Triumphrat

gr8shandini · 10-10-2005

I know that alot of folks go for a bigger rear sprocket, but has anyone had success going down a few teeth? I'm not much into wheelies and it's an hour ride to the twisties for me, so I was thinking a more relaxed engine pace at highway speeds would be a bonus.

Martin_R · 10-10-2005

Sounds a bit crazy to me as the '05 S3 is geared pretty tall out of the factory.

In top gear at 6000rpm you are moving pretty fast already, and that is only half way up the rpm gauge. I think you should remember that you are not driving granpa's old Harley Davidson and save yourself the trouble of juggling sprockets.

kuhlka · 10-10-2005

The only time you'll ever be able to get up to the rev limiter in 6th gear is downhill going about 150+. Otherwise, it generally takes a while to get up that fast. If you're looking for fuel economy just take it easy. I got 50mpg on a 1,000 mile trip to St. Louis and back just cruising at 80mph, and that was with 3 teeth up in the back on my 03.

If you feel the bike is too jumpy on the throttle, the first things I'd check is the chain to see if it is clean with no links sticking, the throttle to see if it moves freely with no sticking, and the fuel mapping to get the Air/Fuel smoothed out. The furthest I'd go with a bigger sprocket up front would be 1 tooth up. Anything more and you're going to make 6th gear worthless since the bike cruises at 80 at like 4,000 rpm. With my 17/45 combo I do 80 at 5,000ish in 6th. I still get pretty good gas mileage, but holy ***** does the bike rocket in all gears. Probably the best mod short of a supercharger.

ELP_JC · 10-10-2005

Martin, 6K is past half point buddy. Redline is supposedly at 10K, but the hard rev limiter on my '05 demo crashed the party at 9,750 rpm. Don't pay attention at the highest number on the tach; otherwise all our cars would rev to 8 grand. Good day.

Martin_R · 10-10-2005

Quote:

On 2005-10-10 10:52, ELP_JC wrote:
Martin, 6K is past half point buddy. Redline is supposedly at 10K, but the hard rev limiter on my '05 demo crashed the party at 9,750 rpm. Don't pay attention at the highest number on the tach; otherwise all our cars would rev to 8 grand. Good day.

And following your, a tad nitpicking smartass kind of, logic the rev range starts at 2000 as you cannot use anything below that anyway unless you are deliberately trying to break your engine. The engine seems to be labouring badly pretty much upto 3000 rpm.

So 6000 rpm is smack in the middle of the 2000-10000 rpms of usable range. But I appreciate you telling me that the bike that I have ridden for 6 months is equipped with a rev limiter. I would never have known otherwise.

But all this comma-fiddling is beside the point, 6000rpm is still a very relaxed pace for the 1050 engine and hence gearing taller makes no sense on a naked bike that can hit 250km/h on top gear.

[ This message was edited by: Martin_R on 2005-10-10 11:31 ]

gr8shandini · 10-10-2005

Thanks for the input, guys. I'm not concerned about hitting the rev limiter in 6th, just reducing the vibes, engine wear, and fuel consumption. When you're just cruising, the '05 seems to have a nice sweet spot around 3500 to 4K where there's no buzz in the bars and the engine will still pull a little without a downshift. Unfortunately, that's only good for about 70 instead of the 80 to 85 I usually like to run out on the highway.

By the way, Martin, my other bike is a V-twin, but not a Harley. It's an Aprilia Falco that'll pull all the way to 10,500 but is perfectly happy loping along at 3K. Since the triple has more torque than the Falco pretty much everywhere along the curve, I figured it wouldn't be hard to get similar performance with the Trumpet.

[ This message was edited by: gr8shandini on 2005-10-10 11:36 ]

Speed3 · 10-10-2005

What is the final drive gearing on the '05's? Mine came stock with 18/43, and I've got it at 19/45 now and it is right where I want it.

MonkeyHanger · 10-10-2005

Quote:

anyone had success going down a few teeth?

I'm sure I know what you mean. Go for it GR; try 1 or 2 teeth off the back. See what you think. If you like it stick with it, and tell me 'cos I fancy the same :-)
I love my baby however @ 70mph cruising she's relaxed and calm;buts at 80mph she's a bit like a nasty dog on a lead. Pulling and a bit tetchy. Maybe its just the torque curve of me; I hate Motorways..... I prefer fast twistys and am reluctant to loose the punch out of corners.

:flam:

ELP_JC · 10-10-2005

Quote:

So 6000 rpm is smack in the middle of the 2000-10000 rpms of usable range

With that logic, everything you say will always be right. I didn't mean to set you off; sorry!

TonUp · 12-11-2005

Quote:

On 2005-10-10 10:52, ELP_JC wrote:
Martin, 6K is past half point buddy. Redline is supposedly at 10K, but the hard rev limiter on my '05 demo crashed the party at 9,750 rpm. Don't pay attention at the highest number on the tach; otherwise all our cars would rev to 8 grand. Good day.

Your demo must have been tone down. They do that sometimes to protect the engine.

I hit the rev limiter well into 10k in the first 5 gears on my 05 S3.

TON UP!