Down-gearing the Hornet

[Milo]

It's got plenty of low down power and considering my general acceleration involves two or even three up changes before accelerating again why not up-gear it?

I was thinking of going up by two on the front, though any ideas how much this would bugger the speedo up by and if that can be circumvented?

Cheers
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[Method]

Going up two on the front could actually make quite a large difference aswell mate.. Could be more than you expected..
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[8316]

oh man.
ive only heard of people down gearing for more squirt, not going up!!
why not just downgrade to a smaller bike then? like a hornet 250....
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Now own a Fireblade!! Speed Limits? Bah!

[Milo]

Meh - you crazy hooligan wheelie kids!

I love the Hornet so far...though the tank range isn't that great.

A smaller bike won't do what I want it to do...plus I've only just got it!
If I'm only using it to get about and for fun, then why don't I just get a bus pass and a skateboard?
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[Frost]

2 up onthe front is rather alot.

1 up ont he front, 2 down on the rear sounds a better bet.

[Milo]

Anyone know of a good supplier for front sprockets - I'm obviously after the rarer larger front ones/smaller rear ones.
Surely 1 up on the front and 2 down on the rear is virtually identical - using the 1 on the front equals 3 on the back guide?
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[8316]

[R6Armadillo]

www.bandcexpress.co.uk is a good place to try for sprockets. Lokks like they have a 2down rear but no smaller front for the 600 and 1 down rear 1up front for the 900.
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When Eric eats a banana, an amazing transformation occurs. Eric is Bananaman. Ever alert for the call to action.

[johnsilva]

i honestly dont understand why on earth you want to gear up? it sounds flipping wierd!
Why would you want to make your bike accelerate slower? Its crazy!


John
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Current Bikes: ZX7R P5; KR1S C2; GPX250R F3
Previously: CBR400RR-R; YQ50 Aerox

[Jon]

[mchaggis]

[jay12329]

The hornet doesnt have enought power to hit the red line in top, thats why people genrally down gear, gives it more go but doesnt hugely affect the top end. Upgearing would be stupid, it would take you a year to get anyware.
J

[Milo]

[Milo]

Maybe you'd answer my questions if I asked about down-gearing it?!

Would it bugger the speedo up by much if I downgeared it, and is there a way to get around this?
Would changing the gearing on the front sprocket keep the speedo in sync?

cheers
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Shaft drives rule.

[Bendy]

www.speedohealer.com is what you'll need. Changing the front sprocket won't work, the speedo is set up for the default sprocket ratio.

When you downgear, your speedo over-reads, when you upgear it'll under-read. If it's only a little and you've worked out in your head what the true speeds are, you could just leave it.

[Milo]

Cheers. Any idea where I can buy non-standard sprockets?
Will probably have to get one specially ordered I assume which is a bit annoying.
Just went into reserve at 119 miles!
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Shaft drives rule.

[bish777]

id advise caution and just take 1 off the front as going too far can murder accelleration.

Not to mention chain length issues when fartingaround with rear sprockets.
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GSXR1100J

[Dr Nick]

Dont do it dont do it!


I downgeared my hornet last year, it made the front come up too easy in 1st and 2nd and made it drink loads more petrol, and eat more tyres and chain and sprockets. Since recently upgearing it the bike feels faster overall!, not just top end, and i can pull longer higher wheelies on it for some reason now.


I went 2 down on the front basically

standard gearing is 15/42

i went down to 14/45
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is that it

[bish777]

oops meant UP one tooth on the front...
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GSXR1100J

[Milo]

[Bendy]

[Dr Nick]

[Kickstart]

Hi

Up gearing by 2 teeth will make a hell of a different to the bike. The speedo will under read by about 13% (which could be a really bad idea near a speed trap). You might also have issues with physically fitting that large a sprocket into the space available.

Initial acceleration will suffer, as will top gear roll on acceleration. However in top gear you can just knock it down a gear for the same effect as down gearing (or just sit one gear lower).

It might well help fuel consumption. With the 1200 Bandit going down 1 tooth on the front knocked 5mpg off the fuel consumption.

Cruising is quite possibly going to be a lot more relaxing, knocking about 700rpm off the revs for the same speed in top gear.

The only real down side is initial acceleration, and it might be a bit of a pain doing fully laden hill starts. Probably not worth doing if you are riding round town a lot.

If you are thinking of it then I would start by just going up one tooth at the front. However a quick look in the Demon Tweeks catalgue reveals no alternative larger front sprockets for the Hornet, and the only option is to go down 2 teeth on the back (only save you around 300rpm at 70mph).

All the best

Keith
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[Milo]

Cheers for the info.
I meant a non standard sprocket as if in by going in the gearing direction I want to instead of the normal down-gearing.

I'll give the rear sprocket a try, though it seems a bit pointless and may well not affect the fuel economy enough to warrant the purchase.

I'm fully aware of what goingup two teeth on the front will do to the performance, but quite frankly it's a strong enough engine low down for it not to impact day to day riding too much.

I'll check out the sprocket surroundings and see if there's space. If there is would it be possible to get a sprocket custom made?
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Shaft drives rule.

[Kickstart]