18 front 46 Rear suits me fine

After much thought as to whether a 17 tooth counter shaft or 46 tooth rear sprocket I went with the 46 tooth rear. Also a speedohealer to get accurate speedo reading. Well, brilliant. Providing me with what I expected, very similar results to many of you who have the 17 tooth front sprocket I expect. Higher revving as expected, faster acceleration also expected.
Suits my riding style perfectly. I went with the rear as I don't have the correct sized tool to remove the front sprocket. Fitting the 46 tooth also pulled the wheel forward taking up the chain's stretch so I wonder if I'll get more use out of it.

I'll do the same when i replace the chain .A smaller front sprocket is cheaper to replace but eats the chain quicker .
I was thinking 18 front and 45 rear though .(standard 18-43 )
Is it 1 at the front =2.5 at the rear ??

With the standard 18/43 the ratio is 2.39

17/43 gives 2.53
18/45 give 2.50
18/46 give 2.56

So your 45 Gus will not be as radical as a 17 front or a 46 rear, but I doubt you would feel it.


Got this of the JTS site, might help a little in deciding:



Whilst on the JTS site I checked and confirmed the K7 and K8 GSX-R 1000 have a factory 17 front that will fit the Bandit and will not be a noisey as the aftermarket gears, not sure if this means it is a bit kinder on the chain nor how much Mr Suzuki would charge for this part (no doubt a couple of times more than the aftermarket units):

Yes that is what I did, use the mathematical formula dividing 43 with 17, then 46 with 18. A very close result.

I found 18 x 43 way overgeared .

17 x 43 way better but fractionally undergeared for h\way.

18 x 45 looks like what i want .

Jpom ,how many links did you need for 18x 46

I didn't change the links in the chain from standard which is 118 links I think Gus.
Reading your previous comment about an 18/45 sounds like a good combination. When I get to change my chain and sprockets in a few thousand K I may well follow you as I haven't gone for a long trip yet and it may rev a touch to high for constant k's.

This site is excellent for playing around with gearing!!!! http://www.gearingcommander.com/