Quote:Ever heard the phrase that a little bit of knowledge can be dangerous?
Yep. And I'm starting to see the application.
Quote:Yes, I think that the friction between the 2 sprockets does absolutely nothing. It is not a clutch.
This statement seems to indicate you have no idea how a clutch functions. Even though I find that hard to believe. So are you just arguing for the sake of argument? So what is the difference between a clutch and a brake? What physical properties other than friction dictate how they work, or don't work? Functionally, can a brake be used as a clutch and vice-versa?
Quote:The torque loads are transferred radially not laterally.
And by what mechanisms can torque loads be transfered? If it is through static friction, the radial distance from the center of the load, the amount of pressure applied, and the coefficient of friciton between the two materials is directly proportional to the torque that can be transfered. So how again do brakes differ in function from a clutch? Two plates forced together under pressure CAN act as a clutch regardless of how you prefer to label them.
Quote:I guess that Suzuki must have had a bad design with GS550 (or whatever) that it was originally used on...Those bikes had more torque and HP too.
Unless you assume the countershaft on the Savage was designed for use with sprockets vs. pulleys. Do you know that for sure? Is the Savage countershaft exactly the same as the GS550 countershaft? I happened to notice the pulley spline area was twice as wide as the sprocket spline area. Is that because of the pulley material (one could reasonably assume) or the countershaft material, or pulley design? In any case we either assume (more theory that you don't like), or we know the design specs for certain and the intent of the design engineers. Again, a little knowledge IS INDEED dangerous...
Quote:With that logic, why aren't you worried that the chain will rip off the teeth?
No, radial distance. Which is much greater on the outside of a sprocket than the splined area. Same principle by which larger disk brakes are better than smaller ones, and larger clutches are better than smaller ones. Remember that "little knowledge" quote?
Quote:Myself, I'll just rely on 40 years motorcycle experience.
Not to take anything away from your experience, but that's like saying "we've assumed the earth was flat for the last 300 years, and it hasn't failed us..." While that may be ok in some instances, it certainly doesn't lend itself well to new ways of doing things and new discoveries. The premise of this entire site flies in the face of convention which says you should keep eveything stock and have the dealers do all the mnx.
To illustrate my point here, my son has a chinese made dirt bike that we decided to re-gear but couldn't find anything that fit the bolt pattern of the rear sprocket. So I used a plain rear sprocket and sandwiched it between the original sprocket and the rear hub. It was not bolted to anything, only held in place by the compression of the original sprocket forcing it against the hub... What's my point? He's ridden that thing hard for the last year with no noticeable slipping between the two rear sprockets. It transfers torque to the rear wheel just fine. If your "experience" were relied on with my son's bike, I'd either have to live with the original gearing, or have a non-working m/c. Did the friciton between those two sprockets do nothing? If that's the case, then my son's m/c works by "magic". If that's what you want to conjecture, fine. But I'll rely on my own "experience" thank you. However, my "experience" was generated by the theory that it would work in the first place. That's not to say that every theory works in practice, I've had my fair share of failures but I've also learned a lot from each one.
In the end, I agree that two washers is cheaper and will work just fine for a Savage chain conversion, it's just more time consuming. And, I didn't "waste" my 13-tooth sprocket. I could get a different spacer and test my setup with a 43/13 gear, even though I'm not likely to ever take the gearing the other way.
BTW, why didn't you get 1" washers so you wouldn't have to grind on them?