Skitspuce

Member
May 21, 2003
63
0
Will someone please tell me if JR50's have some secret 2nd gear that can be activated? I've heard yes and I've heard no, and none of the yes's could tell me how. Wanted to change the gearing for my son so the thing would get in the powerband, but don't want to lose top end. Any help??
 

jcrawford1

Member
Sep 18, 2002
17
0
The bike is in 2nd gear. What you can do is split the case and grind out the shifting fork to access 1st gear which is much stronger then 2nd in power not speed.
 

Jasle

Sponsoring Member
Nov 27, 2001
1,358
0
you don't need to split the case. just pull the right side cover off. super easy. with the cover off you can look at the shift lever. you'll see where the section has been blanked off. its oblonged one way. make it oblonged the other way too and now you have 1st gear too.
 

Gary B.

~SPONSOR~
Apr 17, 2000
684
0
Boy! I wish I'da known that when I had one! :whiner:
 

Skitspuce

Member
May 21, 2003
63
0
I have done this, and I took some pics, so if you're interested, lemme know. I'll email them to ya. Took all of about 15 minutes.

*Update* Pics were on my hard drive...hard drive ate itself. No more pictures, sorry. Quit emailing me. :nener:
 
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theroyz71

~SPONSOR~
Nov 25, 2003
215
0
I thought I read that this mod had mixed reviews. Seems I read that the thing has a tendency to pop out of gear after this mod. If it works though, could you change sprockets to get better launch and more top end.
 

Skitspuce

Member
May 21, 2003
63
0
It doesn't really 'pop' out of gear, but if you bump the lever it does come out. The shift pattern is 2-N-1, with first above neutral instead of below, so if you cruise around with your boot on the lever it will bump it out. Never had any probs with it just popping out, tho. One thing that is a little hard to get used to is shifting smoothly. With the auto clutch, it kinda bangs into gear unless you're pretty smooth with the throttle - but it hasn't seemed to cause any damage. I have a chain and a new set of sprockets on order to move the gearing up a little (higher gearing overall) cause first is almost too low with stock gearing. It really gets off the line tho, and will spin the tire easily.
 

Skitspuce

Member
May 21, 2003
63
0
I think Sprocket Specialists makes aluminum gears, but they were too much cash to spend on a 3hp bike. I got mine from motorhelmets.com, and its been a fiasco. Ordered new chain, 2 new sprockets and got the rear sprocket in the mail, and nothing else. Also took close to 3 weeks to get 'em. Bikebandit has JT steel sprockets, and I wish I'd gone with them. I'll let you know how it does if the rest of my order ever gets here.
 

Skitspuce

Member
May 21, 2003
63
0
Ok...got new chain and sprockets. I went up a tooth on the front, left the rear stock...and the dang cover wont go on now, it hits the sprocket. Soooo, I'd suggest that you go smaller on the back if you can. I'm gonna go out in the garage and get to cover-grindin.
 

theroyz71

~SPONSOR~
Nov 25, 2003
215
0
Skitspuce,

What is the final verdict on the 1st gear mod? How much difference did the sprockets make? Any issues with shifting on the fly?
 

Skitspuce

Member
May 21, 2003
63
0
Finally back together

Okay, I finally got around to putting this thing all the way back together. Had it running for about 10 min a couple of weeks ago, but my son, aka "Destructo-Boy" managed to crash and snap off the throttle cable...so it was down a bit while he attemped to destroy his 65 (to no avail) :) .

With a 1-tooth larger front it turned out great. First gear now seems just a little lower than the original gear, not ridiculously low as before. Second (the original 'first') is now obviously taller, but still low enough that it will pull me around if I rap it out in first. My son loves it...although the bike is now officially his sisters, who won't shift it out of low gear. Shifting is just fine, although you have to get out of the throttle...if you don't it slams into the next gear pretty hard. Can't seem to get this idea through to my son, tho, and he hasn't done any damage to it.

Beware...1 tooth larger requires you to grind a little off the inside of the cover, by the bottom bolt hole. There is plenty of meat there, and I'm sure it didn't weaken the cover any...but if you don't do it, the chain gets pinched and it won't turn. Took all of 5 min with a Dremel, tho.
 
May 10, 2004
1
0
JR50 gearing

I had the right side engine cover off this weekend and was considering the 2-speed mod, but decided not to because the final gearing we chose (12-34 or 2.83) has worked so well. My son just turned 5, and he's been beating this amazing machine almost daily for a year and a half now. That gearing gives him plenty of grunt to get started on a steep slope and clear his little jumps, yet still has decent top speed...25-30mph? That doesn't sound like much, but it looks plenty fast and Mom and I would prefer him to survive his first direct tree hit anyway. It is strange that even the dealers seem unaware of how great the JR50 is, and of all the adjustments like ride height, throttle stop, power limiter, 2-speed option, and chain drive that allow it to be set up perfectly fo almost any kid. This bike is still running flawlessly on its stock sparkplug and nothing better than injector oil from the grocery store!
The 2-speed conversion is very simple and you could easily switch it back if you didn't like it or wanted to hand the bike down to a smaller child. Although I chose not to enable 1st gear, one improvement I did make while I had the cover off was adjusting the clutch to the point where the bike rolls freely in gear. This lets the motor gain a few revs before engagement and makes the shift into gear much less clunky...it also allows the bike to be started while in gear which is convenient but could maybe be a bit dangerous for really new riders. Just one other worthy safety modification for these is the addition of a lower chainguide/guard thingy, seems stupid that Suzuki would sell a motorcycle meant for 4 year olds without one but it's certainly worth a half hour of your time to create one...kids tend to enjoy the use of their fingers and toes.
I'd be glad to post pictures of some of the mods if anyone is interested, but for now here's a riding picture. www.tinyurl.com/rfe0/jrjump.jpg
 

TorpedoMan

Member
Sep 7, 2004
6
0
Suzuki JR50 Second Gear (or lower first gear)

Guys - I think I must be more stupid than I look :eek:

Tonight I took the left hand cover off (the aluminium thing cover the front sproket). The gear change shaft runs directly into the transmission housing and there is nothing you can do to it to find an extra gear.

SO I don't get it...

Elsewhere in these posts people say all you do is pull the side cover off....and in other places they say you have to split the case. I'm baffled....

Are there two different engine? Is it a year model or Country thing?

Help?!?!?!?!?!
 

Vic

***** freak.
LIFETIME SPONSOR
May 5, 2000
4,008
0
The part that needs modification to allow engagement of first gear is under the right side cover.
 

Skitspuce

Member
May 21, 2003
63
0
TorpedoMan, I sent you the email. Has some pictures in it so if you have dial up, this is your fair warning. :) Thornton Racing, I can't paste pictures into DRN's email (or at least I'm not bright enough to figure out how) so please email me at my main address and I'll get them to you chopchop. BTW, 50 has been running hard all year with no problems or damage related to mod. Was worried initially about the gears slamming home, but has been abused by both kids as well as me and hasn't missed a beat.
 

Vic

***** freak.
LIFETIME SPONSOR
May 5, 2000
4,008
0
Engine and gearbox, tough.

Frame, fork and related components, not so tough.

:)
 

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