I am trying to determine how difficult it is to change my own front and rear sprockets on my 2007 Suzuki Bandit 1250ABS. Is it a daunting task, or is it something that a mechanically inclined owner can do? The front sprockets look pretty simple, but the rear sprocket involves taking the back wheel off and that seems intimidating. If you have done this on a Bandit 1250, please let me know about your experience and what your opinion is.
If you have adjusted your drive chain then taking your rear tire off to get at the sprocket should be no problem. If you are changing gear ratios you may need to shorten or lengthen your chain. You can get an inexpensive chain breaker to break and re rivet a new chain on Amazon and download instructions for it from the internet. If you need to shorten the stock chain, be aware that the only place you can get a new master link for your stock RK chain is from Suzuki and the part number is 50GSV3-RL. I couldn't even get one direct from RK and ended up ordering a chain with the correct # of links from the Sprocket Centre, with a master link and a spare master…just in case. *I was informed by RK that no other master link will safely work with the stock chain.*You should also buy a tool for aligning the chain and the sprockets as the indicator marks on the swing arm are notoriously wrong. Motion Pro Chain Alignment tool is cheap and effective.
If you are going to gear your bike for higher rpm and more torque, you can drop the front sprocket down to a 17 tooth from the stock 18, and the stock chain will work If you want to lower your rpm for more relaxed rpm on the hwy., It is best to drop 3 teeth from the rear sprocket to 40 teeth, but to do this you need a 116 link chain from the stock 118 link and you will need the chain riveter/ breaker tool. Download a copy of the Bandit service manual and follow the instructions and the torque values and you should be fine.
I have read that going up to a 19 tooth front sprocket to lower your Hwy. rpm may make the chain rub on the cast aluminium post that supports the clutch slave cylinder, but I have no first hand knowledge. If you want to see how changing the gearing will affect speed and rpm you can go to (
http://www.gearingcommander.com) and plug in the numbers to compare. You may also want to consider a speedometer corrector, like the Speedo Healer, Speedo Tuner or the least expensive Speedo-DRD speedometer re-calibrator. Otherwise your speedo may be way out, as it is from stock anyway. Always good to check your speedo against a GPS……...Hope this helps.
