Riding on the darkside again

Hi everyone, just got my ct on my bike today. In case some don't remember, my bike got totalled back in July, and I got another bike in August. My other bike was wearing a ct, but the new one wasn't. I was going to wait till I could afford a 1300 ring and pinion, but I just couldn't take that crappy mt anymore. It feels good to be riding on the darkside again. My bike is a 2002 VTX 1800c, and I went with a 205/65/16 Nexen N5000 tire. I really like the tread pattern and the water grooves. The tire beaded up at 15 PSI, and was a breeze mounting on the wheel. I took it out for a short spin afterwards, and everything feels great. The real test will be the poker run I'm going on tomorrow. We are raising money for our local toys for tots charity, hope we have a good turn out. Will post pics as soon as I can. Ride safe all.

Why do you prefer the 1300 gears over the 1800? I've heard a number of people that find the VTX1300's gearing to be too tall.

You wouldn't happen to know of other interchangeable Honda gears would you?

I'm hearing the same..... The rider I know with them is ridding around town and some back road stuff.
Now that I'm running a Cooper 205/55/16, a set of 1300's should give me the right amount of gear change I want for the highway.

Doug

This tech stuff is not my stuff, but I'm glad to see you're back on the right track.

I'm wanting to go with the 1300 gears for the higher top end that will be achieved with those gears. Changing the gears doesn't hurt the accelleration, but increases the top end and cruising rpm's. A friend of mine has the same bike with the 1300 gears and we run dead even accellerating, but his cruising rpm's are lower than mine, and his has a higher top end. I feel that I would really like the 1300 gears, others may not, to each his own. Ride safe all.

The 1300 gears are worth the change. I had a Neo and loved the change out (especially at 70+ mph).

Got mine (1300 final drive) in a box in the shop. Will put em on when I pull the wheel whenever that happens. I rode a bike set up with the 1300 final and there was a noticable difference in rpm at 65. Doin it more for mpg and ride mostly. Not in a hurry but I will do it when the wheel comes off.

Peace
Moon

When I first read that the 1300 gears would reduce your rpms, I figured it had to be a typo, so I looked them up. Amazingly enough, the VTX 1800 does indeed have a taller final drive ratio of 3.091, compared to the 1300 with 2.662. What is the deal with Honda and their ridiculously Tall gearing?

When you do the math to combine the Primary reduction, 5th gear and final drive, the 1800 does pass the 1300 (as you would expect). Here's a comparison of some bikes total reduction in 5th gear.

VT750C: 4.64
VTX 1300: 3.59
VTX 1800: 3.38
VTX 1800 (with 1300 final drive): 2.91
Vulcan 1500: 3.104

Now I know why my 750 sounds like it's going to explode on the interstate. Those 1300 gears look like a very good idea for an 1800, but now I'm very curious to see if I can find replacement final drive gears for a 750.

[edit] I just noticed that the VT750 and the VTX 1800 have the identical final drive ratio which is awfully cooincidental. Could it be that the 1300 gears would fit the 750 as well? Further investigation is needed.

I don't know if the 750 gears are interchangeable with the vtx gears. I have done a little reasearch on this in the past couple days. I do know that the 750 has a different housing than the vtx. I am interested in finding out if the 750 and the 1100 might interchange. If so that might be a thought for the 750 riders to try. Will do more research and update everyone on what I find, if anybody else has any info on this please don't hesitate to enlighten me. Ride safe all.