Ho-Kay, RRRReeeky......'splain me deez...

Last year all the buzz was that you simply "must" change your gearing to lower ratios with a smaller front and larger rear sprocket.....

"It improves performance and handling in all gears, improves mileage and top speed, etc"  "The bike just "feels better"  like a whole new bike......"   Greatest thing since sliced bread.....

Lately the "buzz" is ..."you just gotta go with taller gearing...big sprocket up front.."

"It improves performance and handling in all gears, improves mileage and top speed, etc"  "The bike just "feels better"  like a whole new bike......"   Its the cats meow.....

Hmmmm.......8 speed trans?....10?   12?



Cookie

All individual perceptions mate! ... After doing a few searches last week or two ... There are regular cycles of both theories .. All the way back to early 2000's ? IIRC ...

My main perception is that REALLY ... None of us ... At our usual riding style/skill level is going to gain THAT much of a world changing experience.... But!! ... We do all see the Big Race Teams working a lot with gearing and sprocket changes .... So .... "It must work for 'me' too!!!" ..

And seeing as 'all of us' here... Have the mighty GS500!!!.... Which is never gonna be a super sport TT podium winner 10 years running ... The various changes are all to personal taste! ... Sure some of the crew want more low end grunt... Some want lower rpms for cruising (me included) ...

I just think it IS great that with so many people trying so many different ideas... We end up with a HUGE comparison baseline of info ... To all do with as we see fit.... 

And yeah ... Every 'new' change feels better to any user... Cos we change the 'thing' and expect it to be better... It is.. Comparatively .. So we love it and say so loudly! ... Even new tyres or chains! Of any brand/type ... Of course it feels better!! It's new!! .... Which is awesome!! 

If it works, dont fukk it by fixing it

Quote from: codajastal on June 09, 2013, 04:21:04 AM
If it works, dont fukk it by fixing it

this also is incredibly valid!! Lol ...

Point well made Sir!

Quote from: Janx101 on June 09, 2013, 04:23:16 AM

Quote from: codajastal on June 09, 2013, 04:21:04 AM
If it works, dont fukk it by fixing it

this also is incredibly valid!! Lol ...

Point well made Sir!

Agree. Mine is stock gearing. When I need new sprockets, they too will be stock. If I want a faster bike Ill get a 600+

Well said!


Cookie

Quote from: Janx101 on June 09, 2013, 04:18:58 AM
All individual perceptions mate! ... After doing a few searches last week or two ... There are regular cycles of both theories .. All the way back to early 2000's ? IIRC ...

My main perception is that REALLY ... None of us ... At our usual riding style/skill level is going to gain THAT much of a world changing experience.... But!! ... We do all see the Big Race Teams working a lot with gearing and sprocket changes .... So .... "It must work for 'me' too!!!" ..

And seeing as 'all of us' here... Have the mighty GS500!!!.... Which is never gonna be a super sport TT podium winner 10 years running ... The various changes are all to personal taste! ... Sure some of the crew want more low end grunt... Some want lower rpms for cruising (me included) ...

I just think it IS great that with so many people trying so many different ideas... We end up with a HUGE comparison baseline of info ... To all do with as we see fit.... 

And yeah ... Every 'new' change feels better to any user... Cos we change the 'thing' and expect it to be better... It is.. Comparatively .. So we love it and say so loudly! ... Even new tyres or chains! Of any brand/type ... Of course it feels better!! It's new!! .... Which is awesome!! 

It's a total mater of what you're looking for. I normally go fifty miles at a time at 55mph and wouldn't change a thing about the factory setup. I do go interstate where the speeds are 70 to 80 though, and I did notice if I were cruising 50+ miles per day on the interstate like I used to, I MIGHT tinker with the final drive to try to get my revs down and possibly improve mileage.

On the other end, if ride mainly in the twisties, I've found some REAL hair raising hair pin turns and steep slopes, I might change the final drive to get a lower first gear. I've had to wind it up in first gear to keep it from stalling on a 35 degree driveway covered in leaves... If I LIVED on mountainous leaf covered roads I'd definitely have to reduce gearing.

I live an hour commute out of state to where I work, so for me it's usually all about the mileage, but sometimes safety creeps in too.

hi there
sure thing: It's a total mater of what you're looking for.

What i did: now i am running the GS 500 with:

- 18 / 36 tooth sprockets: it fits well - no issues with the 18 t sprocket...
- 130/90 rear tyre

here some of my results:

Overall Impressions:   i am very happy - the bike runs great

three little video clips

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=64556.0

https://vimeo.com/67906142

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/10692199/gs500xxlgearing/

i do not live mountainous leaf covered roads.

I've never got better gas mileage by taller gearing ... and that's cos I spend all my time 2-3-4 ... if I had it taller, I'd spend 1-2-3 ...
If you have long haul stretches @ 70 it may help taller ...
I may have better luck by shorter ... maybe do 2-3-4-5 instead of 2-3-4.

No clue, but your throttle position determines your gasmileage more than your gearing IMHO.

Cool.
Buddha.

Quote from: Janx101 on June 09, 2013, 04:18:58 AM
All individual perceptions mate! ... After doing a few searches last week or two ... There are regular cycles of both theories .. All the way back to early 2000's ? IIRC ...

My main perception is that REALLY ... None of us ... At our usual riding style/skill level is going to gain THAT much of a world changing experience.... But!! ... We do all see the Big Race Teams working a lot with gearing and sprocket changes .... So .... "It must work for 'me' too!!!" ..

