300ec gearing

[nibby]

Hello.

I think the stock gearing on the 2013 EC 300 is 13/48????

I've changed the front to a 12

From doing some searching on the forum it looks like the most common for technical/woods/slower type of riding is 13/52

Would 13/52 feel much different to my current 12/48??

I like to ride so I can chug along in the more technical areas without having to slip the clutch, almost running to 1 mph without clutching that sort of thing.

Cheers

[CDBiker220]

13/52 and 12/48 are the same gearing. They will feel identical

[Boom Boom]

Watch your chain slide, the 12 will chew it up faster.

[nibby]

Great thanks.

Seems like the 12/48 - 13/52 is the way to go for the type of riding I'm doing then.

[nknudsen]

Just divide the rear sprocket number of teeth by the front sprocket number of teeth to get the ratio. 52 divided by 13 is a 4.0 ratio. This makes it easy to compare different sprocket combos.

[pscook]

Also, for those of us with a touch of OCD, having a perfect ratio, like 4:1, 3:1, etc, allows the chain to hit the sprocket in the exact same place every (4th) or (3rd) time. This means that if you have a bad chain link, or something stuck in a particular link, that defect will hit the sprocket in the exact same place every (*th) revolution. I did witness this on my street bike with 15/45 gearing, the front sprocket was worn in a specific pattern that matched the inner and outer chain link plate location. Having a ratio that is not a perfect integer allows the chain and sprockets to contact in a different place each revolution, more equally distributed contact points for better wear.

Does that make sense to anyone else, or just to me?

[rosco]

Actually that does make good sense. I've never thought about it but that would be a good idea. I will have to change my way of thinking when it comes to gear selection.

[AZRickD]

Using a bigger rear sprocket is easier on the chain but is closer to hitting rocks and my 52 dug into my LTR/XR chain guide more than I liked. The smaller front is said to cause faster chain wear and will ride the slider a bit more.

I'm going with the 12/48 this time around as we have rocks everywhere.

[motopsycho87]

Originally Posted by pscook

Also, for those of us with a touch of OCD, having a perfect ratio, like 4:1, 3:1, etc, allows the chain to hit the sprocket in the exact same place every (4th) or (3rd) time. This means that if you have a bad chain link, or something stuck in a particular link, that defect will hit the sprocket in the exact same place every (*th) revolution. I did witness this on my street bike with 15/45 gearing, the front sprocket was worn in a specific pattern that matched the inner and outer chain link plate location. Having a ratio that is not a perfect integer allows the chain and sprockets to contact in a different place each revolution, more equally distributed contact points for better wear.

Does that make sense to anyone else, or just to me?

I was taught on an engineering course the simplest way to get around that is having 1 odd sprocket and 1 even.

[twowheels]

Originally Posted by motopsycho87

I was taught on an engineering course the simplest way to get around that is having 1 odd sprocket and 1 even.

Hmmm ... that would suggest that a 13:52 would satisfy the requirement, but of course that's not the case, because 52/13 = 4.0

What you want is a non-integer ratio, meaning that one value does not divide into the other evenly.