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7 Sep 2008
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Gearing a XT600 for road trips?
It's probably not the most practical thing to do at the side of the road when you are doing a RTW trip but do you change your gearing to suit the conditions?
The easy option is obviously to change the front sprocket up or down a tooth or two.
I'm wanting to gear the bike down as much as I can so the engine isn't being revved to death on long motorway journeys.
I read on one of the XT/TT forums on Yahoo groups that it can be taken as far as 17/40 as opposed to 15/45 standard (I think).
I'm not too worried about losing a bit of accelleration as I think the XT can handle it.
What ratios do you use for road use???
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7 Sep 2008
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gearing
hi there my 1985 43f is on 14/40 it was like that when i got it and when i changed the chain and sprockets i changed like for like . it feels fine to me , on the motorway 4000 rpm is 100/110 kph ,with plenty in reserve , around town all feels well. in some old xt service manual i have it says 15/40 for 43f and 15/39 for the xt600z which i think is the tenere. if i was to do a long trip i would leave mine alone ,so i am down on standard , but it feels just right with no high gear judder or over revving . zigzag
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7 Sep 2008
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I stand corrected the rear is 40 as standard.
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7 Sep 2008
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I can't comment on your particular model but my 1999 XT600E is very highly geared indeed. My 5th gear allows me to maintain a steady 70MPH running at only 4,000 which is pretty laid back. In a ideal world I would leave the 5th gear alone and downgear the others to produce swifter excelleration and control when offroad at low speed.
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8 Sep 2008
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I run two different gearings on the Tenere.
One is a 14/45 for offroad and around town when I can't be bothered changing it back after a weekend offroad.This gives me 100km/h at a footpeg/handlebar buzzing 5000rpm.
Then I use 16/45 for road use,which sits me at 4000rpm at 100km/h.
Still,it's not as tall as the stock gearing,but it feels quite sluggish around town in stop-start traffic.I have been tempted to change the rear sprocket to a 42 or 43,but the change isn't really going to make a lot of difference other than make me need a 13 tooth front sprocket for offroad use.
BTW the standard gearing on my 86 Tenere is 15/40.
You can find online gearing charts which will give you an idea of what to run
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8 Sep 2008
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At my local bike shop the 'extreme' I could go to would be 16/36.
This gives a 2.25:1
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10 Sep 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tenere Tom
The easy option is obviously to change the front sprocket up or down a tooth or two.
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The problem with swapping the front sprocket on the side of the road is that the chain needs to be split to allow the 16 tooth sprocket to slide on and off. When the chain is on the front sprocket, on a 16 tooth one, the chain won't lift off and it catches on the engine casing bolt castings.
The easy alternative to adding a new soft link and riveting it every time is to use split links. (And just mentioning them is going to start a barrage of opion!)
You can calculate the difference in engine revs at a given speed as follows:
(Rear Tooth count / front tooth count) = Drive ratio
((New ratio / Old ratio)-1)*100 = Change as a percentage
RPM at a given speed will increase or decrease by the percentage change
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11 Sep 2008
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hi there personaly i love split links , if used correctly zigzag
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11 Sep 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zigzag
hi there personaly i love split links , if used correctly zigzag 
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Me too. Much better than my last attempt at riveting my own chain!
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11 Sep 2008
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Split links rock!!!
No seriously they are the best thing since sliced bread - they make life so much easier.
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12 Sep 2008
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Some bikes make changing the counter shaft sprocket easy,
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Last edited by mollydog; 25 Mar 2009 at 08:32.
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