300rr gearing for single track

[lcw8423]

Just curious what everyone is running. Stock was 13/49. Which was pretty good. I just switched to 13/51 for more single track riding. Has anyone tried 14/51 for more fast paced riding? Figured it be easier to switch back and forth

[gr4vitas]

Stock gearing has been great for me, sometimes I get into terrain that I end up sitting between 2nd and 3rd and wish I had different gearing but I think no matter what your going to end up stick between gears in places.

[mountainmanid]

I'm running 12/49 and like it quite a bit.

[Hoosier-Daddy]

I like the stock gearing. First is already almost useless. I definitely wouldn't go lower.

[k4f5x0r]

I'm actually running 14/50 on my 300rr to help with the street trail connection.  It's really nice for anything faster like powerlines or quad trails, especially wide open sand hill climbs.  With 13/50 i was either on the limiter in 3rd or bogged down in 4th on really loose sand pit/beach hill climbs. With the 14T front now it's in the meat of the power WOT in 3rd.  It's not as nice for singletrack as the 13/50 however i'm just changing gear less and am between 2-3 mostly. Overall i think its the best compromise for my style of riding and in general.  1st gear is still nice and low yet i can cruise comfortable at around 50mph without having the RPM's up too high.

Edited April 4, 2017 by k4f5x0r

[BassMan]

13/51 is excellent for tight woods. Good choice.

[Mulley]

4 hours ago, lcw8423 said:

 

Just curious what everyone is running. Stock was 13/49. Which was pretty good. I just switched to 13/51 for more single track riding. Has anyone tried 14/51 for more fast paced riding? Figured it be easier to switch back and forth

 

I run 13/51 almost exclusively. I do about 5 miles each way of paved backroad to get to my local trail and never fell like I'm revving too high. 1st gear is there for super tight uphill stuff but mostly I start off in 2nd with a little clutch. Which turns out great for me. 

 

I've tried 12/51. It's ridiculously low and most of my riding is really tight single track. I didn't like it because 1st was just about unusable and 2nd ran out of steam too quick.

 

I've also tried 14/51 which is great for dual sport and faster trail riding. I only used these for a few rides. I bought it for when I want to blast down the groomed dirt roads. It turned out to be pretty good in the trails too. The only problem is that I have to clutch too much in the tighter single track. 

 

The good thing is, front sprockets are cheap. You can also borrow from your KTM friends (older style)  to try too.

[afm774]

I'm also running stock 13/49. 1st barely gets used. Can't imagine running any lower gearing, but +2 on the back isn't a dramatic.

[motoxgiant]

13/49. I tried adding a couple teeth to the rear but that tightened everything up and made the bike too abrupt and aggressive for what I'm riding, so back to stock it went.

[GP]

Depends on your terrain and speed.  If you can carry more speed for any reason you can run taller gearing.   Also avoid shifting across neutral, make 1st a bail out.  I ran 13/50 or 13/51 on the 300, technical rocky singletrack with lots of hills, plus HS racing on a variety of courses.  Now I'm on a 250 with a modified head and run 13/50.  The 250 pulls almost as strong, is less abrupt when the throttle is cracked, and revs higher so you actually shift less. 

[ballisticexchris]

10 hours ago, motoxgiant said:

13/49. I tried adding a couple teeth to the rear but that tightened everything up and made the bike too abrupt and aggressive for what I'm riding, so back to stock it went.

The Beta 300 I rode a few years back had the stock 13/49 and it was perfect. Of course the jetting on that bike was spot on and I could lug third gear to darn near idle. 

5 hours ago, GP said:

Depends on your terrain and speed.  If you can carry more speed for any reason you can run taller gearing.   Also avoid shifting across neutral, make 1st a bail out.  I ran 13/50 or 13/51 on the 300, technical rocky singletrack with lots of hills, plus HS racing on a variety of courses.  Now I'm on a 250 with a modified head and run 13/50.  The 250 pulls almost as strong, is less abrupt when the throttle is cracked, and revs higher so you actually shift less. 

It sounds as if you have your bike pretty well dialed in.

