I swapped to a higher ratio on my '82 450 when I changed my chain a few months back. In 6th at 70mph it used to turn about 4600rpm. My speed would vary up hills and in a head wind I had to run in 5th, 6th was all but worthless for anything but cruising on level ground. I went from a 17-36 to a 15-34 and now it turns about 5000 at 70 and 6th is much more usable. With the old gearing in 6th a 60-75mph roll on would have taken half throttle and still required 10+ seconds, it can now do it with 1\4 throttle in about 4 :D The gears are more closely spaced now requiring me to shift more often and more quickly but the ratios being closer means it snaps into gear more smoothly than stock so I don't mind it much. It screams a bit on the freeway(5 grand will do that) but you get used to it after a while and for the changes in power delivery and engine loading it's an acceptable trade off. Vibrations are a little more severe with this setup but if that gets annoying I drop to 65mph and the bars are smooth as glass.
I'm interested to see what the consensus is, I'm already planning on fiddling with the ratios (half the fun of owning a chain drive bike) once I've got a feel for the bike once I get my 750. I've read (not here) that people have dropped the ratios on these bikes for better cruising rpm and acceleration doesn't suffer much at all. Matt -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to nighthawk_lov...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to nighthawk_lovers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en.
