Topic: 550 higher sprocket ratio

[fergie]

has anyone out there tried a 36 tooth rear sprocket on their 550. does the bike have enough torque to leave the line ok still? I'm thinking i might try it to get a little lower revs at hwy. speeds. what do you think?.cheers, fergie.

[CHUNG]

My experiance is that a small change is very notacable. If it came with a 39 then a 36 is a pretty big drop. if it came with a 37 then a 36 might be a nice change for the better. The low speed stuff won't be a problem once you get moving, although more clutch slippage will be required. If you don't over do it much, It may feel sluggish but as the speed builds, you may like it. Front sprockets are a much better choice for checking/changing gearing. They are cheaper and you can use a couple different sizes w/out cutting the chain.
Another thing to consider is how much speed can you pull with a given ratio. No sence in having gears for 150mph if the bike can't pull it past 135. I have been to this extreme and basically ended up with a bike that had three usuable gears

[Chris in Ramsey]

 I think stock on a 550 is 17/43, so a drop to 36 is pretty big, unless you're going to change the front also. You'll be doing a LOT of down-shifting for hills or for passing with a 36 tooth on the back. Take Chung's advice and go up a tooth(or two)on the countershaft sprocket.

[Chris in Ramsey]

  Please disregard part my previous responce. Stock gearing on a CB550 was 17/37, NOT 17/43. I must of combined my 550 and 750F gearing and produced a new hybrid.

[stevej]

My K3 550 had 17front and 37 rear sprocket teeth,I changed rear to 34 teeth sprocket (as std. Honda cb 500 f) shortly after buying the bike 20 years ago. My bike cruises happily at 80mph =6000rpm.Fuel consumption  has allways been  good rarelly less than 50- mpg and often over 70mpg.

[Philly550K1]

related subject, pop quiz, hotshots:

what FRONT sprocket choices am i likely to readily find that fit my 550's spline, if i'm running 520 (not 530) chain?

-jc

[jbailey]

I have a '75 550 and also went from 37 to 34 rear sprocket.  At the same time I installed a UniFilter and NGKIridium plugs.  My milage went from 35 or 36 to 50.  I was very surprised and suspect most is due to the sprocket.  My RPM's at 60 dropped several hundred.  The bike is actually smoother and quieter at the lower RPM and I hardly noticed the difference as far as torque goes.  I may have to shift down sooner, but it's not like it's a noticable change.

The 500's came stock with a 34 rear sprocket.  I suspect they went with 37 for the 550 to make it appear to be a bigger change in performance.  This of course was in the good old days when gas was fifty cents a gallon!  These days, I would rather have 50 MPG over 36 and give up a little performance which I didn't even notice.

[bryanj]

As the 520 chain is not a standard fitment front sprockets will be a bit dificult to find