530 chain conversion... NEED HELP

before i start off... i know this is a KZ forum... the bike in question is not a KZ but i do own a 1980 KZ1000 ltd so please cut me some slack haha...

ok... need some professional advise! i am in the process of building a 1985 suzuki gs1150e... i wanted to put a more modern chain/sprocket and save a little weight so i went got a 530 conversion kit with stock teeth settings of 15/42. when i compaired the new sprockets to the old sprockets even thought the number of teeth was the same the diameter is WAY different! the new sprockets are alot smaller in circumference than the old ones. is that just because of it being a 530 system or is something wrong? i dont want to be maxed out at 100mph with the engine screaming! also... is a 530 too weak of a chain for all the torque in an 1150cc engine? lastly... the sprocket i ordered didn't have an offset cause i wasn't thinking correctly when i ordered it.... i am running a wider 150 rear tire and definitely will need an offset. is there some way to put some sort of spacer on the other side of the front sprocket and where can i get one? thank you guys for sharing your knowledge with me!

www.gearingcommander.com/
This should help you, like the big MAC box in the back ground. I've got one as well.

With a 15 tooth front 530 sprocket you may have a problem with the chain hitting the swing arm pivot. 16/45 or 17/48 would probably work better.

530 is 5/8" pitch (tip of one tooth to tip of next tooth), and 630 is 6/8", or more commonly called 3.4", pitch. So 15 times 3/4" is a lot more than 15 x 5/8".

As to the 530 chain being strong enough for a GS1150, 530 is the stock size for the ZX11, ZX12, and ZX14, and I think Hayabusa also.

I'm not familiar with the GS1150 motor, but I doubt there's room for a spacer behind the sprocket.

Sounds like you need an 18 tooth front and a 50 tooth rear to maintain the same ratio. The link spacing is shorter on the 530 so the sprockets need more teeth to be the same diameters. Modern 530 chain is every bit as strong as 630, and some will contend that it lasts longer due to the drive load being spread amongst more teeth. I don't know about spacing a sprocket out, you may have to order an offset front sprocket.

Steell types faster than me. :lol:

Identical size sprockets will produce same ratios irrespective of tooth count, or with a belt drive.



Good Fortune!

thank you guys! all extremely helpful! so basically the chain i have will work... but i am going to need to get an offset front sprocket with a few more teeth and get a rear sprocket with several more teeth... i guess i should have done my research before i bought a conversion kit off of ebay! haha... oh well you live and learn. thank you again!

This may help out for it's not Kawi specific...

Sprocket & Chains


OMR

so before i buy another useless set of sprockets... if i wanted to get a little quicker off the line and some more torque out of the bike most street bikes go down one in the front and up two in the rear. ive done this before on my 2006 zzr600 and loved the results but i didnt change to a different size chain so i am new to this. i have found 17 and 18 teeth front sprockets for 530 chain and also 50 and 52 teeth rear sprockets for 530 chain. i am thinking (correct me if i am wrong) that 18t/50t would be close to stock ratio and that i should go with 17t/52t to obtain what i am looking for with the 530 chain conversion. i greatly appreciate all the help you guys give! i recently purchased a gs1100 swingarm for my kz1000 and will be changing my chain/sprockets when i do the rear-end swap so this information will be assisting me on my bike as well!

this is what i hope to achieve on the gs1150e