My thoughts on the 33/65 gears

[Tykes_Place]

Just did my shakedown run after swapping the gears. Belt is 128t. I’m not sure what to think yet. Keep in mind I’m on a car tire that’s taller than stock. So that’s already affecting my gearing.

The upshifts feel fine. Depending on how aggressively I accelerate, shift points are around 30/45/55/75 mph. It feels smoother through the gears. 70 in 4th is nice. 80 in 5th is really nice. It feels like an overdrive gear now. I’m definitely not hunting for 6th.

But there’s a lack of torque in that top range that I’m not sure about yet. Any incline or a strong headwind and I start losing speed. Again, just like an overdrive. On the slab I could cruise at 80 all day.

I’ll see how it’s goes but I might try mixing things up.
Some ratios, mostly for my own future reference. 32/65 might be the sweet spot for me with the car tire. But I’ll reserve judgement until after NW Starfest.

33/65 = 1.969
32/65 = 2.031
33/70 = 2.121
32/70 = 2.187 Stock ‘05


And as a bonus, why the hell did I wait so long to use the hoist to lift the rear? Soooo much easier. Especially re-installing it.

[Shores]

That's why I only went with a 33 on the front and kept the stock rear pulley. I didn't want to lose top end torque.

[Lug Nut]

I did 33/65 128T belt and a taller 18in wheel and tire (about a full inch taller than stock) days before my trip out west to Starfest....on slab it's wonderful but going up hill or against strong wind you have to WOT to keep it moving at 90mph. I feel it was overdriven a bit much for that tall of a rear tire. No "oomph" when needing to accelerate..had to downshift a couple gears to make headway. I didn't get really great gas mileage (36mpg) but that was loaded down heavy, tall windshield, and running 80-90 mph the whole way and using WOT to maintain speed.

I'm not sure if I would go that extreme again...it "feels" nice just loading at 80 or 90 but Since I don't think I'm getting any significant improvement in gas mileage and I honestly don't believe that the motor running 400 RPM higher hurts at one single bit I just don't know if the trade-off is worth it. I don't mind the buzziness honestly and you do lose quite a bit of power when swapping rear pulley. Especially up and down through mountainous regions. I might consider it on my road liner if I made it a touring vehicle because it's gearedfor acceleration and is very buzzy at 80 mph it's turning about 3200 RPM. Going to a 66 rear pulley from a Raider and matching belt drops it about 400 RPM and that 1900 motor has plenty of power that you don't need to feel like you need to go wide open throttle to go a little faster in gear. That thing only gets about 32 mi to the gallon when running 85-90 mph.

Since I'm going 31 tooth on my black solo in town bike I'm going to take that 33 tooth and stick it on my fuel injected biketo have just a little bit better highway gear like Shores did.I definitely don't think I would do a 33/65 combo on a fully loaded down touring road star with fairing bags tour pack etc and then load two people on it. That would be a struggle to maintain speed up an incline and you sure lose a lot of acceleration throughout the gears.That's the one benefit of a modern engine with double the horsepower is that you still have plenty of power for passing regardless of gearing.

[Brad_G]

Tykes_Place that's a great tip about the hoist. I hadn't thought of that. Dad has one in his shop and that's where I do some of the larger projects I work on. So I'll remember that for sure!

It's been interesting following what you and Lug Nut have done in regards to changing your ratio. I don't do enough open road high speed riding to need the changes myself. Like Shores, maybe just doing the front pulley to 33t would be enough to satisfy any higher speed longer distance travel.

I love all the information gained here.

[BrokenWheel]

Tyke and Lug Nut, did you both switch to 33/65 directly from stock gearing, or did you have an intermediate 33/70 or something in between?

Just curious for comparison sake as I just went stock to 33/70 and personally love it, but I do a lot of interstate at 80+ mph so 33/65 is still intriguing. Funny side note, I feel like I'm hitting the rev limiter more now with the taller gearing especially accelerating through gears 1-3. Could just be me getting more comfortable with the bike.

Thanks.

[Tykes_Place]

I just switched. No intermediate changes.

[Duke]

Having the taller tire makes a big difference in the gearing. Running 33/65 with the stock tire size, 16" windshield, engine with high compression pistons, aftermarket pipes & modified air box, and me being 160#, I find that there is plenty of power and acceleration in 5th gear. On a normal day riding normal, I get 45+ mpg.

I find this tire size comparison web site helps me a lot.
https://tiresize.com/comparison/

The charts helps me on the gearing by getting the tire turns and front pulley turns per mile.

[Lug Nut]

Tyke and Lug Nut, did you both switch to 33/65 directly from stock gearing, or did you have an intermediate 33/70 or something in between?

Just curious for comparison sake as I just went stock to 33/70 and personally love it, but I do a lot of interstate at 80+ mph so 33/65 is still intriguing. Funny side note, I feel like I'm hitting the rev limiter more now with the taller gearing especially accelerating through gears 1-3. Could just be me getting more comfortable with the bike.

Thanks.

For 1600 33/70 is stock....32/70 for 1700

[Duke]

The notes that I attached are the figures that I use. I'm a 1600 user.
All of the pulley ratios that are easy access to purchase and the 32/70 figures are there too.

[Shotround]

So if one had a 1700. a 1600 pulley for 33 teeth? Works with stock belt?

