I want to change my front drive sproket, and I am wondering a few things. First off , what is the difficulty of the job, and do I need any special tools. Ie pullers, etc....Is there a woodruff key in there somwhere?

Second, If I want to drop down teeth, should I go down a tooth or should I go down two teeth? I was thinking perhaps of losing one tooth in the front and maybe change up the rear later. Right now I'm running stock at 17/42.I'm not lookingto do Evil Kinevil wheelies or anything, just trying to make the bottom end a bit torqueier (is that a word??)Any help would be grateful. Pictures of changing the front sproket would be very helpful too!

TIA

 

Front sprocket replacement is a straigth forward operation and you don't need anyspecial tools. Changing from 17 to 16 tooth will increase the torque by 6.25%, which feels more in the pantsthan it looks in writing. The top speed may go down somewhat, but this it not sure since the engine will work under a lighter load, on all gears. With 15 tooth you may find the increased rpm annoying and the chain will be more bent andage faster.

 

Not difficult, but you have to remove the fairing panel on the LHS middle, the clutch actuator, etc . Changing front sprocket by 1 tooth will give equivalent of about 7 HP at the wheel, with faster accelleration but reduced top end .2 teeth reduction to 15 teeth and the bike becomes a wheelie machine, and not much but a superbike will catch you.Fuel consumption suffers severely, and rev limiter reached very quickly.I would rather go up one or two teeth on the rear sprocket.....not so violent !!

 

That iswhat I've done on the Bird, -1 front and +2 rear.

 

Yeah, I think that I will probably go the rear Sprocket route, it sounds better for my needs. Fuel consumption more of a benifit for me as I will be doing more touring than wheelies!

Had to get my car fixed today Shadow. After all that talk about crime the other day, someone broke into my car this morning and ripped out my stereo, completly destroying my dash....bastards! Crime rate just went up in Canada...hehe

I actually got out for a short ride yesterday as the temperature soared to a whopping 4 degrees celcius !!

 

Sorry to hear about that stereo, Gill... but don't worry it gets worse down here in Argentina![:-]

Anyway, back to the subject, so going down one teeth on the front sprocket gives more acceleration... but what's adding 2 on the rear does?

 

Going down on the front sprocket is similar to going up 3 teeth in the back. Not exactly, but similar. There's a relationship between front sprocket and the rear sprocket. As someone mentioned here, going smaller in front causes the chain to turn sharper, causing faster wear. Also be aware that changing the number of teeth on the sprockets will effect the length of the chain. I haven't changed the number of teeth on my sprockets so I don't know if you have to add or remove any links in the chain to still be able to adjust it. Maybe someone can chime in and speak to that.

 

Hmm so it's not as simple as just replacing a sprocket, also the chain must be replaced as well.
Thanks for the explanation, I'm new to chain drives (always had shaft, except for my old CB750F) so any info is always welcomed

 

If you drop 1 tooth on the front, you can get away with adjusting the chain - should be OK unless it's stretched. If you drop 1 tooth in front, and go up two on the back, like R1000, also OK but more than that either way and you may have to add or reduce links.The circumference of the sprockets change radically when you add or subtract teeth...!!
So, there are Africans in Canada too - I wonder which one's got your stereo, Gill ? Sorry to hear about that......

 

I've changed to 45 on the rear,thechangedid so my rear wheel is as much as is possible "forward" in the adjustments...makes your bike "shorter" between the wheel to wheel base. Feels now like the bike drops/leans in to corners quicklierand should be even more noticeable if i raise the rear a bit. And for those who like to wheelie the moving of the rear wheel in under you a$$ should increase the chances to get this heavy bike looking at the sky...