New Sprocket and Gearing

with the set up you ordered are you sure that the hub flange cover will fit over the carrier you have just bought ?

The reason I ask is there are a few carrier kits out there but they dont seem compatible with the CNC racing cover I want - and CNC dont do a 41 or 42 tooth - hence me contemplating 15/43

Styler said:

$560? My set-up was $476, with a light-weight cush-drive set, which is not required. So you could get the set-up for $155 less, even with the sprocket carrier.

My thinking is this: I need lower gearing for my local track. To do so, requires a larger rear sprocket, and thus a chain because the OEM chain is too short for a rear sprocket with two or three more teeth. So, I might as well go with a 520 set-up for lower weight while I am replacing the chain and rear sprocket, and throw in a hardened aluminum rear sprocket while I am at it. I only wish I had another $170 burning a hole in my pocket to fit a light-weight hub/flange. But that is an easy upgrade later.

Your probably right, without the titanium bolts and nuts (an option), the weight savings is likely only a couple of pounds, perhaps 2.5 with the lightweight hub cover / flange. That said, it is both unsprung AND rotating mass, so it does make a noticeable difference. Regardless, I will see if I can get my hands on a scale to see what it all works out to. If I can round-up a suitable scale, I'll post the results.

Sure, I could drop a cog of the front sprocket and be done with it; however, I am not a fan of that since it often leads to rubbing of the swing-arm chain guide, excessive chain wear, and I cannot easily change the gearing for different tracks or road riding (perhaps a 41 tooth sprocket, or whatever). Plus, I am still running the heavier OEM chain and rear sprocket. Lastly, I already have about 15,000 miles of track and canyon riding on my OEM set-up, so there is no time like the depths of winter to take this on, instead of waiting to do maintenance until the height of riding season this summer.

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With your discount I see it costing $476, without them, it would be roughly $545 so it's in the same ballpark as I had priced out a while back lookikg into it. If you could get your hands on a scale, please do a comparison of the 525 vs 520 kit you bought for the weight savings. As I stated, I have seen at best 1.5 lbs and best. For me at the time, CF wheels were a better option as you save more weight per dollar then the 520 conversion (which is also rotating mass). If the 3lb is what you come to find, I will be def switching over to that. Thanks in advance.

Wolf said:

with the set up you ordered are you sure that the hub flange cover will fit over the carrier you have just bought ?

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No; I do not know. As noted above, I am going to continue to run the OEM hub/flange with the new 520 set-up.
That said, I will be sure to check before I do order a light-weight billet replacement. Thanks for the heads-up.

I ended up getting the CNC Racing sprocket hub/flange. So much better looking than stock.

lamb00j said:

3 lbs off rotating mass?? I have seen the components on the scale and the best I have seen on the 520 conversion was 1.5 lbs. which is still a good amount but have yet to see 3 lbs. I couldnt justify spending $560 at the time for 1.5 lbs of savings. If there is a 3lbs savings please send me the info and spec, I would look into it and get that conversion instead

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I have done posts about the weight savings I made but measured in grams. You are welcome to search and see my results. You may be surprised.

Wolf said:

The reason I ask is there are a few carrier kits out there but they dont seem compatible with the CNC racing cover I want - and CNC dont do a 41 or 42 tooth - hence me contemplating 15/43

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You do not need all the parts to be CNC. Read some of my posts on the subject. Gunny has written some good posts about the rear sprocket options. I think that thread is pinned somewhere.

bradp51 said:

I done posts about the weight savings I made but measured in grams. You are welcome to search and see my results. You may be surprised.

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His post: http://ducati1299.com/mechanical-technical/19361-520-sprocket-kit.html

"Some weights from the 520 Conversion.

OEM Chain = 2099 g 520 chain = 1865 g
OEM Hub Cover = 349 g CNC = 312 g

OEM Cush drives, OEM Hub cover sprocket and nuts = 1550.3 g
Light weight polyurethane cush drives with light carrier and sprocket = 887 g

OEM Front Sprocket = 251 g AFAM drilled Front sprocket = 178 g

OEM Rear Steel 530 39 T = 1201 g AFAM 520 41 T Alloy Superlite = 197 g

OEM Rear Axle nuts(2)= 229.6 g CNC Ti x 2 = 138.5 g

OEM rear sprocket nuts = 61.6 g CNC Ti = 35.6 g"

Styler said:

His post: http://ducati1299.com/mechanical-technical/19361-520-sprocket-kit.html

"Some weights from the 520 Conversion.

OEM Chain = 2099 g 520 chain = 1865 g
OEM Hub Cover = 349 g CNC = 312 g

OEM Cush drives, OEM Hub cover sprocket and nuts = 1550.3 g
Light weight polyurethane cush drives with light carrier and sprocket = 887 g

OEM Front Sprocket = 251 g AFAM drilled Front sprocket = 178 g

OEM Rear Steel 530 39 T = 1201 g AFAM 520 41 T Alloy Superlite = 197 g

OEM Rear Axle nuts(2)= 229.6 g CNC Ti x 2 = 138.5 g

OEM rear sprocket nuts = 61.6 g CNC Ti = 35.6 g"

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All of that is 2128 grams, or 4.69 pounds.

