I went on to Sidewinder Sprockets web site and I was looking at their sprocket ratio guide. What I am wondering is, how do I know which gear ratio is good for each bike. I have a Banshee and have gone up 1 tooth in the rear for a ratio of 3.00. My friends have YFZ450s and some of them have gone down 1 in the front for a ratio of 2.92. The 13 tooth front on the YFZ is too much and we are thinking that maybe up 1 or 2 in the rear would be better. Those ratios are 2.79 and 2.86. I am sure that I need trans ratios to complete the equation. Any thoughts?

 

Tire size is also considered. But here's what I do...

Ride the bike with the tires I want for that style of riding (sand, dirt or track).

If I'm riding in sand, I gear for hill-climbs. I like having 1st, 2nd and 3rd available. Gear it too tall and 3rd isn't available because I'm going too fast to use it in a hill-climb through the trees.

If I'm drag-racing on the sand (sand tires are 22"), I gear so that 5th gear is tapped out on power as I'm hitting the rev limiter.

If it's a fast large flat track (did this once, won't be back... it hurts if you don't make the corner[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]), my tires are 18", so I gear it taller for top speed with those tires.

If it's a short track, I'm not going to use 4th or 5t gear, so I gear to use 3rd gear for my top speed.

It's all dependent on what you want to do for power. Go ride with what you have, then go figure out if you want more speed or torque. Such as do you want more power coming out of a corner? Gear it down a little. What gears do you want to use and when. The chart will tell you what you need to do relative to what you already have for gears. It will give you an indication of what you need to do if you put different size tires on... Larger tires, gear it lower. Smaller tires, gear it taller.

I have the following gears that give me a step-by-step increment to play with. Front 13 and 14. Rear 36,37,38.