It's fairly easy to calculate the impact - divide the rear teeth by the front teeth to get the ratios
17/47 = 2.765:1 ratio
18/48 = 2.667:1 ratio
Then is you take a given speed and rpm - say your bike cruises at 4500 at 65mph - divide the rpm by the old ratio and multiple by the new.
In this case:
4500 divided by 2.765 and multiplied by 2.667 = 4340 rpm - a small, but noticeable change - you would loose a small amount of acceleration, but gain on cruising.