Sprocket change - front or rear with lowering link?

Hi all,
I bought my WRR with a lowering link and 13-46 rear sprocket installed with the longer chain. I find the 13-46 too buzzy at highway speeds. Am wanting to return the bike to stock gearing.  Question is - should I change the front sprocket or the rear?
WHY? I have read on here that the chain slider wear on swingarm is more if there is a lowering link installed. And that it could be countered by going to 14T on the front. My bike has only about 5k on it, but there is consderable wear on the slider with the stock 13T up front. Luckily no damage to swingarm yet. Will be changing the slider shortly.

What do you advise - change the front sprocket to 14T or rear to 43T? I have both lying around. Oh, and if i went with the 13T up front, does that mean i have to reduce the chain links from a 112 to 110? How does the chain length play into this?

Shridhar

I don't have experience with the lowering link, so I don't have an opinion on 13 or 14 tooth up front.  I just know that plenty of folks have reported problems with both chain and slider wear with 12 tooth up front.

Just curious, what do you mean by "too buzzy at highway speeds"? With similarly tensioned chains the noise should be similar.  13/46, 13/47, and 13/48 are all popular combinations for this bike.  (I run 13/51 and don't notice excessive noise at highway speed.)

Regarding sprocket size effect on chain length: The stock setup is 13/43 with 108 link chain, which should give you 24.82" center-to-center sprocket distance.  Generally speaking running 14/43 with stock 108 chain will shorten that stock distance a bit, and going up to 110 link with extend it.  I think 112 is probably too much.  See the table below for some different combinations.

Front   Rear   Links   Distance
 13      43     108     24.82" (stock)
 13      46     112     25.57"
 14      43     112     25.93"
 14      43     110     25.30"
 14      43     108     24.67"

Those numbers come from the Gearing Commander online calculator.  You can plug in some other sprocket and chain numbers if you want to play with different scenarios.

VWguy,
thank you for the link. It was very useful.
To clarify:
1) It turns out that I have a 13-45 on right now, not 46 as I stated earlier.
2) I have a 112 chain. And on inspection right now, it is out pretty far out.
3) What I meant by "buzzy" at highway speed is misleading. I meant that it felt over-revved. Maybe the loud FMF has something to do with it, but I just feel on edge riding at 65mph. Bike seems to be happy at up to 60mph. I'd like it be happy at 65.

Based on my experiences a vStrom and DR, I have always found stock gearing to be the best for me. It looks like what I might have to do is reduce the chain length down to 110 or 108 and slap on the 43T.

Shridhar

Yeah, 112 link chain with 13/45 sprockets is pretty long.  (I run 112 links with my 13/51.)

You didn't mention how long you've had this bike, but it's worth noting that this little engine is built to run up to 10,000 RPM before hitting the rev limiter.  Even with 13/51 I can do 65 MPH at 8000 RPM.  With 13/45 and stock (or similar circumference) tires you should be hitting 65 MPH at around 7200 RPM. Gearing Commander will show you that too.

You might be happy going back to stock gearing.  I'm only making my points because I wasn't.  It was too tall at both ends of the speed spectrum.  I was stalling the engine at low speed trail riding and running out of power on highway inclines in 6th gear.  That's why so many riders have opted for the gearing combos I mentioned above.

Regardless, this is a fairly inexpensive modification to play around with.  Last time around I picked up both JT Sprockets and DID VX2 chain on Amazon for $114 all-in.

You reminded me that when i bought it, the PO had 13/47 on it. That explains the 112 links. I found the 13/47 almost unrideable and as part of the deal, he put on the 45 rear for me that he had laying around and i found that was significantly better. While the 13/45 is really good in the dirt, i miss riding at a relaxed 65-70 on highway.
But going over the Gearing Calculator that you provided, i see very little difference between 13/43 and 13/45 at highway speeds. Barely 400 rpms in 6th at 65mph. Maybe its just how the bike is and i should just man up and deal with it.
I am not afraid of the rev limits of the bike, its just the frentic nature of it at high speeds. Maybe i just need a windshield and better earplugs ;-)

wwguy wrote:

Yeah, 112 link chain with 13/45 sprockets is pretty long.  (I run 112 links with my 13/51.)

You didn't mention how long you've had this bike, but it's worth noting that this little engine is built to run up to 10,000 RPM before hitting the rev limiter.  Even with 13/51 I can do 65 MPH at 8000 RPM.  With 13/45 and stock (or similar circumference) tires you should be hitting 65 MPH at around 7200 RPM.  Gearing Commander will show you that too.

You might be happy going back to stock gearing.  I'm only making my points because I wasn't.  It was too tall at both ends of the speed spectrum.  I was stalling the engine at low speed trail riding and running out of power on highway inclines in 6th gear.  That's why so many riders have opted for the gearing combos I mentioned above.

Regardless, this is a fairly inexpensive modification to play around with.  Last time around I picked up both JT Sprockets and DID VX2 chain on Amazon for $114 all-in.

When I changed from my harley bagger to the WRR for the first while it was like riding around on a chain saw, if your not up around 10k rpm your not riding it, they are not like a big displacment CC bike, non of this 2k rpm 65 mph riding, they are meant to rev, cheer`s

Fiftygrit wrote:

When I changed from my harley bagger to the WRR for the first while it was like riding around on a chain saw, if your not up around 10k rpm your not riding it, they are not like a big displacment CC bike, non of this 2k rpm 65 mph riding, they are meant to rev, cheer`s

I came from a HD Street Bob and obviously the WRR is an entirely different bike. After riding it for some 2000km (in "no time", I should add) I changed from stock to a 48t sprocket and man, now I LOVE my WRR!

But, as you just wrote - the WRR is no "relaxed low-rev cruiser". The engine is pretty weak, but that's nothing than expected for a 250. It also means that 6th gear is pretty useless, the bike just famishes and you need to shift down to 5th to get back to some useable rev/power ratio. Torque is n/a on a WRR and that would be exactly what a low-rev cruiser needs.

So, REV it, baby!

Front sprockets are 10-15 bucks and easy to change, why even consider changing the rear?

Put the 14 on it, it will fit with your chain, get your gearing where you want it and give you extra chain slider clearance.

If you don't like it put the 13 back on and keep the 14 for the next time you need chain and sprockets and run a larger rear sprocket with it.