higher top speed

im not too interested in speed on this bike since its a 200 but i would like the top speed to be a little higher. if anyone can direct me to different sprockets or some way to increase the top speed help me out.

JT Sprockets has a good guide chart regarding sprocket sizes, try this link it's a PDF file.

www.jtsprockets.com/fileadmin/files/jtgearratio.pdf

Changing sprockets isn't going to help any unless you are hitting redline in top gear now.

So, are you hitting the redline on the tach in top gear?

yup. could use a bump in hp too tho, i know its just a 200 but any little might help

Just curious, what is the current top speed on the KZ200? Ed

Add a tooth to the front sprocket or go 2 teeth smaller on the rear. You can even go more drastic but you'll have to get a longer chain too. That's the basic principle anyway. Good luck and keep us posted on the results.

i found 2 teeth bigger on front. will that do me good enough to go from topping at 60 to 70? i plan on replacing both sprockets and new chain all at the same time.

do you really want to do more than 60-70 on a kz200?:blink: everything has its limitations,brakes suspension tires ...

i think 70 will be fine

steell wrote:

Changing sprockets isn't going to help any unless you are hitting redline in top gear now.

So, are you hitting the redline on the tach in top gear?

I'm with steell on this one. And betting my nickel that taller gearing will either equal or result in a lower top speed, accompanied by noticeably reduced acceleration.

In other words, taking longer to reach the same or a lower top speed.

At least that's the way it often works out on the large fours which usually attain about the same top speed in either 4th or 5th gear, using stock sprocket sizes.

Good Luck! I'll be glad to lose another nickel!

Edit -- Imo, the "best" gearing is when the engine will just barely pull redline in top gear.

Patton wrote:

steell wrote:

Changing sprockets isn't going to help any unless you are hitting redline in top gear now.

So, are you hitting the redline on the tach in top gear?

I'm with steell on this one. And betting my nickel that taller gearing will either equal or result in a lower top speed, accompanied by noticeably reduced acceleration.

That's what I would think as well.

As you go past about 65 mph on a bike without a streamlined fairing, wind drag starts to hit like a brick wall. A small engine with low power and torque is going to flatten into that wall.

I think the main idea is just to reach highway speeds and not have the engine revving to the moon. Simple sprocket changes are the easiest way to do this. I didn't realize we were taking the 200 to the salt flats!:laugh:

Adding a tooth or 2 to the front will change the speed across the entire RPM range. Of course, you can go too far with the drive ratio and not have enough power to pull it, but is a sprocket with 2 more teeth going to put us there??

Even my KL250 has plenty of power to support a mild gearing change. I've never dealt with a KZ as small as a 200, so maybe that's why I'm so surprised here.