John(Guest)
Ex Member
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Ok, only had the TR1 a few weeks, first one I have ever owned or ridden, did a 200 mile ride back from the guy I bought it from to my place. Having ridden most things over the years (last bike was an '81 xs11 special) I wasn't new to v twins, just new to japanese ones mebbe, anyway, the motor felt way too revvy for my tastes, so time to mess with the gearing.. (the xs11 was too low geared too but being a shafie there was no cheap or easy solution to that one) So, standard gearing is a 16t on the front and a 35t on the rear in 630 chain. mine has long since had the chainguard removes and so was running an O ring chain, it wasn't worn that much but it was dirty and sticky, so might as well do that too... I opted for a 29t rear sprocket, only way to do this was have a custom one made up which was dead easy to arrange, just ask for a 29t in 630 chain and from memory 844 pattern mounting bolts, cost me 30 Uk pounds. A good quality new heavy duty o ring chain in 630 set me back a painful 85 uk pounds, I was starting to miss shaft drive.... On the road this completely transforms the bike (it is set up with a solo saddle only and I don't weigh much myself) it takes a little more clutch on take away, a gentler throttle on low rpm town driving so the rear wheel cush drive can absorb the pulses, and pretty much forget using top gear around town except for the odd straight bit, but she is still extremely manageable and docile. on the open road however a total transformation of the bikes character, from a revvy little thing that sounded and felt unhappy, it now feels like it has long legs and enjoys running, much much much more like a moto guzzi 1100 sport or a nicely set up vincent, there is still all the acceleration any reasonable rider could need on the road, and a significant boost to fuel economy. If you don't always ride two up, if you weigh less than 85 kilos, if you don't spend all day doing less than 40 km/h in town, seriously consider this mod, the only way I can really describe it is by saying it's like the standard yamaha gearing was set up for riding with a sidecar bolted on, and now it is back to a sporting solo with long legs, the way a v twin ought to be. cheers
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