Gearing

[dads400ex]

Okay guy's and gal's I need some quick answers. What gearing should I run with on my Z with a 440 and 18" Kenda Klaws for mx and hare scrambles and will this new gearing work for the stock 20" tires when I happen to use them or will I be needing to switch back and forth. I was thinking of just putting a 15 tooth on the front but I am not sure what to do.

Please help,
Thanks

[hollywood43]

I'm not sure about the stock gearing on the Z400. I am pretty sure that they run 20" rear tires stock. So if you drop to 18's you're going to be losing top end. With that said, the right thing to change is the rear sprocket because it's a much finer adjustment. However, it's usually much easier to change the front sprocket. On my quad I have to pull a lot apart to get that rear sprocket off. They do make nice quick change two piece rear sprockets. So for a transition from 20" to 18" tires I'd say to drop the rear sprocket 2 teeth if you wanted to keep the same performance at stock. If you're thinking of MX with those 18" tires then maybe even 3 teeth down in back. Since you'd rather change that front sprocket, you should probably just go up one tooth for close to stock performance. You might end up with a little more bottom end out of it. When it comes time to run those 20"s again, you'll probably have to change that sprocket back. The truth is that you'll have to play around with it until you get what you're comfortable with. Hope that helps a little bit.