Hello Everyone,

i have a 2001 1200c and was looking (all over the net) to do a belt to chain drive conversion, and so far i cant seem to find anything for my year/model.

i'm looking to gain low end by changing different sprocket sizes and such.
i'm not worried about top end loss. i dont go to fast up there :D

but i really like riding wheelies :smoke

anyway, if any of you can help me out with a link, or any type of information on how i can do this myself, and maybe where i can find the parts, i would greatly appreciate it.

btw, i'm really glad i stumbled on to this forum today. has alot of great info, and nice people too.

thanks again,

AWOL

Hello Everyone, i'm looking to gain low end by changing different sprocket sizes .....

You can change sprocket sizes and still keep the belt drive unless you're pulling serious hp.

i can? sweet!
the only thing is, i was a little worried about cost. i would like to go with a reall big sprocket in the back, and i heard that belts are outrageously priced.
would it be cheaper for me to go with a conversion kit in your eyes?

also, how much bigger can i go in the back, or small in the front?

IMHO the conversion to chain is not only a step back but a PITA. I think you can go with the 27 tooth front sprocket and still keep the same belt. You won't have any problems pulling wheelies.

im talking about something like this.......

pretty wild eh?

You can do that if you want but those bikes aren't worth a :censor on the street. That's a special purpose bike. It pulls wheelies and that's ALL it does.

lol,
ya i hear ya. do you think with a 27 tooth i could do power up wheelies in first?

right now i clutch it fine, but it will barley come off the ground if i try to power wheelie it.

I'm gonna let some else have a go at this. Any takers?

sorry if i inconvienced you will, i'll keep searching around.

but thanks for your time. i appreciate it.

AWOL out

Howdy Awol,

Welcome to the forum!!!

Check out the old forum, you can get there through a link on the main page of this site. Click down into forums and do a search for chain drive. There were a couple threads there from people that have converted to chain drive. I'm pretty sure that MissyD converted to chain drive, you might also want to send a PM to her asking about it.

Gary

Hey AWOL,

Try this out.
http://www.cyclepages.com/ProductGroupDisp.aspx?ProductGroupID=4601707

thx you guys, i've been lookin all over the place :clap

HI Awol

go with the chain conversion sprockets are far cheaper than pulleys but a good chain will cost a bit, both missyd and I have Tsubaki chains and love them. Get yourself a can of Belray super clean chain lube as well that stuff doesnt fly off.

You will also need sprocket spacers as well.

You may find that you need to grind some of your chain guard off as well

All the best

Gordy

G'day AWOL

Ya came ta the right place...

I run a '98 1200S that is goin to 88" so I can play...

http://www.iqconnect.net.au/~stevo/sportyburn.jpg

I'm currently ridin an '03 GSXR1000 that I've streetfightered.....


http://www.iqconnect.net.au/~stevo/gixxer060.jpg

am runnin a 520 chain kit with 2 down on the front and stock rear, good for stands..and general stuntin...

Ya don't need real low gearin to get it up, just clutch it... the main reason for low gearin is to lower the speed needed to get it up so ya can play in smaller venues...

Are ya lookin at seriously stuntin or just playing..???

A 27 on the front and a few mods to the engine will allow ya to get it up easy...


What configuration is the bike at now?????

IMHO the conversion to chain is not only a step back but a PITA. I think you can go with the 27 tooth front sprocket and still keep the same belt. You won't have any problems pulling wheelies.

:censor :censor :censor .... cannot agree with the above written.
If a belt is much better than a chain .... why are maybe 80% of all bike equipped with chain (and cardan like the BMW)?????? :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

I can only agree with what Stevo said. ;)

sorry if i inconvienced you will,

No inconvenience AWOL. There's lot of posters that know far more them me on a wide range of subjects. I can only speak for myself.That being said, I'll stick with my opinions concerning the conversion. I'm not about to get into a pissing match about better or worse. Each has it's advantages and shortcomings.