And you can also loose .7 pounds or 317.5 grams by taking a poop before you ride"¦for free...
(I actually looked that up)

NOLA

NOLA said:

All of that is 2128 grams, or 4.69 pounds.

And you can also loose .7 pounds or 317.5 grams by taking a poop before you ride…for free...
(I actually looked that up)

NOLA

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7 lbs! I don't think I could walk never mind sit on a bike after a dump like that!

If you read Brad's posted items carefully, you will note that there is some double-counting if you simply add all of them up, which is not what I think he intended. I see that he has weighed various combinations.
Of his items, those relevant to my job are:
1) OEM Chain 2099 g vs. 520 chain 865 g = 234 g reduction;
2) OEM Front Sprocket 251 g vs. AFAM drilled Front sprocket 178 g = 73 g reduction;
3) OEM Rear Steel 530 39 T 1201 g vs. AFAM 520 41 T Alloy Superlite 197 = 1,004 g reduction
4) OEM Rubber cush drive ??g vs. Poly cush drive ??g = 120 (Edit: from Brad's note below.)

Thus, assuming Brad's measures are correct, total reduction from these components is 1.331 kg or 2.93 lbs. (1kg = 2.20462262 lbs.)
And, as noted before, the weight reduction is a nice by-product of regearing and not the reason to take on the work; and, unsprung, rotating mass is far more noticeable than simply reducing the same weight elsewhere.

Styler said:

7 lbs! I don't think I could walk never mind sit on a bike after a dump like that!

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I think you missed the decimal point there bud.

Either way, 7/10ths of a pound is still a ginormous .......

bp7178 said:

I think you missed the decimal point there bud.

Either way, 7/10ths of a pound is still a ginormous .......

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That's better!

Styler said:

7 lbs! I don't think I could walk never mind sit on a bike after a dump like that!

If you read Brad's posted items carefully, you will note that there is some double-counting if you simply add all of them up, which is not what I think he intended. I see that he has weighed various combinations.
Of his items, those relevant to my job are:
1) OEM Chain 2099 g vs. 520 chain 865 g = 234 g reduction;
2) OEM Front Sprocket 251 g vs. AFAM drilled Front sprocket 178 g = 73 g reduction;
3) OEM Rear Steel 530 39 T 1201 g vs. AFAM 520 41 T Alloy Superlite 197 = 1,004 g reduction
4) OEM Rubber cush drive ??g vs. Poly cush drive ??g = TBD

Thus, assuming Brad's measures are correct, total reduction from these components is 1.311 kg or 2.89 lbs. (1kg = 2.20462262 lbs.)
And, as noted before, the weight reduction is a nice by-product of regearing and not the reason to take on the work; and, unsprung, rotating mass is far more noticeable than simply reducing the same weight elsewhere.

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Styler,
You are right, thanks for pointing it out. I just copied straight off a Macbook laptop I have been keeping a spreadsheet on as I weigh things in the garage.

The reason I could not weigh the new hyper flex cush drives against the OEM ones is because when sprocket centre sent them to me they were already pressed into the sprocket carrier. So what I did was weigh the OEM cush drives with the original sprocket and hub cover and nuts. That weighs 2060.9 grams. The Alloy sprocket and new cush drives with Ti nuts (cush drive only) and CNC hub cover weigh 1251.2 grams. So a saving of 809.7grams.

I ended up with two lightweight sprocket carriers so I weighed both with cush drives (remember one was pressed in, so could not separate.) By subtracting the weight of the carrier from both I ended up with a difference of 120.3 grams saved on the Hyperflex cush drives.

The scale I am using is a electronic one which measures up to 5 kilograms in 0.1 gram increments. I have a set of calibration weights from 1 gram to 20 grams and its accurate to plus or minus 0.1 gram. Its very consistent so I believe the weights to be accurate to within a tenth of a gram.

As Styler mentioned my object was to change to a 41 tooth sprocket on rear and I went the 520 route to save some weight.

I will go through my spreadsheet and come up with an exact weight savings figure. The reason I have not done that yet is because I got caught out with the pitch on the Hyperflex cush drives is 1.25mm and not 1.0mm as on the OEM. So at the moment I cannot use the nice CNC Ti nuts which cost an arm and a leg. I can either buy cheaper Ti ones from someone like Pro Bolt or buy CNC Ti 848 ones which I believe are 1.25mm. (Can anyone confirm ?) or try to re thread my CNC ones.

I have also replaced the rear swing arm pinch bolts with Ti and also the pinch bolts and mount bolts in the rear calliper with Ti as well.

One of the things I like about playing around with all this stuff is it helps teach me a little more about my motorcycle. I think sometimes the money I save on dealer labour, I spend on new tools like the chain breaker I purchased. Its all fun though.

bradp51 said:

I ended up with two lightweight sprocket carriers so I weighed both with cush drives (remember one was pressed in, so could not separate.) By subtracting the weight of the carrier from both I ended up with a difference of 120.3 grams saved on the Hyperflex cush drives.

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Thanks for the calculation.