If I change the gearing on my 2017 ZX-14R, how are any of the following affected:

- Accuracy of the speedometer?
- Accuracy of the tachometer? (I wouldn't think so, but with modern bikes, who knows?)
- Functioning of the ABS system?
- Functioning of the traction control system?
- Any dashboard lights or trouble codes?
- How many rear sprocket teeth can be added before you need a longer chain?
- Is any aftermarket part required to prevent, or mitigate, issues with any of the above?

Jim G

- Accuracy of the speedometer?
That's a field question. Rather not guess with real world changes.
- Accuracy of the tachometer? (I wouldn't think so, but with modern bikes, who knows?)
Can show revs at standing still, so we agree on that one.
- Functioning of the ABS system?
Field says they get a phantom hez more or less from a dead stop up to a slow mph. No it won't have any affect.
- Functioning of the traction control system?
Same. Nothing to worry about.
- Any dashboard lights or trouble codes?
No, not with gearing. The slow speed glitch is so fast, it is not a constant so no codes.
- How many rear sprocket teeth can be added before you need a longer chain?
Field question.
- Is any aftermarket part required to prevent, or mitigate, issues with any of the above?
Field has the answers.

are you changing front or rear

Rear sprocket would be made larger. I don't want that front sprocket to be any smaller than it already us for this size of chain.

Jim G

>> Accuracy of the speedometer?

None. Speed is sensed off the sensor/ring on the wheel. No matter
what size sprockets you have the wheel is still going to
rotate x number of times per mile.

>>- How many rear sprocket teeth can be added before you need a longer chain?

https://www.gearingcommander.com/

Also if worried about chain/sprocket wear look at same tooth/chain ratio.

Hmmm... mostly it's recommended to go down in the back for
best straight line acceleration so you can keep the front wheel down better.
At least recommended by Gadson anyway.

Maybe good for tractor pulls?

* Last updated by: piken on 7/5/2020 @ 3:30 PM *

I'm going up on the rear despite the bike's trying to wheelie, because of 2 things:

1. Too few rpm right now at highway speed, so the engine is unhappy when I hit the throttle to pass a car. in our mountainous terrain, the passing opportunities are few and short, and I don't like startling the car driver with a downshift

2. At low speeds around town, the engine gets rather unhappy when the revs drop below 3000 due to traffic. A little more gearing should cure that.

I've done this before with multiple bikes, and it has improved them a LOT for my specific wants. On a 2001 Ducati MOnster S4, I upped the rpm by 10% and it absolutely transformed the bike. LOTS of fun. :) Same thing on a 2014 Harley Breakout with a Stage 4 kit that made power starting at 3000.

Jim G

This bike is a sweetheart at 40mph all day long. In one gear and I time the lights so I don't have to stop. That means lift and coast then throttle up again. I think the engineers addressed the neutering, the power, and torque for any mph.

Higher rpm is a faster tank drain. A gear down to get their attention is a good thing. Have the glitch come on, the different handling characteristics setting the wheel farther back... it will change things on this heavy.

Hub, The fuel mileage drop doesn't worry me, as I am averaging 40 miles/US gallon and only do 1800 miles per year (Canadian winters :) ). I don't understand the comment about setting the wheel further back. A larger sprocket will move the wheel forward, right? That should quicken the handling just a small bit.

Jim G

* Last updated by: JimGnitecki on 7/5/2020 @ 7:50 PM *

1. Too few rpm right now at highway speed, so the engine is unhappy when I hit the throttle to pass a car. in our mountainous terrain, the passing opportunities are few and short, and I don't like startling the car driver with a downshift
2. At low speeds around town, the engine gets rather unhappy when the revs drop below 3000 due to traffic. A little more gearing should cure that.

I got my 08 to accelerate smoothly snapping to WOT from 2000 rpm in 6th gear and the engine is very happy the whole way. Autotune was the key. I might have been able to tune even lower rpm for good throttle response but I see no reason to tune any lower than that.

