What Gear Ratio are you guys running???

[richgiffen]

I have a 94 XR650L. I ride 95% streets and freeways, and sometimes FAST. I want to regear appropriatly to accomodate my riding while still leaving enough on the low/mid end for when I do off road. What gear ratios do you guys have and can recommend for me?? Also, what percentage do you ride street/dirt?? Thanks in advance....

[dukeryder]

stock gearing 15/45, 95% street 4% dirt road 1% trail. I've got Enduro wheels and supermoto wheels.

I dunno how you ride FAST, as my bike barely tops 85mph good for 90 on a good day.

[richgiffen]

I average ride about 85 on the freeway usually, and ride about the same ratio as you street/dirt/trail. And to confirm you are running the stock gearing correct? Are you happy with it, or would you change it?

[ghoti]

I run 15/48 for the street and usually 13/48 for the dirt, but also have a 14/48 combo for a combination ride. Running a larger rear tire, (140/80), basically makes the 15/48 the same as the stock 15/45.

[evomx971]

I went with 14/45, which for all purposes is the same as 15/48. This gearing works really well for the street. You go into 5th right about 55mph. My bike tops out at 95 by the speedo. It works "ok" in the dirt. Second is still pretty tall. In retrospect, I wish I'd done 14/48 since it's easier to swap out the front sprocket back and forth between a 14 and 15 than it would be to change the rear.

[pburke]

I bought my XRR set up for speedy city cruising with 15-45 gearing. revs are fine for the highway, definitely not too long. 15-42 would probably ideal for heavy street orientation.

For the dirt I have a 13 tooth front sprocket in the box, but I don't really want to run that without a matching case saver. The chain is too short to throw the 48 on the back so I may just get me a whole new set of chain and sprockets and case saver to go back to the 14-48, since I don't care much about highway riding right now. Anyone know where to get a 13 tooth- matched case saver?

Peter

[Beyond The Pale]

I have a 94 XR650L. I ride 95% streets and freeways, and sometimes FAST. I want to regear appropriatly to accomodate my riding while still leaving enough on the low/mid end for when I do off road. What gear ratios do you guys have and can recommend for me?? Also, what percentage do you ride street/dirt?? Thanks in advance....

The simple and easy thing to do is get a 14 tooth countershaft sprocket. Slap the 14 in there for the dirt and put the 15 on for the street. It's rather easy to change. For freeways I wouldn't gear it down from stock. It will work off road with the stock gearing, but it's not the best. The stock gearing is only a problem on the slow going technical single track. On more open terrain, the stock gearing is OK.

[azmanxman]

Since I only ride my XR600R on the road to get to the real riding I find 15/50 works great with the option for 14/50 when it gets really tight and steep. If it's really loose or my rear tire is a little worn I find 14/50 is too low. It's hard to mantain traction in first with such low gearing.

[lhark]

I use 15/48 right now, and most of the riding I do is street. I always thought the thing felt a little lazy in top gear below 65 with the stock 15/45. I started with the 15/47, and that seemed pretty decent. I'm trying out the 48 set-up, with not much of a difference, except it vibrates a little more at the same cruising speed. These things were never top end monsters anyway, and I like to have the extra pull at the bottom. XR650L.

[ozjock]

Keep in mind the higher the gear ratio you run the more prone the gearbox is chattering which kills xr gearboxs. Mine is 100% off-road, i cant remember the front size but the rear is a 49, top speed is maxed out around 125 kmh.

[Ferdinand]

The simple and easy thing to do is get a 14 tooth countershaft sprocket. Slap the 14 in there for the dirt and put the 15 on for the street. It's rather easy to change. For freeways I wouldn't gear it down from stock. It will work off road with the stock gearing, but it's not the best. The stock gearing is only a problem on the slow going technical single track. On more open terrain, the stock gearing is OK.

What he said, keep it simple. ?

[underwatersimon]

I'm running 14/48 and top out just over 130k/h but it still runs pretty well @ 100-110 and pretty much putts along at 80.

[wr450fyamaha]

I went with 14/45, which for all purposes is the same as 15/48. This gearing works really well for the street. You go into 5th right about 55mph. My bike tops out at 95 by the speedo. It works "ok" in the dirt. Second is still pretty tall. In retrospect, I wish I'd done 14/48 since it's easier to swap out the front sprocket back and forth between a 14 and 15 than it would be to change the rear.

I second that motion.

[roadcam]

on my 2001 XR650L, I run 14/48 for everything, but, if I decide to go on a longer road trip, I switch to 15/48 (I have two sets of sprockets and chains, I use a 2-link longer chain on the 15/48 setup, which allows me to slide the rear wheel farther back, longer wheelbase for the road) ... ?

[InternalCombustion]

Currently riding on Michelin Pilot Sports, wrapped around 17" Excell supermoto rims. Been running a 15/48 ratio, hitting the limiter pretty easy at around 100 mph. Forgive me but that's not fast enough.

More to the point, the 17" rims and low-profile Pilots make me want to constantly shift into my non-existent "6th gear". So yesterday the UPS guy delivered a new 16/44 sprocket set from Sproicket Specialists.

They'll be going on in the next day or two. That should give me about 117 mph, on the limiter. (Safety-wise, the Pilots are Z-rated and I never do any high-speed runs without full armor, top and bottom.) Maybe 117 is too fast for some, to each his own. I'll probably hi-speed-test the 16/44 setup at least once, with a GPS to keep me honest, and will report back the results.

For winter riding I am going back to the 15/48 setup, with the factory rims and DS tires.

Just so everyone is clear, my number one reason for the 16/44 setup is to give me a better street ratio with the 17" rims, not to help me break the sound barrier.

[Although...] ?

Ride safe.