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Sprocket options for a 2004 Nicky Hayden edition from the Factory

3K views 17 replies 8 participants last post by  Ronin5H 
#1 ·
I did a little googling and looked around here... AND I think I know the answer... But, I just want to be sure and post this question to you all. I'm not a mechanic and don't do much work on my bikes. So, I rely mostly on my mechanic...

With that, a couple of weeks ago I had my mechanic replace my sprockets and chain because they were showing wear and needed to be replaced. Which they did, with the stock OEM sizes (16F,40R I think I would have to double check) for an 04 RC51. But, now my odometer is off on my commute to work and back by a a good 12 miles. Is that normal? or did the 04 Nicky Hayden edition come with different size sprockets than the standard RC51? I know that the bike was stock before we swapped them out. Because the bike currently does NOT have a speedo-healer, and I don't think you can fix that with a PCIII...

Depending on all of your response I will either suck it up and buy a speedo-healer or tell them they made an error and get them to put on the right parts.

Thanks!
 
#2 · (Edited)
The Hayden is not special. There is literally nothing about that bike mechanically that separates it from any other sp2, despite what the owners will tell you. It came with 16-40


Are you the original owner? Are you comparing the 12 mile difference vs actual or what you saw on your previous setup. Maybe they removed non stock gearing and you assumed it was OEM

Check what the guys put on your bike.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Thank you. Yes, that was the conclusion I came up with.

I talked to the mechanic at length yesterday and luckily for me they didn’t toss my old sprockets and chain (I wonder what they do with them). AND they totally messed up! So, the bike had +3R, -1F... What I didn’t put in my previous post was that I thought the bike wasn’t behaving the way that it did prior to the work and I was thinking it was me. Now it makes sense! So, they are going to replace my sprockets and chain at no cost to me.

Question does it really matter if you use aluminum vs. steel on the rear sprocket? They were really trying to get me to keep the OEM (mainly because they didn’t want to eat it) setup and one of the arguments was that I should really be using a steel rear sprocket because the aluminum will wear faster or fail more often than the steel. This came up because they were telling me that they would not be able to get a rear sprocket -2 or -3 in steel. Any truth to that?
 
#4 ·
If you're the type who doesn't do maintenance get steel.


If you take good care of your stuff it doesn't really matter which you get. Chains and sprockets will never last forever, it's a wearable part.


As for the sizes that's up to you, not to them. Get what you like.


Do not go larger than 16 in the front and do not go smaller than 40 in the rear. I'm not sure what you're talking about with -2 and -3 out back. I presume it's a typo
 
#8 ·
Thank you, I will have to take a look at your inventory for some goodies! My old sprocket was an aluminum 43T. What are your thoughts on that size sprocket?
 
#17 · (Edited)
The dramarama. sheesh.

What sprockets did you decide on?
fwiw, I've run alum and steel sprockets. (Gotten all my sprockets and chains thru LDH) IMO -1+2 is a fantastic ratio for our bikes. I've run 2 AFAM Alum sprockets, and now I've switched to steel. Looking to get a little more than 15 - 20K miles from the rear. Hopefully the steel will last longer. Time will tell. And since it was mentioned earlier, I'm pretty on top of all my maintenance.

Something to consider is tire size. Sprockets being equal, different size tires will affect the final drive ratio. A bike with a 190/55 will be ever so slightly slower off the line than a 190/50 (oem size). I run a 200/55, so the ratio is changed even more, again though, just slightly.
 
#18 · (Edited)
The dramarama. sheesh.

What sprockets did you decide?.
I ended up with -1,+2 steel sprocket. I have a 190/50 rear tire and thinking about doing a 200/55. Not sure yet. I do notice a performance difference from the setup I had before. And a huge difference from what OEM is. For the most part I’m happy, my mechanic covered the cost to put what I wanted on.
 
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