Actually, I have a box full of sprockets ranging from 13-15 front and 45-51 rear, both in alumimum and steel. Since we have spent a number of years racing the National Hare & Hound series, the ISDE Qualifiers, and everything in between, I have run just about every combination of sprockets imaginable on my KX500.
For the 15/45 or lower folks, I just don't want to go that fast anymore. Worked fine in the high speed desert races, but hey, I'm getting old, and take longer to heal.
For the folks with the 13/51...
... 'nuff said.
I guess I settled on the 14/47 because I don't have to switch sprockets very often to be competitive in the regional series. Also, since we will no longer race the National Hare & Hound and be switching to the WORCS series, I doubt I will have a real need to go 100 mph anymore.
On the question of power in tight switch corners, I actually found it easier after the flywheel because my rear wheel wasn't all over the place. I removed the flywheel last weekend because some folks on this forum had noted that they lost way too much power. Since I had been running my flywheel for over a year, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything. After my test last weekend, I'll be happy to leave the weight in place.
However, I do agree that a smaller weight would probably be prefered, but since the 14 OZ. is the only thing on the market, we are stuck with that unless someone wants to experiment with some machining.
In the end, I think the flywheel weight and gearing has a lot to do with the style of riding in which you are most engaged. Since I switch from mountains to desert from one day to the next, I settled on the 14/47 or 14/48 as the best overall gearing. In fact, last Saturday, we needed to ride cross country in the mountains to hook into a trail, which required climbing a long, grassy, rocky, steep hill. The 500 just tractored up the side of the hill with almost no wheel spin or clutch feathering, while everyone else had to resort to tacking up the hill like a sailboat.
Rick
