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Thread: Gearing question?

  1. #1
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    Gearing question?

    Ok i have a 200x with a 200s motor in it with a 10:1 piston in it i want to try and swap my rear 200x gear for a 35 tooth sprocket. Can i do this and what will it give me? more top end speed? i ride mostly trails. also will my motor be able to handle it?


    Matt

  2. #2
    Billy Golightly's Avatar
    Billy Golightly is offline Always finding new and exciting ways to not give a hoot in hell Catch me if you can
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    It depends on what the front is, but 35 tooth on the rear is gear way, way, way high unless you have like an 11 on the front. I really would not reccomend anything near that tall on a 200X, especially for the trails. Personally I would not go any higher then a 13/38 combo which would be good for absolutely nothing other then highway speeds in straightlines

  3. #3
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    you say it is way way to high but what happens if i use it. to much top end speed

  4. #4
    Howdy's Avatar
    Howdy is offline Putting Priorities in Order, Busier than ever. Catch me if you can
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    Quote Originally Posted by honda200sx
    you say it is way way to high but what happens if i use it. to much top end speed
    Too high of gearing will cause you to use your clutch more during take off and such. This will cause permature clutch failer. Not only that but even with the 10.5 -1 piston, your motor won't have the power to push the gearing enough to gain much top speed.
    To gain top speed you will need to modify your motor to gain more HP. Once you get enough HP you can drastically change the gearing to where can actually see / feel a really noticeable gain in top speed.

    A few questions:
    What are you going to use the top speed for?
    What kind of riding do you do?
    Do you drive down a flat road 2-3 miles?
    Do you ride in flat places that you can only go straight ( no hills or sharp turns )?

    Do you ride on trails with hills and or twist and turns?
    Do you just ride around a yard or pasture?

    Why do I ask these questions? Because most people ( 95%+ ) very seldomly ever run their machines at top speed. Gearing your machine for High speed is totally fullish if you ride it in any sort of hills, woods, ect.

    If you gear it high and then try to take it on trails with twist, turns, and hills you will get passed up by smaller machines. You will actually lose more ability in twist and turns then any gain you might get in straight aways.

    I'm not telling you don't gear it up. You can do what you want. I am just trying to point out things that some people don't think about.

    Some basic gearing help ( off the top of my head ).
    If I remember correctly the stock gearing on a 200x is 12 Front & 40 Rear.

    12 - 40 = 3.333 ( 3.333 turns of the front to 1 turn of the rear )
    12 - 35 = 2.916

    Instead of changing a costly rear sprocket try changing just the front one. Front sprockets are a lot cheaper ).
    Here are some numbers ( I am pretty sure these sprockets can be purchased and used on the 200s motor ):

    Front-Rear= Gear ratio

    Top numbers = slower top end speed, and more low end torqe.
    8 - 40 = 5
    9 - 40 = 4.444
    10 - 40 = 4
    11 - 40 = 3.636
    12 - 40 = 3.333
    13 - 40 = 3.076
    14 - 40 = 2.857
    15 - 40 = 2.666
    Bottom numbers = Higher top end speed and LOW bottom end torqe. If your wanting more top end speed ( I don't know why you would though ) just change the front sprocket to one that is 1 tooth bigger.

    Howdy

  5. #5
    I agree with howdy,just change the front sprocket.
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  6. #6
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    Me and my brother have run 12/36 gearing on his 200x w/ 18 inch tires. It was perty much all stock and seemed to pull fairly well, the top end speed was huge but I could still get 3rd gear wheelies fairly easy if i wanted to. Here soon we are installing a 300ex carb on it with a new intake manifold, along w/ a 12:1 compression piston, xr cam, high performance valve springs and retainers, high performance exhaust and then the 12/36 gearing w/ 18 inch tires. We'll be sure to let you know how it does.
    3WheelsForever / Virgil
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  7. #7
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    Howdy you are a big help as usual. I just want more power on the trails. I dont do much wide open straight riding. I already had the 35 tooth rear sprocket and i just wanted to ask what it would do. so if i want more power on the trails i just need to leave the 200x rear sprocket alone and just get a front sprocket with one more tooth? is that correct.


    Matt

  8. #8
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    You dont want to go up a sprocket in the front unless you want top end power. For low end power find a sprocket off a 185s which would bring you down to an 11 tooth.
    3WheelsForever / Virgil
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  9. #9
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    i think my 185 is 11-44...pretty sure but cant be unless i go look but im too lazy..lol..howdy is right about everything anyway id listen to him mostly...but if u are going to just go like trail riding u wont want a bigger front sprocket and smaller back ...u want the oposite...regular 200s gearing should be great for trails...my 185s does about 50-55 with the gearing it has now..and it aint bad on the roads that i gotta take to get to the trails...about 8 miles away from my house..i usually dont try haulin trailprotrailprotrailprotrailprotrailpro so i dont burn it up..but it is fun tryin to keep up with my friends 660 grizzly..lol..it does 75..he takes it easy
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  10. #10
    Howdy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 3WheelsForever
    You dont want to go up a sprocket in the front unless you want top end power. For low end power find a sprocket off a 185s which would bring you down to an 11 tooth.
    Virgil is correct. To gain more trail power you will want to go with a smaller front sprocket. Doing so will mean a little to a lot of lost Top end speed, But this is very seldomly ever used anyway.

    Howdy

  11. #11
    Howdy's Avatar
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    83185s, We have a lot of people on the forums that know more than myself ( in my opinion ).
    Howdy

  12. #12
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    Virgil and Howdy are absolutely correct. Whenever I hit the trails on my 200x, I throw on the 11 tooth front sprocket and a 42 tooth rear sprocket and it turns my trike into a billy-goat. It'll climb dang near anyting with that gearing. The only challenge is keeping the front tire on the ground on really steep climbs!!
    83 185s *Now belongs to my nephew*
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  13. #13
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    I used to think of drag racing as a matter of the highest top speed, now I look at it as who can get to a set location (say 300 yards) the fastest. In this distance you won't be reaching your bikes top speed but rather it will be a test of acceleration.

    Trail riding will be better with lower gearing, too high gearing will make your motor bog as you try and power over rocks and logs.
    My Feedback 85 TECATE 500 08 Honda 450R

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