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/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Chain Conversion Torque or top speed sacrifice? /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1622716912 Message started by Murphdawg on 06/03/21 at 03:41:52 |
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Title: Chain Conversion Torque or top speed sacrifice? Post by Murphdawg on 06/03/21 at 03:41:52 Hi everyone This is my first post here and you have no idea the amount of information that I’ve already received from reading all the useful posts that have come before me.. so, thank you for that! I am planning on doing a chain conversion on my 1998 savage and have read most of the chain posts that have come before me and most address one of my questions but the other I haven’t seen yet. I am debating wether to gain more torque and gear up or gain a more comfortable cruising speed and gear down. I was pretty set on gearing down but couldn’t find much info about what it does to torque and most importantly what will gearing up do to my top speed and highway cruising speeds? I’d love to gain more torque in the bottom end but don’t want to lose too much top end (as everyone knows there is not much of). Making this a much “torquier” bike has been my most recent ideas and may continue this way. One thing I’d like to add instead of starting another thread is I wanted to hardtail the bike and was fixed on a weld on but am considering struts as an alternative. Any opinions on how a strut swap went or struts vs hardtail plus and minus? Thanks in advance and looking forward to some responses. |
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Title: Re: Chain Conversion Torque or top speed sacrifice Post by Fast 650 on 06/03/21 at 10:07:41 Keep in mind that your speedometer is driven from the transmission so your speedometer will read too fast or too slow depending on which way you go with the gearing. If your engine is stock, gearing for more low speed torque will greatly reduce your cruising speed. The stock engine starts running out of breath fast at around 5000 rpm and struggles to reach 6000 rpm. If you want more power, read DragBikeMike's threads in the tech section and his Evolution of a Hotrod threads. You can improve the performance considerably for the amount of money that you would spend on the sprockets and chain conversion. I think that you will be much happier with the bike after the engine mods compared to just changing the gearing. And I would say no to struts or a weld on hardtail. One reason that these bikes are so light for their size is that the frame is really thin tubing, only about 0.060" thick. I would be concerned about the frame cracking with no rear suspension. If you really want a hardtail then get an aftermarket frame that has heavier frame tubing and is designed for that added stress. |
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Title: Re: Chain Conversion Torque or top speed sacrifice Post by badwolf on 06/03/21 at 12:47:42 Hardtails look ''cool'', they ride like dodo! (that MIGHT make it past the censor) No one rides any serious miles on a hard tail, if they have a choice. If you are building a bike to look at and some short trips on good roads, go for it! If you want or NEED to ride it a lot or on bad roads you will regret a hard tail. As for the speedo, they ALL are off! The stock speedo is ''optomistic'' let's say. Check it with a GPS app. I went with a larger tire and a 2.60 final drive ( stock is 2.98 ) and 100 miles on the stock speedo was 124 on the GPS! Some oem speedos can be mounted, if you change the front wheel, like to go tubeless. But a GOOD gps unit is hard to beat, and has trip mileage too. |
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Title: Re: Chain Conversion Torque or top speed sacrifice Post by Louken on 06/03/21 at 20:55:13 7B796A746A687079716A180 wrote:
Thats kinda scary! :o I’m personally would sacrifice acceleration to space out the gears a little. I’m already always over blipping the throttle going into 2nd and I hear the clutch say “:'(“ so probably wouldn’t work for me. That said, Im just getting the hang of it, and I also have to ride other peoples bikes more often than I ride my own. Makes it hard to get used to. Hard tail considered, you might actually be wise to reduce your max speed. Lowering your final drive would help you pull off on the bigger cruiser bikes if you are always awaiting the green light. Also it would actually be nice to have the gears a little closer together because… having a little more get up instead of having to down shift when want to accelerate from the normal 25-30 around town. |
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Title: Re: Chain Conversion Torque or top speed sacrifice Post by Murphdawg on 06/04/21 at 02:25:55 Thanks for the responses guys. Okay good to know on the hardtail, I’ll probably stick with the shocks (or a pair of upgraded Harley shocks off Craigslist. So many brand new pairs that were switches right away because of the color lol) In regards to the speedometer I am aware as i went with bigger tires on my car and learned how to read it with the changes made. I actually have a little digital tacho on the bars because I don’t like the tank so makes no difference. When you switched to the 2.60 (im assuming 17/44 sprocket combo) how much get up was lost off the line? I like the idea of having the 5th gear as an actual highway cruiser but am nervous to lose my “get up”. I was considering something in the middle like a 2.75ish ratio what’s your opinions on that? Would it be too minimal to stretch out the 5th gear like you have it. I feel like it would be close to stock but not sure. On the other end, say I went with a 3.1 ratio would I still be able to ride highways comfortably? Again, thanks for the responses. You have no idea the sleep I’m losing obsessing on this!! |
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Title: Re: Chain Conversion Torque or top speed sacrifice Post by Dave on 06/04/21 at 03:01:42 I personally am a fan of gearing up - but like Badwolf......... I did it with pulleys and use the stock belt. I prefer the cleanliness and ease of maintenance that a belt provides. I think the 2.60 gearing may be a bit tall for a stock engine if you live in an area that is hilly or run a windshield. Badwolf has a stock engine and runs the tall gearing.....he rides lots of miles and is not a drag racer. I have a modified engine and my bike is a Cafe' conversion.......and even with the tall gearing my bike will accelerate quicker than a stock bike with stock gearing. Getting started from a stop you notice the tall gearing - but once underway you end up just being 1 gear lower than you normally ride with the stock gearing. I seldom shift into 5th at speeds less than 60mph. If you spend a lot of time on highways at speeds over 60mph - gearing up is a huge benefit. |
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Title: Re: Chain Conversion Torque or top speed sacrifice Post by Armen on 06/04/21 at 07:05:02 Do the Kawi front pulley and keep the belt. Simple, clean, quiet, no maintenance. |
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Title: Re: Chain Conversion Torque or top speed sacrifice Post by Serowbot on 06/04/21 at 10:10:10 I recently switched to a 17/45 chain drive. That's a 2.65 drive ratio and I definitely notice it on launch. It takes a bit more rpm to get going. Otherwise I'm pretty happy with the result. It cut about 500rpm's off 60 mph cruising. Of course the speedo doesn't reflect that... 60mph now reads about 55mph on the speedo. |
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Title: Re: Chain Conversion Torque or top speed sacrifice Post by justin_o_guy2 on 06/04/21 at 10:52:20 Gain top end, lose a bit of acceleration And Get a more comfortable ride on the slab. Lower RPM cuts the vibration. You won't miss that little bit of acceleration. I'd start with the front pulley,see if you dig it. You can sell it if it's not The Answer Or add the smaller rear pulley,, if Dave is still doing that. Getting rid of the belt means signing on for taking care of the chain and replacing sprockets. If you can get close to what you think the chain will give you and avoid that, you'll save money and loads of regular maintenance. Look at the space between wheel and frame. It's filled up with pulley and belt. Picture that area with just chain and sprocket. |
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