In My opinion....going to a 12 tooth front creates to much of a bend on the chain....I prefer going to a larger rear sprocket..I believe(and I may be off a tooth ) that the 12 /40 is equivelant to a 13/42 or 43....much easier on the chain...I am getting ready to change mine to a 13/44 so that I can start in 2nd gear..I just hate it when I miss 2nd gear when I shift..so I will simply eliminate the need for first gear...unless I am loading it on the trailer. I'll try it anyway and see how it works[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

 

Its always better to change the rear sprocket than the front, thats a given. But if you go too big with the rear sprocket you are going to have skidplate clearance issues and a lower ground clearance. If you have 22" tires thats not a problem, but if you are trail riding on 20's, you need the clearance.

 

Man i dunno about that 12 toot too much bend in the chain. i mean i ran at least 1,000 hours of hard riding on a 12 tooth and sprocket and chain both still work. Although i regeard that bike and its pretty much just set up to cruise roads now that i have a new trail bike.

 

Your talking about what gearing to run but you need to pay attention to what gears your running when racing, what kinda racing, and so on... I am trying to figure out alot about gearing right now. when i had a 686 it would pull me in 3rd toped out really good up a steep hill at dumont and when i put the 14/40 it would lag in secong but picked up 4 bikes on top, just took a little more room to wind up...It wasent a happy medium because i could get easily beat out of the hole and couldent catch up and if i ran the 13/40 then it ran out of gear on top in 3rd or sometime i would get beat by a guy running 4th up the hill, never going to beat them if your tapped in 3rd and cant carry 4th and they can.....


.Now with the new 690 and all parts for top end and making alot more power for sure also revving to 10,500rpm you would think i could put back the 14/ 40 and pull 3rd hard which i dont know yet but would be nice, or should i gear low and pull thru the gears quick and hopefully tapping out in 4th up the hills? thats the question i will find out soon...

Sorry for the long post...P.S from a good source this is what i understand him saying,(may be wrong) but in drag racing he said you would want to get thru the gears quicker so they dont have to rev up to get to peak HP or (Sweet spot) and you can get thru them quickly because there are revving out fast. you dont want to make the gears taller because it takes longer for the rpm's to come up causing you to run on the low rpm range which may cause you to have to make up ground or not getting as much power to the ground than the other guy..? does this make sense....

 

1BADRAPTOR...Everything you are saying makes perfect sense....if you find the secret ...let me know will ya...There seems to be no happy medium..especially racing hills like Patton , Olds or Dumont.

 

After the 686...1 think a 13/44 with 22" scats might be the combo,but some people say to stay with the 20" scat trak...either way I would still need at least a plus 4 swingarm to keep the front end on the ground.

 

wouldnt just adding a wheelie bar work the same and be easier to remove for the trails/dunes

knock out your racing, take off wheelie bar, go riding

 

That won't keep the front end down though...especially when your racing up hill

 

there is a guy from Yuma with bright green plastic that ran 13/47 (something weird) and took off in 3rd and pulled 4th or maybe 5th realy strong and smoked me every race.

another guy ran 13/37 took off in 1st and pulled 2nd hard and we were close.

I run 12/42 and pull 3rd up the hill. depending on the woops I launch in 1st, short shift to second, then 3rd in the middle of the woops. sometimes I launch in 2nd. and I have a 2001 tranny which is diff than the 2002+

 

will a raptor with 22s and 12/44 go the same top speed as one with 20s and 12/40 gearing cuz 1flycowboy says they the same, is that in just acceloration n torque or top speed too?