I run 13/50 on my KTM300. I tried the 13/48 and it did not have the snap. I also have a modified head (.045"/1.1mm squish).  Unfortunately my bike requires leaded race gas to run well and avoid pinging. At 200psi compression I don't want to chance it. Not to mention the pump gas here in CA is pretty sad with all the ethanol added.

Not trying to get off the subject but I think that jetting and gearing go hand in hand when it comes to getting a bike dialed in for the type of riding you do. I first sort out the jetting then get the gearing to my liking. 

36PWK jetting is:

160 M
35 PJ
N3EH #2
1.5 AS

This is  a really good overall setup for slow rocky single track and just good old fun trail riding. If I ever decide I want to go really fast I can bolt on my pre jetted 38PWM carb. No bottom end but the bike will run hard at the upper rpm's.

I thought about converting my 300 to a 250 but I'm just not a good enough rider to keep it in the sweet spot of the powerband. The 300 is really good for a slow lazy rider like myself. I can run it a gear high and am still able to claw my way up almost anything. I kind of have the mindset "the older I get the faster I was".

 

 

[motumatai]

Will depend entirely on what sort of riding you do.

I spend a lot of time on either single track or following deer trails into the mountains. Rocky, steep, muddy, riding through brush up to your tank. There 12/51 is great, but you'll only get about 60kph out of the bike. Also helps when riding back out with a backpack with 20kg of meat in it:)

On formed trails in rocky and or muddy going 13/51 is the business.

If your riding is on faster flowing trails the stock gearing of 13/48 should work best. 

[lcw8423]

Thanks guys, much appreciated

[BassMan]

I like to be in 3rd gear or higher for most of my riding with second as a safety valve. I hate bumping into neutral from 2nd when it gets gnarley. Thus with my 250 13/51 let's me run tight woods at bursts over 30mph, kick to second on 180s and back to 3rd and then 4th if it opens up and 5th if I need 50+ in a field section. Still rarely see 6th.

[454x]

http://mediacdn.shopatron.com/media/mfg/9825/spec_file/240058674.pdf

Found this on Beta USA, thought it might help some people.

[dyrtmon]

I ran 14/49 for a couple of years (running a Lectron) and in most places it was fine. However, lately I've been riding an area with some serious hillclimbs and went back to 13/49, was helpful on said hill climbs, but not as helpful as ditching the Lectron and putting on a Kehein 30mm carb which is a whole different story.

What a 14 counter will do is make first gear usable, and second will be taller - I think you'll like it....the counter is easy to swap out and you can use the same number of links in the chain - you can always go back if you don't like it. With the additional power that the Kehein gives my bike I may just go back to the 14.

BTW, I've been running a 14/50 on my KTM 300 for a few years and really like it.

[dstewart]

14 hours ago, dyrtmon said:

I ran 14/49 for a couple of years (running a Lectron) and in most places it was fine. However, lately I've been riding an area with some serious hillclimbs and went back to 13/49, was helpful on said hill climbs, but not as helpful as ditching the Lectron and putting on a Kehein 30mm carb which is a whole different story.

What a 14 counter will do is make first gear usable, and second will be taller - I think you'll like it....the counter is easy to swap out and you can use the same number of links in the chain - you can always go back if you don't like it. With the additional power that the Kehein gives my bike I may just go back to the 14.

BTW, I've been running a 14/50 on my KTM 300 for a few years and really like it.

Do tell about "ditching the Lectron and putting on a Kehein 30mm carb".   Also, did you mean 36mm carb?

[dyrtmon]

37 minutes ago, dstewart said:

Do tell about "ditching the Lectron and putting on a Kehein 30mm carb".   Also, did you mean 36mm carb?

I finally stopped being in denial. My Beta had the Lectron, my KTM 300 has the stock Kehein. The KTM alway had way more hit and power. I did like the Lectron, the motor was electric smooth, the mileage was incredible (35ish) but the low end grunt was lacking (compared to the KTM). Add to the fact that I've been lately riding an area with some serious hillclimbs and (in second) I was barely able to make it to the top of some of them, the KTM guys were easily doing them in third!

So I bought a 38mm Airstryker from JD jetting and holy crap - the bike has been transformed. Night and day more low end, now I'm in third where I used to be in second. As expected fuel economy is 25 +/- but the added performance is worth it.

