TOPIC:

KZ1000 Gear Ratios

Appreciate the post kzz1p. Will be changing my rear sprocket and am currently deciding what would be the best ratio. currently have a 15/42 which is way too low for my type of riding.

I do not agree with these charts - I think they have some very poor information.

Jeff.Saunders wrote:

I do not agree with these charts - I think they have some very poor information.

Well Jeff I'm glad that you disagree with the chart. Perhaps you are willing to share some good information with us and start an engaging conversion. I know that you have been around the block a few times and have experience.

The descriptions in the table are just wrong... the same issue as with the KZ900 version of the chart. For someone not knowing better, if they make decisions based on this chart, they will be sorely disappointed with the results.

15/37 - you wouldn't run this for touring - ever... You would be zinging the motor cruising at 70mph. 15/33 or 15/32 would be a typical setup for touring - even 16/33 provided you're not too overloaded.

15/40 - hmm... OK for highway use... really... I guess providing it's a 40mph speed zone... I would never want to be cruising at 70mph and having the motor running smack bang in the middle of the vibration band. It's also too radical for serious street use - you'd be on the back wheel everytime you pull away in first. Other than at the drag strip, it's a poor choice for most people (unless you want to be pulling wheelies all the time )...

15/42 - maximum acceleration - well... only if you have wheelie bars and an air shifter... with that kind of gearing, you would struggle to launch down the 1/4 mile - your front wheel would climb skyward, and you'd never have time to get your feet up and shift into second gear. I've tried a ton of different ratios when I drag raced, and would NEVER consider this gearing option. It sure looks like someone at Action Fours needed to pad out the chart to fill the page.

It always surprises me when people want to go to lower than stock gearing on these KZ bikes. Mine came stock with 16/38 gears which forces the engine to spin 5000 @ 70 mph, and that's on a bike with a 7600 redline. Forking ridiculous. I ran 16/32 for about 25 years and it ran fine. I recently went back to 17/38 and it is too low. The bummer is that the rear sprockets are available in steel if you buy the stock size, if you want any other size you have to go with aluminum at about 3X the price of the stock steel sprocket. Bummer. I sure wish they stocked steel sprockets in smaller gear ranges.

Check out Z1 Enterprises or Dennis Kirk for rear steel sprockets in various sizes.

www.gearingcommander.com to figure engine and chain speeds. Also factors in tire sizes.

15/37 - you wouldn't run this for touring - ever... You would be zinging the motor cruising at 70mph. 15/33 or 15/32 would be a typical setup for touring - even 16/33 provided you're not too overloaded.

15t/37t I agree 100% with you on this one. It would not be my touring choice at all. It might work for the guy that wants a four speed drag racer.

15/40 - hmm... OK for highway use... really... I guess providing it's a 40mph speed zone... I would never want to be cruising at 70mph and having the motor running smack bang in the middle of the vibration band. It's also too radical for serious street use - you'd be on the back wheel everytime you pull away in first. Other than at the drag strip, it's a poor choice for most people (unless you want to be pulling wheelies all the time:P )...

15t/40t Highway no, performance yes!

15/42 - maximum acceleration - well... only if you have wheelie bars and an air shifter... with that kind of gearing, you would struggle to launch down the 1/4 mile - your front wheel would climb skyward, and you'd never have time to get your feet up and shift into second gear. I've tried a ton of different ratios when I drag raced, and would NEVER consider this gearing option. It sure looks like someone at Action Fours needed to pad out the chart to fill the page.[/quote]

15t/42t I would concider this to be race only or for the guy that likes to wheelie. I don't think it would work for the average guy looking for a performance boost.

I really hate to see companies like Action Fours publish such bad information. If a novice reads a chart like, they are going to end up with the wrong setup on their bike.

Like many others on this forum, I've experimented with plenty of different gearing on 900/1000 bikes. While my drag racing days are half a lifetime away, I pounded down the 1/4 mile many, many times - and experimented with just about every sprocket possible to gain a few hundredths of a second. I've tried using 3, 4 and 5 gears down the 1/4 mile - on a typical 'hot' street bike, running at 9,000 in 4th through the lights is the best overall result. Without wheelie bars and an air shifter, the 5 gear approach is impossible.

You don't need 15/42 for throttle controlled wheelies - 15/37 is plenty to be able to pull the front wheel up easily.

grumpy56 wrote:

Check out Z1 Enterprises or Dennis Kirk for rear steel sprockets in various sizes.

I scoured the whole internet including those sites: you can get rear sprockets in steel in stock size and sometimes a bit larger, but there are no off-the-shelf steeel rear sprockets in sizes smaller than stock.

If anybody knows where to get them at reasonable prices, please speak up.

There are larger front sprockets available, but I can only go one tooth up on the front because of size limit. That buys me a 6% reduction in RPM which is eaten up by the 110 metric rear tire which is actually a bit smaller diameter than the stock 4.00-18 tire... so I am at stock RPM even with one tooth over on the front.

on my street bike i run 15-33 when im taking along trip say like to california or sturgis when i'm ratting around picking on h-d's and sport bikes i'll use 15-39 gearingand on the drag strip with my wheelie bar and slick on my little bike i run pretty much all the time 14-41 combo it pulls thru the traps in 5th gear at 10500 hitting the shift light at that rpm i'm going thru the traps between 123 and 128 miles an hour