16/43 vs 15/42 Gearing

[TaxiDriver]

So is there any difference in the above ratio's,I suppose theoreticaly there are the same amount
of teeth but surely the effect is the same!!

[MacV2]

I dunno but smaller front wont do the chain a lot of good, & any changes will put the speedo out unless you fit a speedo healer.

[agentpineapple]

http://www.gearingcommander.com/
gear commander will let you know.
i'm running 15t 42t, soooo much more fun, but tops out at 140mph, but it revs higher at motorway speeds, if that makes sense, so it will effect fuel economy and my speedo is out by a bit, iirc when i'm at 70mph i'm only doing 60mph.
if you ride for fun its great gearing

[popkat]

I tried smaller front and the bike just didn't need it, made first gear useless but on track it caused big lock ups changing down gear, ended up with stock front and +1 on the rear which worked quite well. That was on an old one I had, on the last 2 I've just left gearing standard and it's fine. Only real issue is it wants to be doing over 80mph for top when cruising, so 5th gear for any live cam motorways.


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[KermitLeFrog]

I would recommend sticking with the stock gearing. The Storm's great strength is it's broad power band. Lowering the overall ratio just tightens up the spacing between gears and makes first gear much less useful.

Admittedly though, standard gearing means 3rd is the ratio of choice through the twisties and 4th for the fast stuff. 5th to chill and 6th for a sleepy overdrive.

ps. 16/43 is 2.6875 and 15/42 is 2.8 A 4.2% reduction. Not trivial. And, as people point out, the smaller the sprocket the more stress on the chain (and sprocket).

[uk13iker]

I’ve got 14/41 feels good although was only a short ride on Monday and also fitted a HRC throttle tube so not sure how much difference the front sprocket made. Feels really responsive again probably down to new throttle tube. Chains right on the end of adjustment and it’s not that old so will be going back to standard front and +2 rear.


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[8541Hawk]

I also run stock gearing and for me it does work the best for a street bike.

Though if you want to change the gearing IMHO you can go +2 in the rear or -1 in the front. Anymore than that and you have gone too far.
I say this because of the ratios you end up with. Using the gearing commander site check out 16\41 and then compare it to 15\43.

When you run the numbers you will find that the 15\43 gearing ends up with the same (or close enough to call the same) as a bike with 16\41 gearing running 1 gear lower in the transmission.
Another way to state it is that when a VTR with 15\43 gearing is in second, the final drive ratio is the same as a 16\41 geared VTR in first.
This continues through the gears. The only time a 15\43 has a real advantage is in first.
Now on a VTR acceleration in first is limited to how much throttle you can give it while keeping the front end somewhere close to the ground.

All you have actually done is slow the bike down with the lower gearing. It makes first gear all but unusable and you give up your sixth gear.
I say this because both bikes are limited to how much throttle you can give them in first and from there on just by running the bike in a different gear, you get the same final drive numbers.

Two parting thoughts an the whole gearing discussion. I still remember the first time I saw someone claiming 15\43 gearing was the hot ticket. Was it one of the boards? I have been active on forums all the way back to Sport-Twins which was '97 and have been fairly active and no it wasn't a forum member. It was a E-Bay seller......
Another bit is that sixth gear is not as strong as the rest of the transmission gears. It is around 1\2 the width of the rest of the gears as it is an overdrive and is meant as your "cruse" gear.

Though in the end, run whatever makes you happy. Just remember that smaller front sprockets can accelerate chain wear and also some gearing changes end up also making wheelbase changes which need to be taken into account.

[fatfreddy000]

When I picked up my bike last year it was running 14/42 if I remember correctly.
Was fun with the front wheel and deceptively optimistic fuel consumption but almost useless first and over the top engine braking as already mentioned.
I changed straight away to a 16 front and today after chain failure I replaced all with a stock set upof 16/41.
No chance to test yet but reckon she'll be great.
Theres so much torque and I love using the low down power. Probably 2000-6000 rpm is my usual range unless I'm going crazy

[TaxiDriver]

"if you ride for fun its great gearing" Yes I defo will be riding for FUN

Hey Hawk,sounds a nightmare....good job I'm talking about 15/42 gearing

[fabiostar]

iv been down a few gearing changes but the standard is hard to beat for everyday riding

[TaxiDriver]

iv been down a few gearing changes but the standard is hard to beat for everyday riding

Yea,seems a popular choice but I just want to hoon around the N/York's moors so I'm
not sure which to go for.......

[fabiostar]

for general hooning standard front 43 rear.

[popkat]

You can proper hoon on std gearing, 3rd and 4th gear rev the off it, great fun if you change the gearing you'll be using 4th and 5th, doesn't seem much point in changing it really but your bike


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[tony.mon]

I tried smaller front and the bike just didn't need it, made first gear useless but on track it caused big lock ups changing down gear

Yep.
But nothing a slipper clutch and speedo healer can't fix.

[popkat]

I tried smaller front and the bike just didn't need it, made first gear useless but on track it caused big lock ups changing down gear

Yep.
But nothing a slipper clutch and speedo healer can't fix.

And then you've spent most of what the bikes worth. shame no one offers a cheaper slipper clutch or someone hasn't tried fitting one off another bike, lots have them standard now.

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