meant to ask if you get better mileage with a smaller rear sprocket.

Will a bigger rear sprocket give me better gas milage?

I meant to ask will a smaller sprocket give better gas mileage?

 

A higher number of teeth on the rear sprocket will not increase gas mileage. It will decrease it as it will cause the engine to run at a slightly higher rpm at all speeds. However, it helps the bike accelerate quicker. It won't add power, it's just gearing, but it'll get you up to speed faster.

Lower number of teeth on the rear does the exact opposite. You'll get better mileage slightly, but it'll take more time to get up to speed.


This is only for the rear sprocket. On the Front sprocket, if you go down in teeth you lose mileage/gain acceleration.



one last thing...if you're honestly that worried about gas mileage...then you have the wrong bike. go get a metric cruiser or a buell blast if you want mpg and stay away from anything remotely sporty like a vfr. most vfr owners are more concerned about smiles per gallon than miles per gallon.

 

Will a smaller sprocket give better gas mileage?

Can i get a sprocket the same diameter as mine but with more teeth?

Anything else I can do to improve gas mileage?

 

you could try going up one tooth on the front sprocket........you would save gas in every gear.........






suddenly fuel saving makes good sense even on a sportbike!

 

That would change nothing. A gentle throttle hand is the best help you can do.

 

Seems if you increase the teeth on the same size sprocket the teeth would be smaller, how does it fit the chain if the teeth are smaller?

can only one sprocket be replaced or do i have to do both front, and back. what about the chain?

 

All day on the high way gave me 41. I swear the tank before was 47. I did notice the Rpms were twice that of riding through town in 6th gear. This time i was less cautious with the gas and ended at 38. I dont think the premium gas changed anything.

 

meant to ask if you get better mileage with a smaller rear sprocket.




also
Seems if you increase the teeth on the same size sprocket the teeth would be smaller, how does it fit the chain if the teeth are smaller?

can only one sprocket be replaced or do i have to do both front, and back. what about the chain?

 

The teeth on the sprocket have to remain the same size to match up with the space between the links in the chain. There is about a 3 to 1 ratio for the gears. Example: going one tooth larger on the front sprocket is the same as dropping three teeth on the rear sprocket. If you are looking to increase your gas mileage going one tooth up on the front will help. The guy I talked to got between 1 to 2 MPG better. Common wisdom says you should change out a chain and both sprockets together. However, my chain has almost 15K on it and I'm going to replace the front sprocket (one tooth smaller for better acceleration) to see if I like the combo before I replace the whole thing later this year.

Action

 

I still do not understand how you can increase the number of teeth on a sprocket without either increasing the size of the sprocket or decreasing the size of the teeth.
example
___I___I___I___
_I_I_I_I_I_I_I_I_

these two are the same distance, eg. the diameter of the sprocket. in order to add more "teeth" in the same distance the amount of space between them has to be smaller, once they are smaller how does it fit the chain?

also if you do this wouldent it screw with the two sprockets and make the chain jump teeth?

as i said before iv never worked on bikes, so all of this is new to me.

 

Any truth to the notion that if you go down one tooth on the front (to increase acceleration) it's harder on the engine/chain and could cause mechanical issues???

 

Increasing acceleration with teeth down on the front increases the amount of torque applied to the chain and sprockets, which can cause them to wear faster .

Also, going teeth down on the front sprocket increases the frequency of each tooth's contact with the chain roller and forces the load onto fewer teeth, also making the chain/sprocket system wear faster. Since you're not going as far per rotation of the front sprocket, you take the normal wear of a stock gearing and multiply it by whatever proportion of gearing you went down.

It's easier on the engine though, spinning faster keeps the load off the bearings and oil flinging. However, mechanical problems might occur if the engine is overrevved (though I think lugging does more damage).

 

the outside diameter (from the center of the sprocket to the edge of a tooth does change... but it's not much. here's some horrible pictures from my phone since my friend is borrowing my camera. The top one is a stock front 17t and the bottom is a front 16T from sprocket specialists.



my apologies for the gigantic size...pics from my phone..who knew.

 

My last tank, all highway, was 43mpg and that's running 70-75. Cruising out in the sticks it goes up into the low 50's. I found I actually get worse mileage running super and power feels no different. Also the manual shows 87 so why spend the extra $$$.

 

Thanks alot man.

 

I have a stock (as far as i know) 86. how many teeth do i have on the front sprocket?

 

Yeah, I swear I get worse mileage when I run premium (93) too...makes me smile when I fill the bike up with regular now...especially since my truck has done nothing but sit since gas went above 3.80 unless the weather really sucked.

 

at 9 mpg my truck has been sitting for a long time. the gas i was paying for actually pays for my new truck. as well as the gas saved pays for my bike.