cr250 gearing for woods

[Nevada Sixx]

hey, since a 250 is known for explosive power,, wouldnt going real high on the gearing tame it down? like, add a tooth up front and well as take off a tooth on the rear? do you think it would still have any torq left at all at low rpm trails? maybe add a torq pipe, and high gearing,,,make easy to ride..

thanks..

 

[dirt bike dave]

What year CR are you talking about?

FWIW, my '99 makes good low end power and stock gearing was 13/50. I run 13/49 in most woods, which was stock on a '97 CR. But IMO 13/50 is better if it is really nasty. The advantage of dropping a tooth on the rear is that you can occassionally hold first or 2nd gear a little longer without having to shift, but the downside is you abuse the clutch a little more in the super nasty stuff.

I think adding a tooth to the countershaft would be a bad idea for woods, unless maybe you have a 265cc or larger big bore engine.

 

[NacNac250F]

Usually people like that bottom end for woods riding. If it's slippery terrain go up one tooth in front, it's a 250 it has plenty of power to handle a tooth up in front. My friends 00' YZ250 has a 15T front sprocket on it and he rides MX and it works good, good traction out of turns and great pulling down straights, but in your case the traction might be your concern.

 

[James]

I have used 14/48 on my CR on several occassions...it comes 13/50. It was fine for me but I never ride handlebar width singletrack or super slow technical trails if I can help it. It was ok on the track and most trails. You do lose quite a bit of first gear pull, 2nd ends up about halfway between the original 2nd and 3rd, and 4th gear becomes 5th. I like this setup when we go to WV as it gives me another 7-10 mph on top.

It will definitely soften the power but it will still be a 250 so if you are in the meat of the power in 2nd/3rd gear, it is still going to pull hard.

You will get the same effect (more actually) by riding a gear high. I think a flywheel weight is a better solution although it will cost a bit more than new sprockets and a lot more than riding one up. I think it is better because it will tame the power slighlty and you won't lose any low gear advantage.

Another option is to jet it a bit less crisp. I think that will be the most noticeable change of all.