Lowered gearing on Africa Twin

[LordStig]

Hello out there! Does anyone have any experience of lowering the gearing on an AT? I've searched the forum but can't find anything specific to the bike. I know of a suplier who sells rear sprockets with one tooth extra. I'm hoping that by down gearing I can to some extent smooth the jerky "on-off" effect when I close the throttle at low revs - not a good feature to have at low speed; does anyone else have this on their AT, or is it just mine?

Anyway, another benefit (apart from slightly sharper acceleration) I'm hoping to get is that it might actually IMPROVE fuel economy. This might seem mad, but a reply I received from someone on another thread (Rich Lees??) mentioned that raising gearing is not always the way to improve economy. My thinking (flawed as it may be) is this. The AT is big and heavy, and uses much more fuel when it's used on motorways, especially above 80 mph (attested to by others on this forum). If constant, flat motorway work does this it seems that wind resistance may be the major factor in fuel useage (as it is for most vehicles). In head winds and on gradual hills we all tend to unconciously wind the throttle open, waisting fuel that a lower cog would have saved - ever used low ratio on a mountain bike up a particularly steep gradient? Based on this, lowered gearing should allow the same speed to be held using smaller throttle openings.

Also, it should allow easier riding at in top, and maybe take a little strain of the engine when it's loaded.

If anyone has tried this I'd be grateful to hear how they got on, because the non standard sprocket and extra O-ring chain length required will make the experiment expensive.

Cheers,

Stig