Lowering your Motorcycle's Gearing

How often do you do 250km/h, or more? Obviously here at Motorcycle Thailand, we all hit this speed most mornings on our commute through downtown Bangkok, hahaha. Okay lets keep it serious, the last time one of use was doing 250km/h is some time back and was surely not something we do daily...

But even we would admit that maximum speed is generally less useful than acceleration. Lowering the gearing on your motorcycle can make a massive difference to the performance, particularly on many modern sportsbikes, which tend to have revvier, top-end-biased delivery.

Adding two or three teeth onto the rear sprocket, or removing one from the front sprocket will make your motorcycle feel livelier, and sharper, for minimal cost.

Bigger changes in ratios may mean you need the chain shortened (or a longer chain). So remember the next time you buy another set of sprockets and a chain, it's maybe a good idea to change a few teeth.