When to Change Your Sprocket

Motorcyclists often have a desire for more control of their bikes when it comes to increasing speed. For most current motorcycles, the power from the engine and transmission is delivered to the rear wheel via a drive chain, driveshaft or a belt, leaving no control to vary the bike's speed potential. If a biker is privileged to have chains and sprockets on his bike, he can alter the tooth count and create a specific final drive ratio with a little bit of math.

Reasons to change your sprockets

Changing your sprocket with replacements that have a different tooth count changes your final drive ratio. You may want to do this to trade some effective top-end HP for added effective low-end torque, giving you faster acceleration, but at the loss of top-end speed. Another reason is to give more RPMs for speed, or less RPMs for better gas mileage and reduced vibration. With a little bit of sprocket math, rear tooth count / front tooth count = drive ratio, you can tweak your sprockets for desired performance. The rest is just sprocket history.

With your tooth count in mind, your final sprocket decision is width and construction material. Sprocket width depends on chassis size. The material is either steel or aluminum. Steel is less costly and lasts longer; aluminum costs more and wears out faster. A great marriage of the two is steel sprocket rings and aluminum carrier hubs. For the determined sprocket changer, check out a pre-made chart for sprocket ratios, and learn a bit more about ratio percentages and such. You are then ready to adjust your bike and roll on in your motorcycle dreams!