Advice re lowering the final gearing on my Vee

[Brockett]

Re my 08 Vee. On a recent long trip I found 6th Gear (OD) into the wind was only practical when the revs were about 4000 and more. This puts the speed up a little too high for me. (I am just as happy to push on at 70) Suggestion is to fit a larger (43 tooth) rear sprocket.
Has anyone done this?
If so can you offer advice on 'best to do' and  'what to avoid'?

What make/supplier of sprocket?
What make  / type chain?
How many links?
DIY of get dealer to do it?
Has anyone calculated the new ratio and effect on speedometer. Or if not has anyone got a calculation method for this so I can work it out.
Dave

[Sven]

The other option is to fit a smaller front sprocket as some have done on here. Dropping one tooth from a 17 to a 16 makes 6th usable from about 60mph. A front sprocket only costs about £12 & fitting.
On the Vee this will throw the speedo (further) out by about 6%.

[Firestorm]

I did this and here is what I found. It was easy to do and I did fit a speedohealer in the end. It really did transform the bike and had no effect on fuel economy. Sprocket came from Wemoto. There is a thread or two about this on here somewhere

Don't know why Suzuki didn't do it as standard. 6th is more useable and much better drive out of corners and islands in 2nd and 3rd. Very pleased. Speedo error according to SatNav averages 12% when checked at 30,40,50,60,70 and 80mph. According to my simple maths that's 6 and a bit percent from the gearing change an 5 and a bit percent built in by Suzuki. If you use 10% for mental arithmatic it's near enough and easy to do at a glance when passing cash cameras (but still might get a speedohealer!)

[cgoozee]

Hi,
     I would also change the front sprocket as this is the one that wears the quickest due to it having far less teeth to spread the load over.

Charlie.

[hookie]

The "official" standard sprockets are 17/41 although some dealers will tell you that the rear should be a 42. Dropping one tooth on the front (16) drops the gearing about by 6% (speedo will over read by this) and adding two to the rear (43) drops the gearing by about 5% so there's not a lot to choose between them. Either will improve the bike all round and won't affect fuel consumption and in fact may improve it slightly a lowish speeds in top gear. Which sprocket is easier to change is a long as it's wide. It's really up to you. Choosing either can be done without altering the chain length although it will need re-adjusting. The front sprocket will usually be cheaper, but I bought a new JT 43T rear for £1 on Ebay so it's well worth shopping about to get the best deal.

[Juvecu]

www.gearingcommander.com for calcs