gearing

[bige]

thinking of changing my gearing. kx 500, running 15-48 right now 1st gear does seem low enough to ride trails and single track but i want more hit and be able to pull 4th and 5th gear wheelies, right now i cant. i know stock gearing is 14-47 im thinking of dropping counter sprocket to 14 tooth and try that only with the 15 right now 1st gear seens low enough. what gearing is every one else running and type of ridding?

[Motorrad]

Im running 15-50  (works out to be same as 14-47)..

but my overdrive 5th is equivilant of running  a 16-47  in top gear so top speed is.... well... fun...

play with this
the Kx500 is in the program (drop down menue)...  

http://www.gearingcommander.com/

[The Flyin Hawaiian]

Im running 14/49 on mine. I ride alot of tight woods here in NJ.

[Polar-Bus]

Im running 14/49 on mine. I ride alot of tight woods here in NJ.

+1, this seems to be the best compromise of gearing for all-around sport riding .

[greencannon]

14/49.....plenty of grunt and still enough top speed to blow by just about anything

[sintax]

I was talking with Mr Destry Abbott a few years back, the topic of KX500 gearing came up. He raved about the 15/45 combo and how it was the hot ticket. I got a set, tossed them on, hit the desert! Needless to say it was at that moment I realized hes a million times faster rider then I am....

I've run a 13 and 14 / 45 and I seem to be sticking with the 14/45.

[Motorrad]

I ran 15/46 before I had the overdrive 5th..   Worked great

Actually was wishing for more on top when I has this setup..  But most was due to running a woods gnarly.. So it signed off early in the revs..

[2-Stroke Tom]

My ex-Team Green KX500 came with the 15/45 gearing on it and I like it a lot. It took some getting used to in the hills and technical stuff, but that can be solved with good clutch work. It's amazing how you can lug the motor down with this gearing and move through the desert very fast without turning big RPMs. Hopefully this will provide more motor longevity!

[Polar-Bus]

I tried 15/45 and it was ok for higher speed  "cruising" but as you gear higher you loose acceleration. with my stock 500 engine  I felt this gearing was too "mild" but those of you with modded 500's probably pulled this gearing more efficiently than me.. again it's all purely preference and individual situation.. obviously fuel economy will be far better with 15/45 as well..

[awak100]

13-49

[smithpa68]

When I bought mine it had 14/52 on it.  Talk about acceleration!  But I ran out of speed on the local GP style track.  I do NOT want to come up on the faces of jumps in 5th gear in the meat of the power on this bike.   I changed it back to stock since there was a 47 tooth Renthal in the box of parts the guy gave me.  I like it much better.  I can lug it off jumps now.    It might be just a hair too tall.  I will probably try 14/48 or 49 next time I change the sprockets.   

[awak100]

Well lets see how often do you run tapped out 5th gear with 14-47.  Even on dirt roads that are pretty nice I hit 5th gear and can only stay there a few seconds, wide open,  back down fast to make a corner.  I've always believed a dirt bike has 5 gears and a person should use all five 13-47.  Most guys hit 3rd with stock gearing 14-47 and thats all maaaaaybe 4th.

[awak100]

Besides that 13-47 is free hp.  You gain alot by gearing down.  I hill climb quite abit with a stock bike no extensions with 13-47 its works good.  There not to tall 400',  but ledges on the way up.

[Motorrad]

Besides that 13-47 is free hp.  You gain alot by gearing down.  I hill climb quite abit with a stock bike no extensions with 13-47 its works good.  There not to tall 400',  but ledges on the way up.

so my 16-45 equivilant 5th gear is usless    

[awak100]

well motorrad I guess not useles at all if your running those kind of speeds.  Out here in wyoming its pretty rough terrain,  I just cant use those tall of gears.  If your going up the side of a mountain, narrow road, and sink holes around alot of corners, and big rocks jetting out, I like low gears.  If your pounding up a pretty steep hill full of sage brush as tall as I am sitting on top of the bike, I just dont need tall gears.  If your climbing hills with rock ledges sticking out at the top, and I'm talking hills that some of the top pros in hill climbing, climb on I dont need tall gearing.  I guess it depends on what your doing with a 500.  If your rideing on dirt roads I can see tall gearing open country.  Thats not what I ride at all.  And yes last pro hillclimb I went to I took 5th place in the 40 pro masters class.  I'm 53.