more power or changed gearing?

[HondaRacing83]

i ride xc as you all know. when i ride woods like decently tight trails im bouncin the rev limiter in 2nd gear then i get into 3rd and its gutluss. i want the power and bottom end of 2nd gear but longevity of like 3rd/4th gear. is it a matter of i just need more power or is it gearing issues and i should gear for better bottom end. if gearing what should i go for for sprocket sizes?

[Wheelie]

I vote for more power. What are your current mods?

[HondaRacing83]

power wise? motoworks slip on with a uni filter jetted correctly

[Stickman400]

Well if you've still got stock sprocket sizes and still want lower gearing the only thing you could do is drop a tooth on the front. Because they don't make anything higher than a 39 tooth for the rear unless you buy a custom sprocket.

[HondaRacing83]

yup i still got stock sprockets. so drop a tooth?

[BeefySTi]

when i went one lower tooth count on the front sprocket, i definitely felt the difference. It isnt enough to screw up your top end too much, but on hills that I was previously lugging up it just felt a lot better and in the meaty part or the powerband. It is definitely worth giving a try, i mean you can do a smaller front sprocket for less that $20. you arent investing a lot of cash or time to do it. if you decide it isnt enough and feel you need more power, you havent strained the wallet too much. i say go with the sprocket first.

[smorris1]

JT makes a 40 rear

http://www.magicracing.com/JT-Steel-Rear-Sprockets-Honda-TRX250R-TRX250X-87-89-TRX300EX-87-07-TRX400EX-TRX400X-TRX450ER-TRX450R_p_1204.html

[smorris1]

And rocket makes a 41 and 42 rear. Idk if the 42 would fit the skid plate tho.

http://www.magicracing.com/Rocket-Steel-Rear-Sprockets-Honda-TRX250R-TRX250X-87-89-TRX300EX-87-07-TRX400X-TRX400EX-TRX450ER-TRX450R_p_9335.html

[HondaRacing83]

Originally posted by BeefySTi
when i went one lower tooth count on the front sprocket, i definitely felt the difference. It isnt enough to screw up your top end too much, but on hills that I was previously lugging up it just felt a lot better and in the meaty part or the powerband. It is definitely worth giving a try, i mean you can do a smaller front sprocket for less that $20. you arent investing a lot of cash or time to do it. if you decide it isnt enough and feel you need more power, you havent strained the wallet too much. i say go with the sprocket first. what im afraid of is itll make 2nd shorter yet and feel like first and wouldnt really effect 3rd our stock gearing is different to. whats the stock gearing on 05+ and 04-

[Stickman400]

'05 is 14/39
'04 is 15/38

[ish416]

The internal gear ratios are slightly different on the 99-04 and 05+. So even though the sprockets are different the overall gearing is very similar.

As far as the gearing, adding more power will not change the gearing whatsoever. If you can run 30mph in 2nd gear on the rev limiter, adding more power will still give you the same speed.

If anything you should either gear it down (-1 on the front) which would result in using the higher gears more often, or go with taller gearing to make the bottom gears longer (36 rear) so you could still maintain 2nd gear and 3rd would be even more gutless.

Or, add more power and keep the same gearing but start using 3rd gear more.

My vote would be on an 04/05 450R carb and a stage 2 hotcam. That should give you enough power to run 3rd gear while keeping the stock gearing.

[HondaRacing83]

Uhh I'm outta money right now lol and when I do have it I'm putting it into suspension. I was thinking just going down a tooth in the front, give me more power in 3rd?

[400exwhipper]

I dropped a tooth In the front on my 05 and now I can wheelie In every gear lol.. Tops out at like 65 though

[BeefySTi]

that is what i was saying... before I cahnged my gearing, i would either have to rev it out in second or lug in 3rd, and since I changed, 3 gear pulls like second.

[Stickman400]

Originally posted by 400exwhipper
I dropped a tooth In the front on my 05 and now I can wheelie In every gear lol.. Tops out at like 65 though 65 isn't possible with 13/39 gearing. You may feel like you're going 65, but you're prolly only going 50 or 55. I have 15/36 gearing and top out at 65 on a flat stretch.

[JOHNDOE83]

Originally posted by Stickman400
65 isn't possible with 13/39 gearing. You may feel like you're going 65, but you're prolly only going 50 or 55. I have 15/36 gearing and top out at 65 on a flat stretch.

With 16/39 gearing and 22in tires my 400ex hits 70mph in 4th gear, yes thats right 4th gear within the 8th mile.

I have time slips to prove it.

The reason why you only go 65mph with 15/36 is you dont have the power to pull the gearing to its full extent.

With 13/39 and the same 22in tires, within the 8th mile I hit 74mph, thats barely in 5th gear at the end of the track with plenty of speed left to be had.

Power does play a MAJOR role in gearing and speed regardless of internal gear ratios.

[Stickman400]

I just don't see how that's possible.:confused:

EDIT: Those 22" tires must make a big difference in top speed over 20s.

[jman7290]

I have an 05 and switched to the 15/38 and it made a world of differance. I was going through first and second so fast that it was all I could do to not hit the limiter and my cdi is raised 1200 rpm's. My top end was also lacking, but the sprocket change made it feel so much better. Like said above, its something cheap and easy to try, and if you add more power you would want to change the gearing anyway. You could also run 22" rear tires to get more top end!

[JOHNDOE83]

Originally posted by Stickman400
I just don't see how that's possible.:confused:

EDIT: Those 22" tires must make a big difference in top speed over 20s.

Well like I said a stock 400ex just doesnt have the power to pull 16/36 gearing even with 20s to the full extent of the rpm range, The gearing is good but gets maxed out for a certain amount of power.

Like 400exshop, he uses 16/32 gearing with 20's and max's out his topend within a 8th mile, a stock ex wouldnt even be halfway threw 4th gear by that time with that gearing.

The 22s make a huge difference in top speed with that gearing, but without the power to pull that gearing youll never make it over 65mph even in 5th gear, you might but who has miles of straight away to test it.

Imagine putting 40in tires on a toyota prius, it wont do 60mph because it cant push those tires, now put 40in tires on a f-250 and watch it go 100mph and whip donuts.

[Stickman400]

Ok, I see what you're saying. What I was trying to point out is just the 400exwhipper probably wasn't doing 65 with that gearing because even with all my mods I can only top out at 65mph, and I have plenty of power to get topped out.