dropped to 65 mph you wont be doing any wheelies if you gas it fast or even dump the clutch(or at least mine didnt)  I never ran mine to red line but i had no problem doing 85 and thats way over any legal limit on the roads around here.  it make city driving fun as your not down shifting every time traffic slows.  You will get a bit more vibrations in the bike due to the higher rpms at speed but like i said i ran it for 2 yrs that way.  You will have to get a longer chain if you get the 14/45 setup tho due to the differences in sprockets over stock and the chain size you need is a 112 link

i know it wont change the power i said that wrong what i ment was a faster take off i guess im just trying to get the opinions if i should change both or just the front or back. Trying to figure out what would be best as i do alot of city riding. I bought the kit but did not put it on yet it came with  a 120 link chain so i guess im good to go when i do decide to change it but thank you everyone for your input i will post when i change it and let you know what happens