[lshasselmann]

Not sure what year of your bike, but the stock gearing on a first generation was 15/46 resulting in a 3.06 ratio. Your 15/43 results in a 2.86 ratio. In most cases that would result in something in the range of 500 rpm difference with the bike travelling at the same speed with the respective gearing..That's why I was asking the questions I did. I'm no expert on a dyno run, but the gearing change would result in the torque curve coming in later, related to the speed over ground and the bike would tend to be slower off the mark. You might get more top end in theory, but overcoming the wind etc, will not allow the bike to pull max rpm in 6th gear, if it would even do it on a stock bike. You will get more top end in real world driving out of a bike that is geared slightly lower. Stock gearing is always going to be a compromise. Glad your setup does what you want it to do.

Hello! What about 42t rear, like the Z300 and the ninja 300, both with exactly same mechanical group of Versys 300?

 

[Itsgordo]

42T is reported to generate error codes. To go beyond 43T, another member bumped up the aspect ratio spec of the rear tire and reported favorable results. Said this made the speedo accurate as well. True the Vx shares hardware with the ninja. The ECU has different firmware. I recall seeing Vx got a revised air box too in an effort to improve low-mid range power. So fuel injection and other parameters are likely tweeted a bit.

 

[Dave 300x]

Hello! What about 42t rear, like the Z300 and the ninja 300, both with exactly same mechanical group of Versys 300?

The X300 earlier years (2017 - 2019 ish) X300 owners have the dash luminate the check eng. and ABS lights, blank gear indicator and display 2 errors when going beyond about 10% gear changes. 15 front or 43 rear is the cut off. Newer bikes 2020 and up seem to have had an ECU change and there are X300 owners that have both 15/43 and say there isn't any problems. I have a 2021 with the 15 rubber bumpered alternate front and cannot speak personally about 15/43. Any changes are at your own risk.. I think the 15/46 is better that stock (14/46) but there isn't any consensus about that ether as some like the most acceleration possible. So, lots of choices.

 

[Itsgordo]

So now I’m curious if my 2017 can be flashed by Kawasaki? Not sure if it’d be worth the factory labor rate for me to drop one fewer on the rear? Sure there’d probably be a 1 hr min...
Think I might ask next time I stop by the dealer in case they offer a silent recall. I was just there Saturday. Found a good buy on summer gloves.

 

[Itsgordo]

I can’t even agree with myself on gearing 😂 I didn’t like 15/46 first time I tried it. Thought it too tame. Went back to stock. I’ve since learned to use more of 1st gear to get the engine spinning in the happy zone (8-12k) straight away when wanting a quicker launch. Cooler freeway operating temps and better mpg while bombing down the interstate in the summer heat convinced me to give it another try. I’ve since recalibrated. Not sure if more is warranted, but I’d give it a try to know if it wasn’t going to fault out. 16/46 from previous owner brought me here after riding a week. It faulted under a lower rpm condition once while getting underway. Makes me wonder if just avoiding that condition might keep it fault free?

 

[swieneke73]

Pretty sure you’re going to throw a code with 15/43 .349. It took me about a week before mine showed up at 16/46 .348. Ck engine, no gear indicator. Thay was how I got my Vx, with code freshly reset from previous owner.
You won’t really pick up any top speed with taller gearing. 103 indicated on the flat is about all there is in any ratio. There is a difference in how quickly the 300 will get to the top tho. Better acceleration with lower ratio.
A brief history of my ratio experience with my 2017.
16/46 when purchased in ‘20
14/46 rest of ‘20 season
15/46 1st month of ‘21
14/46 rest of ‘21
14/48 for a couple weeks now

It did throw-up a code 25 after about 120 miles, which means the gear selector sensor isn't communicating with the ECM. I researched for a fix, but the only thing I found was shorting-out the clutch switch, but that doesn't seem like such a great idea. I also thought about taking it to a dealer to reset the ECM, but that costs money and I'm cheap. Plus, doing a reset would probably only work for another 120 miles or so until the problem returned, I'm thinking. What I did was simply ignore the situation and continued to ride it as it was, and after about another 120 miles, the system reset itself. The Check Engine light simply blinked-out, and the gear selector came back too! The only guess I have about that is that the ECM had to "learn" that the final drive ratio had changed, and adjusted itself accordingly, just like modern cars will go into a default mode until it has enough miles to re-learn your driving habits if you disconnect the battery. I haven't found out anything about that in the factory manual I have, all I know is everything's back to normal now. It makes me wonder how many people have panicked over the issue, and resorted to haphazard "fixes", or have started on an endless number of return trips to the dealer for a "reset"...

 

[Itsgordo]

Mine self healed like yours did. If the error is not detected after 3 rides or something? That’s similar to what happened to me. Both getting the ck engine and it clearing. The gearing was the only issue.

 

[KnobbyGuy]

Finally received my 15T front sprocket (had already changed the rear to 42T) and the weather has moved above freezing! Just took it out and really like the results. 60 MPH at 6000 RPM seems like a great ratio. I didn't buy the "X" for the dirt, so this is gonna work fine for the pavement.