Yes, I know, there are a million sprocket threads, but mine is different I swear!

Ok here we go.
My 02 F4i is approaching 18k miles, I noticed during routine cleaning that my chain is starting to develop some rust (stock chain and sprockets). I decided hey, good time to upgrade right? so here are my questions.
Initially, I was looking at getting a 16T/45T set because I do a lot of highway, then I went onto gearingcommander.com and that combo will only save me 150rpm or so in 6th gear, then I started playing with combos... now keep in mind, I do mostly highway, but, I wouldnt mind being a touch quicker of the line either... I'm currently kicking around a few options... 16T/44T, 17T/46T, 15T/46T, 16T/48T, 15T/48T

To those of you that have swapped out your sprockets -
What combo do you have?
How is it on the highway compared to stock?
How is it around town compared to stock?
How is your fuel economy compared to before the sprocket change?
and of course, what is your riding style?

Basically if I can swap a -1/0 or -1/+2 without severely negatively affecting my fuel economy, I'll do it and deal with the higher RPM on the highway. Common sense of course tells me that if I do one of those swaps I'm getting worse mileage; and of course on the contrary if swapping in a 0/-2 will greatly improve my mileage then maybe thats the route to take. I'm just undecided; every time I try to do something to my bike, or car, I spend 6 months thinking about it and getting nowhere, I'm hoping that I can get some opinions that will sway me in one direction or another. The only example I have to go on is my 92 mustang - stock it had 2:73's when I swapped in 3:55's it became much quicker, and suprisingly, better on gas; if I could have that happen with the F4i I'd be pretty happy.

 

Hey I did the -1 +2 and didn't like it but it gave an incredible low end boost. Had them on for one quick trip (30 miles) and now they are hanging in my garage. oh well, to each his own.

 

This question is not different....just sayin.
Go 16/46

 

^ true true lol

I went -1 in front and didn't like it because 80% of my riding is highway. switched back to stock. If you're concerned about highway RPM and mileage, stay stock.
Do not put a taller ratio (0/-2) on a 600cc bike or you'll feel like it has no power at all, and city riding will be horrendous.

That said [-1/0 mild] or [-1/+2 aggressive] are both very popular for the f4i. But obviously expect less miles per tank.

Also in your mustang, it is not possible that 3:55 gears improved your gas mileage. The motor is now spinning more rpms to travel the same distance. SOOOO your trip odometer will show more miles per tank, but in reality you have traveled less miles and used more gas than compared to your stock gears. same is true on bikes.

 

boredandstroked & Sick97SS - thanks for the replys, I may keep stock ratio in the end; wish I could try before I buy you know what I mean? I picked up a used rear rim/tire that had a +2 sprocket on it, I was going to try that out, but my chain wasn't long enough.
As for the mustang - I changed the speedo drive gear when I did the rear end, so my speedo and odo were accurate - the reasons I think fuel economy increased were:
1.) on the highway at 65mph I was at 2,000rpm after the gear swap, with the 2:73's cruising in 5th at 65mph it was lugging along
2.) around town I was able to get into a higher gear sooner, so I could be in 4th at 45mph cruising.
I know, it doesn't make sense that a steeper gear would merrit better fuel economy but it did; I should note that when I put my foot in it, I did get worse gas mileage than before the swap, but it was my only mode of transport at the time so I tried to keep it under control.
Also can someone explain the advantage of a 520 conversion to me?

 

Its very possable to get better milage on a car with higher gears. I had a 79 1/2ton chevy. I put a 99 vortec 350 in it with a 200-4R overdrive but kept the stock 3.08 rear gears. 80mph was just hitting 2000rpm. Leaving it in 3rd instead of 4th gave 80mph at 3000rpm and about 2mpg better. If I had switched to 3.42's I would have been around 2300rpm at 80 and gained several mpg's over 3rd gear cruising.
Problem with bikes is they are already geared so high you'll never see a gain revving them even higher. 80mph at 2000rpm in my 79 truck is the same as 80mph at about 4000rpm on a F4i but stock the f4i revs 7000rpm at that speed.

As for 520's, no. Theres a bizillion threads all over everything about them already.

 

Thanks for answering the 520 question - motomummy only offers a "520 conversion" for my bike, no 525 kit, so I was wondering what the difference was.
Thanks to sick97ss I'll be trying out a -1/0 setup for a while before I take the plunge; lets see how it goes...