Stumpman, I own a 2000Valk and ride it all the time as well as my 17 roady. Don't even try to compete with the Honda those things rip! Although at 110 they get very busy. I think my roady is more stable but not in the same league as far as acceleration.
Hard to compete w/ a six cylinder fuelie

Took the bike for a good ride tonight about 80 or so miles it ran much better then before My bud with the Valk even said something about it having more pickup. Trust me I know it wont hang with the valks never expected it to!It will get a little unstable around 100mph as well, But it does much better then it did before. I am going to try the next setting and see what it does for it there. I now have to raise her back up and find a better shock it bottoms out with the wife and all her 124 lbs on the back.

stumpman wrote:
I now have to raise her back up and find a better shock it bottoms out with the wife and all her 124 lbs on the back.



Living dangerously............... BB

Not quite Doc
Assuming his motor with the current sprocket will not pull to rev limit in 5th gear. It will most assuredly go faster and quicker with a lower gear ratio. I am assuming that his motor is still making power at that rev limit. I've seen it happen to many times both on the circle tracks and the drag strip. Now, If his motor could pull to rev limit with the stock sprocket then I agree that the lower gear would not help. I would also have to guess that your right about the 32 tooth sprocket being a good compromise for the 1700's but I can't prove it. After all the 1700's do make more torque than the 1600's which in itself is a dead giveaway that the 33 tooth pulley on the 1600's was a mistake made at the factory. Why would you give the 1700 more leverage when it already makes more torque than the 1600. It just never made sense.

Also Doc, you have a light motorcycle. I don't know what you weigh but I weigh 286 pounds and my bike it not a light weight. I need the gear. If you do the math on the 31 tooth pulley like I have and compared it to the 33 tooth pulley you will find that there is not a lot of difference number wise(ratio wise) between the two but for a heavy bike and rider it puts the motor on the 1600 right in the sweet spot and while I thought my mileage would drop it in fact did not. My only assumption here is that I must be running the motor at or near the torque peak. I cruise at about 65 miles per hour and make many long runs at a time (200 miles or more).

To be clear,
I'm saying that if I have a motor that will make power up to 5500 rpm and my current gear will only get me to 4500rpm (in 5th gear) then a lower gear will allow the bike to pull a higher rpm thus not only increasing top speed but acceleration too. This principle is practiced every day in big league and small league racing circles in boats,cars,trucks,motorcycles going straight turning or what ever you want to do with it.

Were not talking the same language. ... don't forget I speak Canadian.

"Faster" to me it 'top end' ... not how fast you get there. If you have the rev limiter set to 5000 rpm, then the 33 tooth will result in a faster (higher) speed than the 31 tooth. Simple mathematics.

"Quicker" is how fast you get there. In this case the 31 will get you to the 5000 limit in a shorter time than a 33.

The two are not equal.

So I disagree with ...

I'm saying that if I have a motor that will make power up to 5500 rpm and my current gear will only get me to 4500rpm (in 5th gear) then a lower gear will allow the bike to pull a higher rpm thus not only increasing top speed but acceleration too.

A lower gear will not allow you to pull a higher rpm. Your rpm is fixed by the mechanics of the engine. The drivetrain then determines your top speed or your acceleration based on the gearing.

Acceleration does not equal top speed .... except on the drag strip. In this case you have a fixed length of track. You also have an excess of horsepower which is needed to propel you quickly down the track .... before you run out of room. You can't compare the principles used at the track to our day to day driving .... unless all you intend on doing is getting to the next light the quickest (fastest). At the strip you can use smaller gears as you have the power to compensate for it.

I feel that if you are an aggressive rider and do a mix of highway and city, the 32 is a good compromise for the 1600 and it's certainly the right pulley for the 1700.

Any yes .... the heavier the gross weight the smaller pulley you're going to need to get the same net outcome.

Doc