Whn I bought the bike it already had the Lectron on it, I didn't have the stock carb. I have obtained a 36mm Kehein from a friend, have yet to try it as it's a 70 mm body and I needed a 90....Thinking my mileage may improve with the 36 carby, but am not gonna change things out tomorrow or the next day..

I may also put that 14 counter back on the Beta just for grins.

[hawaiidirtrider]

3 hours ago, dyrtmon said:

I finally stopped being in denial. My Beta had the Lectron, my KTM 300 has the stock Kehein. The KTM alway had way more hit and power. I did like the Lectron, the motor was electric smooth, the mileage was incredible (35ish) but the low end grunt was lacking (compared to the KTM). Add to the fact that I've been lately riding an area with some serious hillclimbs and (in second) I was barely able to make it to the top of some of them, the KTM guys were easily doing them in third!

So I bought a 38mm Airstryker from JD jetting and holy crap - the bike has been transformed. Night and day more low end, now I'm in third where I used to be in second. As expected fuel economy is 25 +/- but the added performance is worth it.

Whn I bought the bike it already had the Lectron on it, I didn't have the stock carb. I have obtained a 36mm Kehein from a friend, have yet to try it as it's a 70 mm body and I needed a 90....Thinking my mileage may improve with the 36 carby, but am not gonna change things out tomorrow or the next day..

I may also put that 14 counter back on the Beta just for grins.

..would be interesting to see how a stock carb works on your bike... It's great that there are options for a carb though.. I've been happy with my stock carb and watching and learning from others.. I know that some get other carbs to increase mileage.. I've just adjusted my float bowl and it's been good enough for me. My 300 was sucking gas before but now it's good . I was thinking of getting a bigger tank but actually stock I'm good.. maybe if I was going on a super long run where I'm not getting back to refuel.. but so far stock is great. My cr 250 honda sucked more gas than my 300rr does.. I had to get a big tank for that one. Oh and my 15' 300rr has the best off idle torque to me..It's why I've been wondering why some guys have changed carbs almost from the start. That has happened with some that get new ktm's that seem to have terrible jetting stock.. instead of playing with jetting they just buy a lectron.. interesting choice to me. I would figure by now someone would figure out the jetting and share with everyone else what jetting.. That's what happened with my 01 cr.. guys were changing to the 2000 cr keihin from the 2001 mikuni .. I talked to some friends and they hooked me up with the right jetting and the bike ran great.. My Dad ordered a 2000 keihin by mistake so we bought it.. put it on..and it worked the same as the mikuni just taken off with the right jetting.  I have seen that JD has jetting kits too.. That's good I guess. I've been feeling lucky as my 525 and my 300rr run awesome stock... I've not done anything.. just ride. I'm at sea level soo? maybe you guys in the mountains have some issues? .. There's that jetting guide too.. I haven't used it but some others have mentioned so I guess they have used it.

http://www.betausa.com/sites/default/files/enduroServiceInformation/2013 300 RR Carb Settings.pdf

Oh.. and by the way.. I run stock gearing. I've been thinking that I'd change gearing but it's great now. That's one of the benefits I think of an even spread 6 speed transmission does too. I might try a tooth or 2 up or down if I found a deal on sprockets just to try in the future..but it works perfect the way it is. I was talking to my dealer yesterday and asking him for ideas for new goodies to put on my bike. I was looking at his 17 300 rr in front of me.. It is really just stock. So I asked him.. beyond the stiffer springs front and back and his cycra hand guards he had on.. "What else should I do to my bike?" ... " Nothing... ride it". That's our common conversation lol... It's a Nice bike.. It's stock.. It's funny as I keep trying to buy more shit for my Betas and he's telling me I don't need it.. he's a good straight forward guy.. funny.. usually you'd think it would be the other way around. ..him trying to sell me and me saying I don't need it.

 

Edited April 7, 2017 by hawaiidirtrider

[Sierra_rider]

Stock gearing here...for me, 1st gear is plenty low enough for some of the tighter trails and the crosstraining that I do. The only advantage I can see to lower gearing is so you don't have to use 1st, except for the gnarliest hike-a-bike trails. 

It'll idle at 3mph with the stock gearing in 1st, and with the ME clever lever, clutch use is easy at low speeds.