planning on changing front and rear sprockets on my raptor. i have a 12 tooth for front and a 42 tooth for the rear. do you think this would be a good combination as i ride alot of trails and sand pits. any help would be great.

 

Trail riding, of course, means many different things to different people, but for me I'd think that a 42/12 combo at 3.50 gearing would be quite short, especially if there are any straightaways of any length. I would suggest if you really need to run shorter gears that you try 40/12 first at 3.33 and see how it works for your style. You can always gear down to the 42/12 later if necessary. As you probably know, your stock gearing is at 3.076 for a reference.

 

Thanks HOT-SHOE-CV
My main concern is to. Get rid of the tall first gear and slow down the reverse gear.

 

The stock Raptor gearing is 40/13=3.076. RaptorNH, since you already have the different gearset, you might-as-well use this combo and go from there. With the Raptor's 2.088 primary gearing and strong motor, you still may not run out of rev's in your riding environment.

 

Obviously I made a typo when referring to your present gearing, which I have edited. Although the reference had nothing to do with your questions I nevertheless dislike passing erroneous info. As a firm believer in the principle of changing or altering only one thing at a time, I still think I would change the c/s sprocket first. You may find that adequate for some or all situations and if it is still too tall for other venues, then you can always switch the rear sprocket. Any way, that is the way I would go.

 

I have run a 12/40 and 11/40 combination and like both of them verywell. I am a little partial to 11/40. It brings 1st down to a very managable gear on the trails and will help you out of some binds without having to slip the clutch. 2nd -5th gearing is perfectly spaced and it comes on strong. Sure you lose some top end, but I'm more than willing to lose it for more control whole trail riding.

 

I have the 12/42 combination on mine and I like it alot. I have not gotten to get on any serious trails yet but I think it will work well.

 

Go to the links on this site and you can find a copy of the chart of gear ratios from different sprocket combos.
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/raptorridersofnorthtexas

 

mudrat454, did you have to shim your swingarm skid down to put that 42tooth on the rear or did it fit with out rubbing the chain? Thanks

 

Thanks for all your input
ride hard ride safe