Gear down 1 tooth or 2, and why?

Venom

Venom

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Joined
Mar 22, 2004
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Holyrood, Newfoundland, Canada
OK, I searched this site for info on gearing and I still have a question.

I think my gearing is 20/39 on my 2004 Venom 600. I want to get more acceleration, I don't care too much about the top end. So people tell me I need to go down a tooth or two on the top sprocket, but nobody tells me what 1 tooth versus 2 teeth will do and what they are suited for.

If I go down 1 tooth, it should be OK for trails, correct? If I go down 2 teeth, will it be better in powder? I need to know what going down 1 tooth will get me versus 2 teeth.

I ride mostly groomed trails, but ever time I go out I'll jump off the trails and surf the powder, then jump back on the trails again. So should I go down 2 teeth on the top sprocket, or just go down 1 tooth?

FYI, I'm getting a 51/43 helix as well.

Many thanks..
Roger.
 
go down two if you can,If all you want is out of the hole and or corner to corner,then that would be the way too go.But then you might have traction issues,what track and or studs??
 
20/39 doesnt sound that bad to start with. if you dont have a good track (1"+ camo) then you will just spin too much. i would drop 1 tooth unless you have a 1.25" track.
 
going down two teeth will be very low gearing, and will probably overrev on top end in a lot of conditions. I wouldn't go down more than one if it were mine unless you were racing some short distances or something. Yes in powder going down two would be better IF you had a track that needed it. Your track isn't going to be doing all that much in powder anyway, and isn't going to be loading the driveline very much. Going down one is plenty with that track.
 
To give an idea... On a 00 SRX we geared it down one and didn't change any clutching... It added almost 100RPM Obviously it depends on conditions.. But it was consistantly running 50-100 RPM higher after the gear change.
 
********** site had a cool calculator to find est. speed etc..
enter in different gearing with rpm and driver size = MPH
give it a try or tell what RPM and driver size you have and I could do it

sorry guess you have to tell me the rpm site wont post
 
when droping one tooth off the top it is like adding two to the bottom. so, if you drop 2 on top thats +4 (or alittle more) on the bottom which will be a drastic gear change. you dont need a drastic change to have great acceleration. one will be sufficiant. check the gear and chain charts to verify if you need a new (smaller) chain. the efficiancy you gain by dropping one tooth may be lost if you use too large of a chain due to the bend in the chain and tensioner. for premium performance you need efficancy in the gearing (and chain) and clutching. dont skimp on one for the other, they work together. every little bit helps. ski
 
with the cone track i wouldn't even gear it down then.Just get a better track and you'll see better results.
 
I wouldn't go less than a 19 on top. Don't forget that the smaller the top, the less teeth the chain has to grab. If the track hooks on something solid and doesn't spin, it could very well strip the top gear due to a lesser amount of teeth in the chain. Just my 2 cents.
 
I actually went down 1 tooth the lower gear for many of the above reasons.I felt If I went down 2, it would just over rev at slightly higher speeds. The bend in the chain was min. and I still have good bite on the top gear. My out of the hole was increased a fair amount. I did this with a 3/4" track and a 192 1.075 picks. I also did alot of trail riding and that sled was fast from corner to corner and short bursts.

1CS
 
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you went down a tooth on the bottom gear and think you gained acceleration? Going down teeth on the bottom gear will increase top speed (if you have the horsepower and clutching to pull it), not bottom end. Putting a bottom gear with MORE teeth on will give better bottom end, same as decreasing teeth on top.
 
yamaholic22 said:
you went down a tooth on the bottom gear and think you gained acceleration? Going down teeth on the bottom gear will increase top speed (if you have the horsepower and clutching to pull it), not bottom end. Putting a bottom gear with MORE teeth on will give better bottom end, same as decreasing teeth on top.
Click to expand...
maybe he works on his sled upside down. :Moon: ;):D
 
I hope this helps. Think of gearing like it is a ten speed bike and watch how it works. your feet are the motor and the rear tire is the bottom gear.
 
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