Stevo missyd and shu are all considered experts in their respective fields and as such, their opinions are to be highly regarded, particularly if one favors their styles of riding. The final choice, of course, is yours.

(quote stevo)... "Are ya lookin at seriously stuntin or just playing..???
A 27 on the front and a few mods to the engine will allow ya to get it up easy..."

stevo,
i'm really interested in stuntin my sporty.
i'm trying to learn stand ups on it right now, but i feel uncomfortable clutching while standing on my rear pegs, so i thought just for learning purposes i could get my bike to power up in first.
my current set up is a screamin eaglr high flow a/c, thunderheader with a 42 mm carb. (bigger than stock which is 40mm)
and it runs great.
i'm not sure what the stock sprocket sizes are, i'll have to look it up in my service manual.

so are you just suggesting that i use a 2 down tooth on the front sprocket and switch to a chain drive? anything to get it up easier would be great. and also the cheaper the better.

i clutch sit downs well, and rode my first sit down out in first recently. not at bp yet, all power.

thanks evryone for all the suggestions, i guess i'm still not exactly sure which way i want to go with this yet.

also, say you have a 27 tooth belt sprocket in the front. does that equal a 27 tooth chain sprocket size?
cause i think i remember seeing in my manual that it had like a 60 something rear wheel belt sprocket. but that seemed like a high number to me.

oh ya, nice bikes man!

tooth count from chain and belt are not the same

G'day AWOL

Ya gotta work out what ya wanna do with it as full on stuntin will make it damn near impossible to ride normally.....

We play every second sunday at our local drag strip and theres a couple of guys that are gettin serious and doin 12's and highchairs etc...


if ya go down to a 27 on the front with your stock 61 rear and belt it will give ya a good compromise. Which will allow ya ta get it up easy with a touch of clutch in first, maybe off the throttle only (mine would easy with the W cams and headwork)

Most of the good guys around the place are cutchin up anyway in second with the super low gearings. I was talkin with Paul Bates (who is one of the few profesional stunters in Australia) and clutches all his stuff in second.

Again this is a personal thing....I'm tryin to throttle only low speed on the gixxer, but that's as much a personal thing and this gixxer will stand up to BP on throttle only from 20kays.

The other problem is the lower the speed the harder it is to control, so it tends to be an advanced move.

I'd drop to the 27 on the front and just clutch it up and at least wait until ya can BP it at will....then ya can decide which way to go from there...BUT be warned if the bug bites then ya gonna have to build a bike specifically for stuntin...and that's gonna mean crash bars (because you WILL drop it) and a chain setup with a front rear ratio of around 1 - 4 ... ie: 15 front 60 rear ...this will allow you to do walking pace BP wheelies.

Keep us posted and post some pics too...

G'day 45

sprocket teeth count on either belt or chain equates to the same thing


A 27 - 61 tooth belt pulley or sprockets will give the exact same final drive ratio....

teeth count , yes but the tooth count on a belt and a sproket are not the same or did I read my stuff wrong

popular misconception....you're not the first and ya wont be the last to think that....


The difference between the rear and front in teeth count give the ratio....

61 / 29 = 2.1 stock evo sporty

40 / 19 = 2.1 same ratio in a more common 520/530 chain/sprocket combo

By using a smaller pitch chain such as a timing chain you get the same ratios in a smaller space.


The reason the pulleys have a large tooth count is to keep the diameter reasonably large to stop the belt from being loaded too much by pulling it on too small a radius.


The ratio thing also works in the same way with gears that are in mesh ie: 61/29 tooth gears = 2.1 ratio

thats what I was on about , the ratio is the same (ie 2.1) but the number of teeth is differant (ie 29 belt- 19 chain) , right ?

Yeah the numbers are bigger to get the same ratios without going that small that ya stuff the belt....

