Swapping Sprockets on '02 VFR

Question for anyone who's made their gearing shorter on a VFR.

On my bike, I feel like it's geared a bit tall. In fact, I rarely if ever use 6th gear, and 1st feels a touch tall, too.

So, I'm going to change the sprockets, but I don't know how much.

I'm thinking 1 tooth smaller in the front and 2 teeth larger in the back... but is this too much?

Anyone done this and have a feel for it?

 

I agree that the stock gearing is way too high, but I think you're going way too far with -1 on the front AND +2 on the rear. I went +2 on the rear only and am happy with the results. You'll see that others have gone -1 on the front and have felt that it is too much. -1 on the front equals +3 or +4 on the rear.

 

Going down -1 on the front barely made a difference on my 02., but it is definately worth it in my book. Was the best thing i did to mine..picked up a few lengths in pickup vs my kids bike and made the bike like to pull the front a nice foot every time in first gear. didnt bother the highway mileage much at all, only picked up 400 rpm or so at cruise. Made the bike a lot nicer at very slow speeds in town, got it thru the goofy hesitation thing on the slow corners much better.top end was same or better since it could pull it easier.
.for the few bucks and 15 minute job, try it!! I would not be afraid to also go down on the back if i just drove it in the city, but since i havnt tried it, cant say how it would affect you on the hiway..doubt a problem tho, just depends how fast and far you want to go..

good luck

 

-1 front sprocket

-1 on the front sprocket made all the difference I needed, can run tight turns in 2nd gear now , I like to run the turns and I dont need to go any lower , but you can try it , if you dont like it then do the back, but Im with you guys the vfr is geared way to high , I ride a 600rr also and I wasnt used to having to gear down for casual riding to match the rpms in stock gearing, the bucking etc, after the one down in front that is gone, its a normal bike now, dont remember if it was this froum or the other vfr forum I got my afam sprocket from at a good price do a search , later

 

Reporting back

I wanted to report back on my sprocket switching.

I tried both -1 in the front and a combination of -1 in the front with +2 in the back. I'll be sticking with the latter combination.

As reported, -1 in the front alone is a very modest change to the bike. About 400 RPM in top gear was my experience, too. In fact, I think this should have been the stock gearing for the bike in the first place, as it's much better overall in this configuration. Much better.

I wanted a little more "surprise" out of the bike, though, and I added the +2 in the back. At 80 according to the GPS (the VFR speedo reads quite fast even on stock sprockets, but with my mod is nearly 20% inaccurate!), this puts the bike at about 6300 RPM. Now when I twist the throttle at cruise, something happens! And very soon after, VTEC kicks in and the bike pulls like a tractor in top gear, right at the speeds needed for passing. It never did that before.

I'm guessing top speed is about 140 now, not that I'll ever go that fast, but based on how hard the bike pulls at 90, I'm thinking it will get there in a remarkable hurry.

Most corners that were 1st gear are clean and smooth in 2nd now. The rideability is much improved overall with the swap. 2nd and 3rd pull so hard it's scary, the one draw back being the quickness with which one gets through the gears on such short gearing.

In all of this, if there's a drawback, it's that 1st is a little short now. 45 or so at redline, and it will pull the front off the pavement easily enough.

This is a good upgrade, though. Frankly, I would recommend ALL VFR owners drop a tooth in the front regardless of their goals for the bike. It makes it ride just so much better.

 

sounds good Jim..one thing I did find with my 05 going down a tooth up front is the chain sure died quick with the 15t on it..whether the small diameter, or just time, i dunno, but i ended up not getting 13, 000 miles outa it and was the original and well maintained.l..so Id rather go 2 up next time on the back(same drop almost as -1 front)

As it is i now have a 00 and it came with 17 stock and i'm down to 16 on the front and nice difference and i expect chain should still be happy..any more and I will do it on the rear..

Just something to think bout with a 15t front..anyone else notice any chain wear?

 

Did you put a new sprocket on the bike after the chain already had some miles on it with the old sprocket?

Fast chain wear would be the expected consequence.

Generally, one wants to replace both sprockets and chain all at the same time so they break in and wear together.