I haven’t given up on 40 mpg while doing 80+ mph. I have however achieved 39.x mpg with 70 mph and below. Now where can I find a path that’s all downhill with a good tailwind?

[BrokenWheel]

Yes, 1600 pulley with stock belt works. Exactly what I have on my bike. The 1600 pulley is wider but works fine. I did replace the white nylon rollers with smaller diameter ones also.

[Shores]

If you go with a 33 tooth on a 1700, you will need to lathe down the two white rollers that are on both sides of the pulley to prevent the belt from rubbing on them and squeaking. Some people remove the rollers but they are there to prevent engine damage in the event of a broken belt.

[Tykes_Place]

Maybe my rollers are worn. They fit fine.

[Lug Nut]

If you go with a 33 tooth on a 1700, you will need to lathe down the two white rollers that are on both sides of the pulley to prevent the belt from rubbing on them and squeaking. Some people remove the rollers but they are there to prevent engine damage in the event of a broken belt.

I assume you could just use the white nylon rollers from a 1600?

[Shores]

Maybe my rollers are worn. They fit fine.

They fit, but mine would squeal when I would decelerate or accelerate. I assume a 1600 would fit but it was easier for me to just have my neighbor lathe mine down.

[Duke]

I only get squeals when riding 2-up and it depends on which girl is riding with me. I don't think it's a weight or roller issue?

[Tykes_Place]

Now that you mention it I was noticing a slight high-pitched noise on acceleration yesterday. Maybe it was the rollers.

[HotRod]

Just wanted to throw my 1/2 pennies worth into the mix. On my 02 with the 33/65 and stock diameter rear tire, I never had any issues pulling hills or losing power. That engine did not have any internal mods. So like Duke said, the taller tire makes a big difference.

Rod

[Lug Nut]

Just wanted to throw my 1/2 pennies worth into the mix. On my 02 with the 33/65 and stock diameter rear tire, I never had any issues pulling hills or losing power. That engine did not have any internal mods. So like Duke said, the taller tire makes a big difference.

Rod

Definitely....going one inch taller overall (may have been 1.5in come to think of it) really zapped power in 4th and 5th...I used 3rd a lot to pass on the highway. I didn't feel like I could reasonably be in 5th gear until 70-75mph...otherwise felt like it was just about laughing it. Now that I am darkside and more closely approximating a stock overall diameter it's not as bad...

[Duke]

LugNut, did you go with the 175/60-16" ? That tire is 24.3" diameter and stock tire diameter is 25.4". The 33/65 set-up would be a great combination for that tire.

[Lug Nut]

LugNut, did you go with the 175/60-16" ? That tire is 24.3" diameter and stock tire diameter is 25.4". The 33/65 set-up would be a great combination for that tire.

Yes I'm have the Dunlop winter sport on now and I remember it was about the same as the stock cast wheel stock 150 tire setup (I knew it wasn't any taller for sure but didn't realize it's actually almost an inch shorter) My custom 18-in wheel with a 180 rear tire was quite a bit taller than stock setup. That's where I really noticed the issue with lack of acceleration in fourth and fifth.Now it feels fine in 4th and 5th gear.

[Duke]

I found this while researching the tires. I still ordered this same tire, but it's something to be aware of.
https://www.gl1800riders.com/threads...rt-rof.142479/

[Roadhorsen]

Dang, I'm content with stock 2009 gearing ratios, pulleys and fuel mileage with my Silverado (getting 46 mpg or more at moderately hard and fast riding, and I coming from several different large road bike experiences.. I like the ratios better than my other 2 Stratoliners too (I always would use a premium synthetic oil 20-50). Don't know why, the engine on my Road Star is super quite, about like someone dumped a bucket of oil on a sewing machine.. I thought for sure it would have more click, knock and clack than my Stratoliners being all similar miles.. I never bought or used it on any of my bikes but here is to the properties of a super lubricate.. I didnt put it in.. previous owner had Amsoil 20-50w put in on the last oil change

[Shores]

Roadhorsen, you are lucky to have a quiet fuel injected road star. Don't let anybody talk you into adjusting the valves or you'll end up with a noisy one. That's what happened to me. But I have 72,000 and it's still going strong. 2008

[Roadhorsen]

What do you think are they getting wrong on the valve adjustments? I've always done my own, after my first two bikes

[Tykes_Place]

I’m back to report that after some riding I’m getting more comfortable with this gearing setup. I will sheepishly admit that when I was seeing what 80mph felt like I totally forgot about my car tire throwing my speedo off by 10%. So I was actually doing about 90. Way faster than I ever need to ride.

Today I did 130 miles. A mix of interstate, curvy slower roads, and around town. I used the gps on my phone to check my speeds and get used to the feel of the new rpm’s. 80 on the flat is like buttah. So mellow. If I need a push I drop to 4th. Cruising through the twisties felt good. And taking off in first feels about the same.

My mileage wasn’t what I expected though. I got 30mpg. I think I need to rejet.

Overall I’m happy with this setup and I’m looking forward to my big ride next month.

Here are some big horn sheep I saw today. They approve too.

[Littlebull]

I got the same feel when I went 33 - 65 on my 1600. Liked the results a lot better than the stock 33 - 70 but maybe a bit too far. I bought a 32 and modified it to take my 1.5 belt. Bike has been down for paint, so I don't know if I will like it better or not.