gap between 1st and second gear

[mark_england]

recently built a kdx/kx hybrid for a friend.

i used the motor from the kdx200sr autolube bike


i was lucky enough to race this bike yesterday and noticed a big gap in the ratio's between 1st and 2nd gear

is this also the case with the standard kdx 200/220 engines?

im planning on doing another one of these bikes and be nice to know which engine to plumb for

 

[mark_england]

surely someone must know the answer to this..

does anyone else feel the 1st is low and that 2nd is high?

 

[kdx220freak]

well, i just got my kdx220 so i will try to help. I dont really find a huge gap between these gears. I mean i agree when you say 1 gear is very low, but i dont think second is much differnt, i mean there will be some differnce because you are meant to shift pretty much right away from 1st to 2 so i think you will feel a pretty good differnce especially if you are racing

 

[dirt bike dave]

If you are used to a close ratio MX gear box, the KDX first will feel very low with a big gap to second.

First gear on the KDX is for getting you going in nasty terrain, crawling up or around stuff at very low speeds when the motor will not pull 2nd. Not great for the road.

We never got the street legal SR models here in the states, so the US riders are unlikely to know if the SR has the same gearbox ratios as the offroad KDX. It would not surprise me if the internal ratios were the same, but maybe the SR has a larger countershaft. FWIW, the perceived gap between all the gears will be smaller if you put on a bigger rear sprocket or smaller countershaft sprocket, but that will make first gear even slower.

Perhaps you can locate the gearbox ratios somewhere on the web to compare. Never heard of anyone swapping gears with a KX125 or other bike to raise first.

 

[mark_england]

thanks for that.

i loved the first gear being low ,, but on a lot of the climbs i found myself wanting an in between gear,,, it was either screaming in first,, or dying in 2nd.

the hybrid felt just perfect for the race aside from this,, light and perfect power.. im a new fan of the kdx engine.

im hoping the standard kdx doesnt have sucha big jump between 1st/2nd gears, cus i really want to build another one but more race focused and less trail based

 

[Green Hornet]

!st is for Rock Gardens, I mean BIG F*&KING ROCK GARDENS and those steep, slick, twisting trails that 2nd will not make do