Common jap bike sprocket sizes are around 17 front 42 rear

Plus belts are lighter so it's not such a problem to go large from an inertia point of view

hey thanks stevo, i plan on purchasing the 27 tooth trans belt sprocket.
i looked in my service manual and it looks like stock is a 29.
for an 883, it's 27.
do you think the 27 from an 883 will work on my 1200?

The 27 won't do much. Your're only talking about a .15 difference. Take a good look at your pic, that guy is running a chain with 60 plus tooth rear sprocket. It's almost as big as the rim. And if your running the 21inch front wheel i'd go smaller cause their ain't much grip when the front end come flying down. You might want to pre-load the front springs too. Make sure you wear a FF helmet cause a few years ago on my 01 1200c I was just wearing the lid and got a Harley tatoo on my chin when i was doing a few wheelies.

Jake

[QUOTE=AWOL do you think the 27 from an 883 will work on my 1200?[/QUOTE]

Yup. same thing.

ya might be able to swap your 29 for a 27 with someone who has an 883....

Just be careful of the year tho.... the real early ones wern't as wide on the spline....

It's cheap way to lower it a touch...ya drop about 10%... I was runnin the 27 on mine around town and down the strip and I'd put the 29 on if I was gonna do a long run.

I'm goin to a 520 chain set up with the new 88" motor as the HP figure is gonna be quite a bit higher..but I'm goin kickin and screamin to a chain....

lol,
that things gonna be a monster when you get that engine in there!

Racing Jake... ya man, i started wearing a fullface just last summer. all my buddies wear skid lids, but i think there starting to come around to the idea.
dont get me wrong though, i love beeing able to hear my bike and see a bit better with the skid lid.
but the safety of a ff is where i'm at right now.
the guy in the pic definitly has a fatty sprocket on the back, but i'm gonna switch over to the 27 tooth and see how it works out for me.
but thanks for the helpfull info.
thanks also Will.

Stevo,


Thanks for all the info you provided in this topic. I've been thinking or going to a chain for some time now and you helped clear up some of my questions.

I still hav'nt heard anyone say what a normal tooth count is for the front and rear sprockets when converting to chain. I tried to search the old forum but it would not let me log in. I am wanting to convert to chain on my '02 so I can fit a wider tire on the back.

Hmmm ... you are free to choose the tooth count as you like.
I have 21 front and 46 at the back ... tried out 23 front 48 back which was not nice too ride as it lacked the ummmmmmps and torque in lower gears ... :rolleyes:

Thanks, I didn't know which one I should like. And I dont have the money to be guessing so I have to go of of suggestions from others. Also I was wondering what is the chain length to use with that combo?
And with the 520 kit from the Cyclepages link which 520 Chain is the one to use? They all have letters after them like NZ, STD, VM, V, ZVM, RX, RXO, SR, ect. What does this mean and which one should I choose?
Thanks for all the help!
You guys are the best!

this (http://www.ursusonline.co.uk/sportsprocket.html) sould help ya with the stock sprockets

Hey AWOL,

Try this out.
http://www.cyclepages.com/ProductGroupDisp.aspx?ProductGroupID=4601707I just ordered my conversion kit for my '02, and the guy calls me today to tell me that the kit only fits up to 99. :cry1
They were wrong on the website saying it went up to '03. It is changed on the sight now and my order is cancelled, but now I am back to square one. :frownthre Any help would be much apreciated in locating parts that fit an '02.

Thanks!

I think for the front sprocket Custom Chrome part #25658 or V-Twin part# 19-0401 (for FXR 85-94 or Softtail 86-99) or the one from JP Cycles http://www.jpcycles.com/productgroup.aspx?GID=F33F1F50-596F-4981-9FA8-1253344294B5 for the 22tooth one. 24 tooth does not work well with my sporty.
Rear Sprocket is from Custom Chrome (chromed, not dished) but I do not have the part number but it also should be one from a FXR. Middle hole for hub has to be milled out a little bit.
I think you have to adjust the alignment with spacers a little bit. My Sporty has a laced rear wheel. No idea which part works with the original wheel!

Hope this helps! ;)