And seeing as 'all of us' here... Have the mighty GS500!!!.... Which is never gonna be a super sport TT podium winner 10 years running ... The various changes are all to personal taste! ... Sure some of the crew want more low end grunt... Some want lower rpms for cruising (me included) ...

I just think it IS great that with so many people trying so many different ideas... We end up with a HUGE comparison baseline of info ... To all do with as we see fit.... 

And yeah ... Every 'new' change feels better to any user... Cos we change the 'thing' and expect it to be better... It is.. Comparatively .. So we love it and say so loudly! ... Even new tyres or chains! Of any brand/type ... Of course it feels better!! It's new!! .... Which is awesome!! 

  .. Spot on! 

I see 3 scenarios here:

1. You use the bike round town with a small highway stint to the twisty roads. In which case if you wanted you could gear for more acceleration trading off top speed for zipping in and out with a sharper response.

2. You use the bike for mainly highway stints with hardly any twisty work. In which case if again you wanted to gear for a lower rpm in 6th to help extend your range. Trading off acceleration but gaining top end speed.

3. You use your bike for a 33/33/34 split of highway, twisty, city riding. In which case leave the bike as it came with stock gearing and ride the chain off the sprocket.

It's all a trade off with bikes what you gain in one area you lose proportionally in another. If you really wanna muck around with it make the bike do what you want it to.

Nice!   I agree with 1, 2, and 3...but mostly 3..........

Dude...the bike's got 6 gears!!!  That is plenty....

Back in the day...bikes had 5 speeds...some 4 speeds...even 3 speeds....

I remember when most cars has 3 speed on the column  or even 2 speed "dynaflop" automatics......

Quote from: slipperymongoose on June 15, 2013, 06:48:42 AM
I see 3 scenarios here:

1. You use the bike round town with a small highway stint to the twisty roads. In which case if you wanted you could gear for more acceleration trading off top speed for zipping in and out with a sharper response.

2. You use the bike for mainly highway stints with hardly any twisty work. In which case if again you wanted to gear for a lower rpm in 6th to help extend your range. Trading off acceleration but gaining top end speed.

3. You use your bike for a 33/33/34 split of highway, twisty, city riding. In which case leave the bike as it came with stock gearing and ride the chain off the sprocket.

It's all a trade off with bikes what you gain in one area you lose proportionally in another. If you really wanna muck around with it make the bike do what you want it to.

In Malaysia on my uncles farm there is a 98cc Jaames motorcycle with  2 gears that my uncle has fixed for fun and for car shows. The English army used them in Malaya when they were in charge a long time ago. Mu uncles bike has a engine made by English company called Villiers. Very small motorcycle. I can lift it up in my hands! Geras are changed with knob on handlebar. Very funny to ride. But no guts or no go!

Quote from: twocool on June 15, 2013, 06:16:29 PMBack in the day...bikes had 5 speeds...some 4 speeds...even 3 speeds....

I remember when most cars has 3 speed on the column  or even 2 speed "dynaflop" automatics......

My first car had 3 speeds on the floor and three on the columns was an advancement that I had on later cars.  Full cycle and back again.   

Does anyone remember crash boxes, manual trannys with no syncros on the gears.  Had to double clutch up and down to avoid the clash of gears, actually could just hesitate on the upshift if timed just right.  I drove a 28 Packard with a crash box when I was 15.  I remember everything that happened in the last 80 years, just can't recall most of it.   

My  81 CM400A only had 2 speeds plus a torque converter, some cars had the same back in the 40-50's after WW2.

Quote from: gsJack on June 16, 2013, 08:48:24 AM

My first car had 3 speeds on the floor and three on the columns was an advancement that I had on later cars.  Full cycle and back again.   

Does anyone remember crash boxes, manual trannys with no syncros on the gears.  Had to double clutch up and down to avoid the clash of gears, actually could just hesitate on the upshift if timed just right.  I drove a 28 Packard with a crash box when I was 15.  I remember everything that happened in the last 80 years, just can't recall most of it.   

My  81 CM400A only had 2 speeds plus a torque converter, some cars had the same back in the 40-50's after WW2.

Your a bit ahead of me, I too had to learn how to double clutch at the age of 15, my first car was a '65 Rambler Classic 660 V8, it had a non syncro 1st Borg Warner T86E trans, three on the tree w/OD, I don't know what I would do with non syncro 2nd and 3rd 
Being a $100.00 car bought with a blown transmission, once the $65 junkyard tranny was in there the OD didn't work....until I wired the engagement solenoid to a hot switch, it was at that point I had 6 speeds forward and 2 reverse. Oh yeah,  If you wanna piss somebody off, beat them in a race with a Rambler 

I used  to buy 1963 Valiants with plugged PCV valves. The car would burn a quart of oil in less than 400 miles. Pull the PCV, clean it in gas and replace the hose with proper stiff walled PCV hose, or just push a rod through it to get the gunk loose. Oil consumption would drop to 1500-2000 miles a quart.

First car was a 2 dr 57 Chevy with a powerglide. 52 bucks at the abandoned car auction. Newspaper and bondo for the rusted out floors. No oil getting to the rockers so put a little grease on them ever so often. Compared to that Chevy the Valiant was great, even got 28 MPG in one on a road trip.

regards
Mech