So I take my bike in to the Honda Shop to get a new chain and sprockets (520 - 15/43 already purchased online) and the guy at the service counter is looking at me like I'm an two headed alien. He starts off by saying why didn't you go 16-44 if you wanted to get more acceleration, and that they are practically the same? I have no clue if JT even makes a 44 tooth rear sprocket for 520 chains. If you are the customer shouldn't the shop just do the work without putting in their two cents in? They are not the one riding the bike anyway!

 

Why didnt you do a 15/44?

 

I won't even touch this one..... as my opinion on gearing should be pretty well known by now......

 

Come on, why not do it again just for fun? In my opinion with the torque at hand being abused properly; sticking with a 530 chain, nice quiet, dampened oem front and a couple teeth up in the back makes the most practical set-up for the street. First gear is still fun and useable and the chain holds up a whole bunch better while the wheel base gets shortened a tad. Is the weight reduction of a 520 really worth the more frequent chain adjustments and accelerated uneven streatching? Unless you want to gear down to the point of eliminating those pesky "through neutral" shifts on one wheel, which might be fun to try for a day or two, two teeth up in the back and stock dampened front works.....I have tried both...can someone argue as to the 520 weight reduction benefit?

 

RIPI: weight reduction on chain is about 400g, on rear sprocket about 100-200g (steel-steel) or 1 kg (steel-alu). Total 0.5-1.5 kg on rotating parts is not bad, quite cheap and simple mod to improve bike dynamics.

I run 16-43 as well.

 

8541 I have read your opinion on the gearing, and almost kept my front at a 16 because of your posts. This post wasn't really to discuss gearing it was more about what opinions the dealer should and shouldn't give.

 

man you should have gone 2/99 to get some real acceleration. :P

Don't worry about it, it's your bike, not his.

 

A 2 tooth sprocket, lol. If I took my bike to the Triumph dealer they would of did the work, possibly gave me a high five, and sent me on my way no matter what size sprockets I chose. HAHA.

 

I think 4 is the minimum number of front teeth you can use. Unless you are from West Virginia, of course. Then 1 is acceptable. After all, they invented the TOOTHbrush, not the TEETHbrush.

 

There's something in the water at the Honda Dealership up here too. I just put my 16/43 sprockets on and did the 520 chain conversion. The chain came in with 120 links, and I needed the extras taken off, but I don't have a chain breaker and I didn't want to screw anything up by taking a concrete grinder to it, so I just took it down to the Honda shop. 3 Different Times. Each Time they denied me service. They wanted me to bring my bike in and "Look at it first" then "work on it". All I need is the chain cut right here though. "Well, with the bike here we'll have to charge $120 an hour for analyzing, not including the work that we would have to do, plus a minimum of $80 a day "garage fee".

I took the chain to the kawasaki shop yesterday. They did it perfectly in less than 5 minutes and they charged me $5. I couldn't believe it.

That marked the last time I ever go to the Honda shop. Suprisingly enough, my other experieces were worse.

 

cheaper to just go buy a dremel tool to cut it. that's what I use.

 

I dropped a tooth in the front and its the best thing i did. its not to much or to little..