DRZ Gearing ?

[Over40_DRZ]

I will be replacing the sprockets and chain on my DRZ, finally getting rid of the stock parts. Anyway, my question is about gear ratio. Up to this point I have had no complaints about the stock gearing.

Background - I will be doing primarily woods riding, in Indiana (not to hilly), and I may race a motocross every now and then. I have a full White Bros. E-series exhaust system and have removed the snorkel from the air box.

My question is will the bikes performace benefit enough for me to even mess with it. I am just trying to get some opinions from the collective.

[Seamus]

I did a lot of research on this after my first trail ride. I felt first gear was way too tall at 15/44. According to a lot of folks here, 14/47 is the sweet spot for general trail riding. I completed the swap last weekend (allows you to use the stock chain). I haven't had it off-road yet, but a quick trip around the block had me cruising at 9mph in first without bogging. Should work great for my style of riding.

Jim

[DRZ400SK4]

I'm gearing for 50/50 trail/street riding, so I'm going with a 15/47 set up. This is the limit for the stock chain.

Once the balance tips, and you find yourself spending more than half your time on the trail, it seems that 14/47 or deeper is the way to go.

[Skydmark1]

so is 14/47 gonna make it hard to do cruising speeds on the road....I plan to use my S for road riding at 55mph and lower, no Interstate riding...and then back roads, logging trails and the such. I was thinking of going 14/47 with stock chain...would I be better doing 15/47 with stock chain? I'll change the chain eventually just trying to keep my mods down in price to start off with.

[flip18436572]

14/47 will work at 65 and under.

[Cavi]

55 not problem at all, it will eve ndo 70 no problem, just a bit noisey, but 55 is no problem at all ,not even too noisey. I run 14/49 and love it, but the truth is I met someone yesterday who runs the same trails as me and he runs stock 15/44. I will mention that he also blew my mind when he quoted that he recently rebuilt his motor and did swap the gasket for the e gasket, but then proceeded to remove his DJ needle in favor of the stock..... Different strokes for different folks,

[Over40_DRZ]

Thanks for the info guy's I will try the 14/47 combo

[dhuber]

14/47 will easily alow you to cruise 55 mph all day. Infact my bike rides best when the speedo is showing 59 - 63. However you have to subtract 5 miles an hour from that figure due to speedo error. I havn't checked lately but with 14/47 you should be able to reach 80 mph. I think I've hit 87 - 5 mph speedo error so 82 would be about the right top speed. At time 14/47 is to tall for me.

[sfrolich]

14/47 will easily alow you to cruise 55 mph all day. Infact my bike rides best when the speedo is showing 59 - 63. However you have to subtract 5 miles an hour from that figure due to speedo error. I havn't checked lately but with 14/47 you should be able to reach 80 mph. I think I've hit 87 - 5 mph speedo error so 82 would be about the right top speed. At time 14/47 is to tall for me.

Sorry to Kijack but what do you mean by speedo error? Is the speedo off be a certain percentage even in sock form?

Scott

[kelsow]

If you run knobbies, they are allot taller than the stock street tires.

Throws the speedo way off.

[Skydmark1]

Knobbies make a difference in the speedo? I thought it was just the gearing that did that.

[drjack]

A change in wheel circumference will cause a change in the accuracy of the speedometer. That's why all the SM guys are having trouble with their speedometers.

[MyFirstThumper]

Knobbies make a difference in the speedo? I thought it was just the gearing that did that.

Why would gearing make a difference in the Speedo? It is driven from the front wheel No?

[drjack]

Yep, driven by the front wheel. So drive gearing changes wouldn't affect it.

[OldDualSporter]

Why would gearing make a difference in the Speedo? It is driven from the front wheel No?

Some bikes have speedo input coming from engine internals, and are affected by changes in rear gearing changes, and/or tire diameters.

In this case, there are "magic boxes" that plug into your wiring (between engine and speedo) to allow you to compensate for whatever changes you make.

[drjack]

Just so MFT doesn't get confused, the DRZ does not have the engine input. It's a simple mechanical based on the front wheel circumference.

[MotoChris521]

I just switched back to 15/47 , after running 14/47 for the last two months. For my riding conditions/style i like it better.Way more relaxed on the street,off-road still climbs well in 2nd gear.Still will pull 5th gear from just over 20 mph.

Just try it both ways (14/47-15/47) and see what YOU like better.A front sprocket is only $15-$20 bucks.

[Jim_SB]

I've got an '04 DRZ400S. Need to change the gearing for some very rocky trails I've been trying to ride. Gearing is stock now. I still need to ride the street for 45 minutes just to get to the trail.

Assuming stock gearing is 15/44 is it better to try 15/47 or to try 14/44? (assuming 14/44 is possible). Just want to buy the least amount of spare parts at this point.

TIA.

[jha07]

I've got an '04 DRZ400S. Need to change the gearing for some very rocky trails I've been trying to ride. Gearing is stock now. I still need to ride the street for 45 minutes just to get to the trail.

Assuming stock gearing is 15/44 is it better to try 15/47 or to try 14/44? (assuming 14/44 is possible). Just want to buy the least amount of spare parts at this point.

TIA.

Yes, 14/44 is possible. That would be the cheapest way to go. That's what I'm using now.

[Whitaker]

I use a 13 tooth front sprocket and it made a big difference out on the trails. I don't kill it as much when going slow in the woods. I didn't shorten my chain initially, I just pushed the back wheel all the way back (the chain was still a little to slack), but then I just went and got a master link and shortened the chain. Works great! Good luck.