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6K views 13 replies 8 participants last post by  Ado 
#1 · (Edited)
I have standard gearing on my RD03, & I'm going to ride the 1000+ miles to the Elefantentreffen at the end of January, which would be a good compromise gearing wise, 1 tooth less or 2 teeth less? Only changing the rear sprocket as I have a genuine Honda one on the front & I wouldn't change that for anyone! 
I'm considering this for motorway speeds at lower revs, preserving the engine, & maybe saving fuel!

Anyone else on here going to the Elefant?

How about the Dragon Rally? I've been to the Dragon for the last 3 years, I've seen Dr Green there.
 
#2 ·
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#3 ·
Thanks Paul, As the bike will be carrying a fair amount of weight, I've decided not to bother changing ratios. That link you posted is very helpful Cheers! :thumbright:
 
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#4 ·
Sounding like a broken record here but I put a 40 tooth rear sprocket on mine, dropping 80mph from 6000 to 5000 revs. I rode the bike to and from Chernobyl like that, loaded with luggage - side boxes and top box. It still pulled 100 on the autobahn, as the engine has enough torque. Even the 0-60 sprint wasn't too affected as the longer interval before needing to change from 1st to 2nd outweighs the slight acceleration drop.

I have used that combination ever since, but will be going back to standard as I don't do long motorway runs anymore, and it is a little high geared for technical off-road use. Events like the Kielder on fast sweeping fire roads are fine.
 
#5 ·
Dropping the back to 40 from 45 is quite a lot

How many links did you take out of the chain to still have room for adjustment?
 
#7 ·
I put a +1 tooth on the front, Honda Shadow I think, because the chain was nearly shot. It dropped the revs about 500rpm, I did it to do Galloway Forest last year and then Kirkby Stephen. It was fine for fast road work but I went back to standard when I renewed C & S. If you'd like to try it, you're more than welcome.
 
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#9 ·
I used a rear sprocket from a Yamaha TRX850, I found details on here, anyway, details of dimensions can be found on WEMOTO website. This meant that 130km/h (80mph) is possible at 5k revs with a standard Honda front sprocket.
Riding Autobahns would have been far more tedious with standard gearing!
 
#10 · (Edited)
Standard RD03 650 rear is 49T not 45T like the 750s

so droping to 40T is a big jump, but if its for cruising then I can undersand, but I am happy with standard gearing for Scotland :thumbup:

One of the reason for a change on the 750 to drop by 500 rpm , is to get away from the 5000rpm 750 vibe

the 650 does not have that and revs effortlessly to 9000 :toothy10:


just read the posts agin , doh , you wend down a few teeth not to 40T, thats the danger of mixing twins :)

simples is 1 tooth on or off the front

may be of interest :)

Johothan ( Rugged Roads) to the rescue :)

VT750 Shadow 17T OEM front drops straight in

The Africa Twin thread - Page 937 - ADVrider
 
#11 ·
All I did it for, was to save the engine. I didn't want to be doing 9000 revs constantly for hundreds of miles. What I did worked a treat. I achieved what I set out to do ?
 
#12 ·
All I did it for, was to save the engine. I didn't want to be doing 9000 revs constantly for hundreds of miles. What I did worked a treat. I achieved what I set out to do 

it will do 9000rpm for Hundreds of miles. but can you ?:thumbup:

my 600 alp, sat at 90+mph 8000+rpm, ( touched 103 on the GPS but with TKCs and loaded.. it got 'very interesting' )

hour after hour blasting back from the stella, but was down to 44 mpg, so virtually stopping every 90mins to fuel and rest... made the ferry but not a great riding experience.. Remember what this bike is for and take the lazy route

70-80mph is comfortable and the revs are fine, but fuel consumption increased dramatically at higher speeds...

I prefer stock it makes for a more flexibility and interesting Bike
 
#14 ·
The final drive ratio is obtained simply by dividing the rear teeth No by the front i.e. 46/16= 2.85
So 45/16= 2.81 etc. the smaller the number is the longer would be the final ratio and vice versa. That is why the front sprocket is affecting more the result (46/15=3.06). Always consider that the combination of front/rear sprockets, is related to the rear wheel position. If you gonna use the same chain (number of links 124) shortening the ratio is moving the rear wheel forward and when longering is moving backwards (to maintain the proper slag)
 
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