Changing to 14t sprocket

[JewCati]

I am going to venture to put a 14t sprocket on my s4rs. Do you grease or locktite the retaining bolt?

Thanks

[ute]

I locktite'd them  ( red )

[Howie]

If you have the big retaining nut it is secured by bending the lock washer over the nut.  If you want, you can use blue locktite for extra security, the manual does say grease though.  The torque spec is 186 Nm.  If you have the retaining plate with the 5 mm. screws, 6 Nm. with low strength locktite.   I up the anti to blue.  Red?  You will need heat to remove them. If you want more insurance than blue you might consider safety wire.

[Desmofan]

Would be very interested in your comments after fitting the new sprocket.

Been considering the same mod for my S4RS to increase the revs out of the "jerky" 3K area when in town.

[memper]

I just did a 15/44 change on my 750 and jerkyness is reduced considerably. From what I hear doing just the 14 will produce the same results.

[Timmy Tucker]

Same here. I dropped the front to 14t and it made a big difference riding around town. No more lugging and jerkyness.

[metroplex]

I have the 14T in the front on my 09 696. I can let go of the throttle and clutch and the bike will putter around at 4 MPH a LOT more smoothly than before. With the 15T, the bike is ready to stall when moving on idle speed.

Around town, there's a lot more oomph when accelerating. It essentially changed the final drive ratio from 3.00:1 to 3.21:1

It took me about 1-2 hours only because it was my first time doing this, and I wanted to adjust the chain tension and align the rear wheel.

I used blue threadlocker for the 2 retaining bolts as per the factory manual. I marked the bolts so I could see if they are starting to back out when I pop the sprocket cover.

[supperduc]

You shouldn't have to 14T any S4RS. S4RS gearing is fine, if not perfect. I had to 14T my 2010 696 last year due to her tall 1st gear but ended up reverting back to OEM sprocket because I didn't like the way the smaller diameter 14T was eating/grinding against the chain rail.

BTW, I still have that 14T, like new sprocket if anyone interested. It's free to DMF members, just pay shipping cost. Google for details. Renthal Front Sprocket - 14T 344--520-14P

[metroplex]

superduc: How many miles did you put on the 14T and how bad was the wear on the chain rail? I heard the chain rail is a consumable item to be replaced with the chain/sprockets. I was concerned about the chain angle and how much it would wear down on the rail, but after installing the 14T, the difference (to me) wasn't that noticeable.

[supperduc]

I rode with the 14T for only a few hundred miles before reverting back to the OEM sprocket and sold the bike a couple months ago. The wear on the chain rail wasn't all that bad but I did notice a groove about 4" long and may be about 1/8" deep along inner side of the chain rail.

If I remember correctly, the OEM chain rail cost around 25 bucks, and replacing it should be relatively easy.