Dear Members,
I have a 1960 ES2 with a 20 tooth engine sprocket and it performs reasonably well and is at its most comfortable at about 50mph in top. I have always felt however that it is a bit under-geared especially in first and second.
I was thinking of changing the engine sprocket to 21 tooth to alleviate this perceived under-performance.
Has anyone in the membership good/bad experience of changing sprockets? I don't want to go too high in case the performance becomes flat so is 21 teeth a good choice?
Yours sincerely,
Peter Bolton
Don't ask me I run a 14!…
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Dear Members, Sorry I shou…
Dear Members,
Sorry I should have affirmed that all the other gearing is as standard for 1960.
Peter Bolton
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Peter, My ES2 runs a 21 to…
Peter, My ES2 runs a 21 tooth engine sprocket and a 20 tooth G/box sprocket, I don't think there is much choice at the back anyway. However, this is a 530cc job with a 28mm Mk1 Amal. The bike pulls well and would certainly handle more teeth but it hums along at 60 and good enough for me. (And the brakes)
On the other hand, my poor mans Manx is a standard bore (AP piston) with a 30mm Amal Mk 1. I use a 23 tooth engine sprocket and a 20 tooth G/box sprocket. It was an experiment to get to something like G*ld St*r gearing and it pulls along adequately, but a bit flat. On the other hand: 100mpg!
Talking of gearing, I mentioned my liking of 20 T gearbox sprockets while in NZ last January. (19 Std on F/beds) As I recall, the consensus there appeared to be that more teeth on the G/box puts more strain on the g/box bearings. Any ideas?
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Don't ask me I run a 14! I recall Mike pemberton saying it will run a 21, but it also depends on your gearbox and rear wheel sprockets, I don't think you can look at it in isolation.
dan