Mt09 for beginners


robert.marian11

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Hello everyone, I wanted to ask those who are more mechanically inclined than me if changing the rear sprocket to a smaller one on the mt09 will make the bike more usable in the lower gears.
This would be my first proper bike, i have been riding a small 125 scooter around town for the last 3 years but never had any experience on proper bikes.
Sorry for my English guys
 

bobh

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A smaller rear sprocket would raise the gearing and make the bike less flexible. About the only advantage of such a change is to give more relaxed cruising at high speeds.

A smaller front sprocket would improve flexibility, so for example you could use 3rd gear rather than 2nd in town.

Depending on how big the change, you might need to shorten or lengthen the chain. Though usually you can go up or down at least one tooth (at either end) without that being necessary.

But speaking personally, I find the original gearing pretty much spot on. So my advice would be to leave it as it is, until you've really got used to the bike, before making any changes.
 

robert.marian11

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A smaller rear sprocket would raise the gearing and make the bike less flexible. About the only advantage of such a change is to give more relaxed cruising at high speeds.

A smaller front sprocket would improve flexibility, so for example you could use 3rd gear rather than 2nd in town.

Depending on how big the change, you might need to shorten or lengthen the chain. Though usually you can go up or down at least one tooth (at either end) without that being necessary.

But speaking personally, I find the original gearing pretty much spot on. So my advice would be to leave it as it is, until you've really got used to the bike, before making any changes.
The reason I'm asking is because everybody seem to think that this bike isn't suited for a beginner because of the torque and power and so on. I was wandering if this gearing change would make the bike a bit more tame in the lower gears and not pop a wheelie if i fuck up for a second.
This would be just for the beginning until i get used with the bike , after a while i would go back to the original gearing.

It seems like a good idea but never saw anyone on any forum talking about this for beginners. Most people say not to buy it and leave it at that.. it was getting a bit frustrating not finding any answers to be honest
 

piasek

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Buy it, run it first on “rain” map or whatever is called. Just remember that it’s much more powerful than 125cc and you have to be careful with your right wrist. Just take it easy and you will get used to it. Whatever happens don’t open throttle fully in 1st and 2nd gear at the beginning unless you want to do a wheelie ;)
 

stevecbr

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You are correct, a smaller rear sprocket will make it less aggressive on the throttle when accelerating, but increase the top speed.
B mode will also make it less aggressive, as thats the rain mode, and softens the power delivery.
As mentioned above, take it easy and ride sensibility
 

kev

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I have the 2017 model, the power mode and traction control will keep you in check, just remember no giving it a fist full, lol.
 

Otters Pocket

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You are correct, a smaller rear sprocket will make it less aggressive on the throttle when accelerating, but increase the top speed.
No it wont increase top speed at all. It may increase the 'theoretical top speed' but the drop in torque you get from the smaller sprocket means the engine won't have the power to pull the bike any faster than before. In fact the drop in torque could be frustrating when cruising at speed and you end up having to drop gears for efficient overtakes.

I would leave the gearing alone and simply get used to riding it properly, it wont take long. At normal throttle openings you wont have any issue, but I agree with the comment above the Mode B will help out as it gives a nicer easy power delivery if you're a little intimidated at first.

If it's really putting you off go for the MT07 instead which will be much more user-friendly to the newer rider, but may leave you wanting more once you're used to it after a few months.
 

kev

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There's something I don't understand about altering the gearing and people say, oh yes it gets to 60 much quicker or it does more miles to a tankful etc, how do they know? if the speedo drive is in the gear box, then it would need re calibrating to give a true speed and distance travelled, or am I wrong.
 

Greenman41

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Is the speedo drive in the gearbox? These days of ABS I would have thought it would be from a wheel speed sensor?
 
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Otters Pocket

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There's something I don't understand about altering the gearing and people say, oh yes it gets to 60 much quicker or it does more miles to a tankful etc, how do they know?
I think the speedo might be off the gearbox, because in the reflash tools there's options to adjust the speedo for sprocket changes for this reason.

In terms of 'how do they know', because it's a long established practice and you can calculate it all from simple ratios.

Also, simply think about riding a pushbike, as their gears are doing exactly what we're thinking about here. For any given front sprocket size, when the chain is on the largest rear sprocket, it's much easier to pedal, but you don't get a fast speed, so you then drop to the next size sprocket, which takes you faster but gets harder to pedal. Each sprocket reduction is increasing the number of wheel revolutions for each rotation of the pedals, but reducing torque at the same rate.

Put enormous sprocket on the front and tiny on the back, and you can cycle at crazy speeds like Guy Martin did behind the lorry, but of course, because of the huge drop in torque now produced at the rear wheel, he needed towing up to a speed where he could then manage to continue and needed the lorry to remove air resistance as he wouldn't have the strength to pedal against it.

Since the sprockets on a motorbike are the final drive, you select the ratio that is best suited to the riding you do. The bike manufacturers get this pretty spot on IMO, but people sometimes like small adjustments.
 

bobh

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I'm sure the speedo signal is taken from the wheel speed sensor(s) on ABS models.

If I can make sense of the wiring diagrams in my Haynes maual, they show a speed sensor for the non-ABS models but not for the ABS ones. Also in the section on engine removal, it says 'Disconnect the wiring connections for ....... and on models without ABS, the speed sensor."
 

Otters Pocket

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It may well be, would make sense I guess as they already have the signal, but doesn't really impact how the gearing affects the change in speed/acceleration, only whether you'd need to account for the correction.

If off the ABS then it wont matter, if off the gearbox it'll read incorrect.

Easiest way if unsure is to simply ride with a GPS on the bike and compare a steady speed on that with the speedo reading.
 

Greenman41

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My speedo reads about 10% high, so if you are increasing wheel speed for any given engine speed, I.e. fitting a smaller rear sprocket, you do have a margin to work with and might even end up with a more accurate speedo.
 


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