the gap between 1st & 2nd is driving me crazy,has anyone tried to go down a tooth on the front? i did this on my 400ex and it really made 2nd & 3rd alot more woods ridable.any info on this would be greatly aprc.

 

Awesome mod!!!

 

Do it! It makes the Raptor much more woods friendly. I added the 42 rear and thats even better. Where we ride it is tight state trails and I can keep it in second and just rail it through the twisties. And don't worry, It'll still scare you on top end.

 

Personally I like shifting in the woods, if I didn't I would have bought a Polaris. But anyway, as long as you don't plan on doing any long drag races you should be ok (because your top end will probably be under 70) and I'm sure its more woods friendly. All I know is I have geared up every ATV that I've owned and the Raptor is no exception.

 

12 tooth is the way to go for tight trail riding.

 

I put a 12t on my, but screwed it all up by adding 22s in the back. Now I'm right back where I started. (sigh)

I need either an 11 up front or add 2 or 3 teeth in the back...

I'm hoping I can add 2 teeth to the rear, while dropping one in the front, and not having to break the chain.

Brad

 

I agree on the need for lower gearing, but I'm not sold on the 12t front sprocket. Too much chain and sprocket wear! I'm going with a 13t front and a 43t rear, for the same end result. (lower gearing) With a piped and jetted motor, even with 22's on the rear, it pulls the gearing much better than the stock motor with stock gearing. Not hard to see why Yamaha decided to fix their gearing f*** up on the '02 models. I don't know WHAT they were thinking when they picked the ratios on the '01's. I don't like having to trade top end for usable low end...we should be able to have it all on a properly ratioed transmission, especially with 660 cc's. It's aggravating.