Hey guys, i just took my bike in for some maintinence and they suggested i get a new chain and sprocket kit.

I have gone about 30 pages back in the f4i section and i found a few posts relating to my needs. So, after reading, this is what i have figured out.

*-1 in front will give better acceleration and reduce gas milage
*520 chains are lighter than 525 chains
*stock toothing is 16/46
*chaning from stock will throw off speedo/odometer
*RK & Driven kits are common/ DID chains are common
*Speedohealer may be needed

I had questions on what the rear set up does. +1,2 or 3 seems to be the norm, but i see guys that only change the front. Is there a benefit to changing up the rear, or is it necessary?

I ride my bike mostly on the streets to work and school (both less than 5 miles), and the occasional PCH ride or canyon ride. Gas milage is important, but not priority. I think id rather have a bit more ballsy low end speed. Ill most likely do -1 in the front and then i dont know what to do after that.

Please help me out with any suggestions or additional knowledge to help me learn. This is a new topic of the bike for me. sorry for the long post

 

Changing the front will do those things that you've mentioned. The catch is that, from what I've read, you don't want to reduce your front sprocket by more than 1 tooth for fear of chain binding. If that doesn't give you the low-end grunt you want then you can enlarge the rear sprocket to get extra oomph. You aren't really limited by much in terms of putting a larger rear sprocket on your bike. Some of the sprockets on those stunt bikes look like pizza pans.

Each 2 or 3 (I'm not sure) teeth added to the rear sprocket equals the reduction of 1 front sprocket tooth.

I went -1 / +2 and really enjoy the low-end thrust but my mileage hasn't suffered THAT much...and I commute 70 miles a day.

Finally, I'm partial to AFAM sprockets and DID chains for what it's worth.

 

-1 in the front will equal roughly +3 in the rear. If you go -1front/+3back you will need a speedo healer. I have +2 in the back, stock front and am very happy with it. there isn't enough error to throw off the speedo barely and there is a nice boost in low end. gas mileage is still great. I would recommend just going up in the back a couple teeth and see how you like it. if you feel you need more than drop a tooth in the front. good luck

 

ive also gone -1 in the front, but ive kept the 525 chain. some people will tell you that a 520 doesnt make such difference on the street, while some will say it does. either way, i think either -1 or +2-3 in the rear sounds like what you would want. i have about the same commute as you, i ride pretty hard, and i get about 40mpg still.

 

Did you keep your stock chain on the bike or did you need to get a new one with an extra link or two? Just wondering if a person needs to invest in a new chain just to add 2 teeth to the rear sproket? Just to check, you now have a 48 tooth rear sprocket?

 

I have -1 up front with a 525 chain and 46 rear. The chain is DID and the sprockets are both Vortex, no problems so far. I heard the aluminum rear would wear faster but I don't think that's an issue for regular riding. The -1 will do what you want. If you want to just look at your speedo get a speedohealer. I have to figure out 10% (it's actually higher than that) of my speed which is very distracting. And it decreases top speed.

 

I think you are making it too complicated. I would recommend that you just buy the RK quick accel kit from kneedraggers.com. Your speedo will be off, but you get used to it.

 

I still have a 525 chain.. its not stock tho. i'm not sure if the stock chain will allow increasing teeth. i can't imagine added +2 to the rear would require a new chain tho. And yes, i now have a 48 tooth rear sprocket

 

K, thanks for the info! [sm=icon_cheers.gif]

 

I would go with a Driven Power Up kit.....thats what I run.