As far a good throttle blip and downshift, that's the perfect attention getter especially if you have a loud exhaust. I'd rather startle them with that than me going by as they pull into the passing lane.

I have +4 on the rear and I use 118 pins instead of the stock 116 for the Gen1. I think the wheel is actually pulled forward a little under stock WB. I just put new sprockets and chain on and it's 2 and one fourth marks from the front.

* Last updated by: Rook on 7/5/2020 @ 10:19 PM *

Thanks, Rook, for the specific chain info.

I recognize that a performance tune could help notably, but I don't have the equipment nor nearby dealer to support that path, and my budget is currently tight because of other priorities. The sprocket change has always been a quick and relatively low cost way to get snappier throttle response on bikes I have previously owned.

The police around my area are not very tolerant of loud exhausts, and once ticketed, the only acceptable remedy is to show up with the stock exhaust installed, and that's a lot more hassle than changing a sprocket and chain. :)

Jim G

Here is my experience with changing the rear sprocket and tire gearing. See link. It's long, so in a nutshell:

I wanted taller gearing because I've ridden many 600 mile days in my travels and wanted less RPM at 85, and higher mph. So, early on, I went 1 tooth down on the rear, along with 190/55 rear tire. Also ran 200/50 but didn't really like that size. All seemed ok for a while, then I got power cut, and ERROR CODE 24 with most of the dash dead and flashing. After I restarted, it ran fine, except for the dash flashing and not working. Only the tach and fuel gauge worked. After a bunch of bullshit from Kawasaki Warranty Dept, first stock rear spkt, then stock size rear tire, new ECU, and new wiring harness, NOT fixed. Then the dealer switched out the rear speed sensor. FIXED.....I rode all last summer, stock, with no issues. Then we were going back to Deals Gap in Sept and I knew I had a couple 600 mile days so I thought I would try the 1 tooth lower rear spkt for the trip. Well, 600 miles to The Dragon, and 100 or 200 miles down there, the Error Code 24 and dead dash came back. I changed back to the stock spkt, still dead dash. I kept riding since the bike ran fine. When back home, I finally replaced the rear speed sensor,,,,,,,,,,,,,and fixed AGAIN and still fine after about 2,000 miles.

The moral of the story for me is, I'll be keeping to stock gearing and tire size. Quite frankly, just that small change in gearing made no noticeable difference. Also, my 2016 ZX14r SE ABS never seems to lug in 6th, unless under about 2,000 RPM, but there's no reason to do that. I can accelerate from 40 RPM in 6th just fine, I wouldn't do that under full throttle. Also, brisk passing from 60-70 in 6th is strong. The tq of this engine is so tractable, unless a super pass is needed, I just leave it in 6th and roll into it. But that's me.

If you, or anyone changes gearing on the ABS, traction control ZX14, I'm interested to hear your experience. Is my bike just odd??? Or some really odd coincidence?

http://zx14ninjaforum.com/messages.cfm?threadid=B0E8A658-C7CB-9F7E-106AFDA7E2CC32A0

ominousone

I've used a +4 T rear sprocket on my Gen1 for many years and I just changed to another +4 rear so obviously I like that gearing for my riding. It's really not much different than downshifting one gear though. You get the experience of higher rpm at lower mph in first gear that you couldn't have with stock gearing. If you want to take off in 2nd gear, it will do it pretty well but you will need to slip the clutch a bit more. Idling along in first at very low speed without lugging the engine, it does that a little bit better than stock gearing but not much. You get wheelies easier and you will be shifting between 1st, second and maybe to some degree 3rd more. It's a more sporty feel that I enjoy for the riding I do which is mostly sport riding 30 or 40 minutes at a time. When I first went to the +4 rear, my impression on the highway was: "why not just ride around in 5th gear?" Try that sometime. For my Gen 1, I'm running about 500 rpm higher than stock gearing at highway speed. I don't think it's quite as aggressive as running one gear lower but it's close. The bike is not uncomfortable running a gear lower and of course, it has the extra getup and go when you need it. With stock sprocket gearing, I'm pretty sure the Gen1 will still do top speed in fifth gear. I don't know if that is true of the Gen2 which I believe already has slightly more aggressive gearing stock.

Maybe you're now thinking about compromising between sprocket gearing like I have and something a little less aggressive. IMO, for the Gen1, might as well not even bother with +1 or +2. I don't think it would make enough difference to notice. If what you want is the acceleration of one gear lower, just quietly pull the clutch and carefully click down a gear. You don't even need to blip at that low of an rpm especially if you wait a half second for the motor to wind down close to idle. If you have a quiet pipe, you're not going to scare anyone that badly when you pass. You could also leave it in 5th on the expressway and only use 6th out on the highway when there is no traffic around you. I'm thinking you might miss having the quiet comfort of a normal 6th gear if you shorten your gearing enough to make the difference you are looking for. I would prefer stock gearing for normal street riding.

* Last updated by: Rook on 7/6/2020 @ 8:44 AM *

A larger sprocket will move the wheel forward, right? That should quicken the handling just a small bit.

So new sprocket on an old chain is going to accelerate a new pattern on the new sprocket. Chevy suburban 4x would break a brittle C-clip in the transfer cases. I used to do so many, I ordered the usual suspects. Bulletin comes out, says a buzz under the floorboard after a transfer case rebuild. The engineers said to time the chain to the gear teeth before disassemble. I applied the same theory to the drive chain when I change rear tires.

You do understand what is about to happen with a new sprocket on used parts, right? I'm just saying, you think you need it, but you're one foot stab from coding the dash if you get my drift. Anyway, I'd think with slightly worn chain with the axle back so far, it might not need the extra half link. You can double up link wise if it's available on line; are your half links. What I'd do is clean the clip, plate and pins on the clip side, safety wire the clip by centering the wire between rollers, right? Then goop glue the whole clip and pins on the side plate. That covers the safety wire too part way. Chain is 530.

That's weird a wheel sensor drops out twice. Could be a run of parts and that other sensor was the same batch, but in a parts bin and shipped to the shop, who knows? For sure a weird one.

Rook has made some good points, and ominousone has me concerned about unanticipated effects. I think that with this bike, I'll stay stock on the gearing.

Jim G

To be fair, I didn't see anyone else that had a problem like mine. But maybe no one else changed gearing. For the 1st 15k miles, I ran taller tires and the last few thousand miles also ran the 1 tooth down rear spkt. I've got over 2,000 miles on the 2nd speed sensor and stock gearing and tires. It does seem odd to me that the "system" couldn't allow for fairly minor gearing changes, but that is my experience.

If you have a lot of chain wear on a stock length chain, you probably could fit a +4 T sprocket on there and see how it feels. $60 for new. Probably pick up a used one on Ebay just for a tester. I thought I heard that a flash was required to change gearing on the Gen2. Am I wrong about that? Coulda swore people were complaining about troubles with gearing changes on the Gen2 when it first came out.

* Last updated by: Rook on 7/6/2020 @ 11:51 PM *

Rook, my ZX-14R has only 4800 km on it and has not yet ever needed a chain adjustment other than the one the dealer "unavoidably" did after just a few hundred miles when he installed the lightweight sprocket for me, and the one that the dealer did when he changed the tires to the lightweight tires.

But I regard ominousone's TWO experiences as a warning that the software on the Gen 2 may be intolerant of gearing changes, and I won't take the risk.

Jim G

I remember hearing of members that had codes with gearing changes on the Gen2 and that was back when they first came out. I think somebody said a flash could fix that. Since other owners don't seem to have the problem, maybe Kaw made changes in the programming to allow for gearing and tire size changes.

* Last updated by: Rook on 7/7/2020 @ 9:21 AM *

Too many unknowns.

Jim G