chain and sprockets?

[peatrich]

Hi
Greetings everyone
I'm Peter from Sheffield and have a Monster 600, red tank and gold frame that I bought a couple of months ago. I've changed a couple of things, most notable of which are the exhausts, for SP engineering carbon cans and fitted an mph speedo to replace the kph one it came with, as I can't stand the stickers.

A long awaited parcel arrived in Sheffield from a dealer in Swansea today after a fleabay purchase. Front sprocket 15t, rear sprocket 43t and a 520x100 chain. The bike is a '98 and had on it a 15t, a 46t and a 102 chain when I bought it.

Am I right in thinking it should actually be 14t, 43t and a 100 chain up to '98?
Surely 15x43 would make first, which is long enough already, almost unmanageable in traffic?

15x46 and 14x43 each give gearing of 3.07 as far as I can tell...

[Pomp1]

99% of us have a 13 at the front..

[peatrich]

Thanks Pomp1, I can see why after riding round town in first all the time!

[Hellboydce]

What does changing the sprockets actually do? And is it a worthy change, meaning would I notice much of a difference or is it only a change for serious riders, and finally, with a front sprocket change would I need to change the stock chain on my 696?

[slob]

I *think* stock M600 was 15/39 sprockets with a 98 link chain up to frame #002962,
when it was changed to 15/43 - 100 links.
15/46 -102 sounds right for a late carbie, yours is a pre 98 model though.
Many people use a 14T front which lowers top speed a little and gives better acceleration as well as reducing the chugging feeling round town.

[Wasta]

http://www.gearingcommander.com/

This site is good, lets you work out gearing with sprocket changes

[gary tompkins]

Yep minus one tooth on the front or + 3 on the back is a good mod for most monsters

I've just gone up from a 39 to 42 tooth rear (750 gearing) on the 900ie and much prefer it

[Geoff Ives]

It's agood idea to increase the size of the rear spocket rather than reduce the front. The reason is that a lot of chain wear is caused by the tight apex at the front.

[peatrich]

Hi 'slob'
The bike was registered summer '98 but I thought it was a late registered '97. Can you tell me how you can tell the difference though, I don't know what to look for? My frame number is 009256
cheers
Peter

[Scotty]

doesn't the ZDM number relate to the year of actual manufacture

(frame number / engine number)

[peatrich]

It does but I couldn't find data to refer to

[Scotty]

have you used the internet more than 10 mins ~:?
http://www.mad-ducati.com/Technical/VINInfo.html

[peatrich]

Ha Ha - yes I have and I have seen that however this is exactly what is written on my headset

ZDM600M*009256*DGM537090M

The first bit is obvious Italy/Ducati/600monster. The bit between the asterisks is quoted on the v5 and the mots as the 'frame number' and I've no idea what the rest is...

[zhango]

99% of us have a 13 at the front..
Did you mean that?

[zhango]

It's agood idea to increase the size of the rear spocket rather than reduce the front. The reason is that a lot of chain wear is caused by the tight apex at the front.
....and also the smaller front sprocket increases the load in the chain.

[Scotty]

well that whole zdm to figure the year out is utter gibberish , you could email ducati with it and see if they get back to you if its really important ,

looking at the picture you attached its defiantly a pre 98 M600 as the engine has the clutch slave on the RHS whereas the post 98 ones has the clutch slave on the LHS as per all the larger engine displacements.

[peatrich]

well that whole zdm to figure the year out is utter gibberish...... its defiantly a pre 98 M600 as the engine has the clutch slave on the RHS whereas the post 98 ones has the clutch slave on the LHS as per all the larger engine displacements.

Yeah, I tried looking up its exact age when I first got it as I thought it would influence parts buying but gave up, despite its July '98 registration I was convinced for no concrete reason that it was a '97 model.
Thanks for that Scotty...

[utopia]

Do you have a crankcase saver fitted ?
These can save a lot of heartache if a chain snaps and wedges in your cases, smashing them.
The reason I ask is that some cases are a bit tight around the front sprocket and its hard to fit the saver without fitting the smaller sprocket to gain a bit more clearance.
This might affect your decision on which sprocket to use.
...though having said all that, if you can get away with the std front sprocket (and increase the rear if you want to lower the final gearing) then that would be a better option, for the reasons given in previous posts.

[gary tompkins]

Hi
Greetings everyone
I'm Peter from Sheffield and have a Monster 600, red tank and gold frame that I bought a couple of months ago. I've changed a couple of things, most notable of which are the exhausts, for SP engineering carbon cans and fitted an mph speedo to replace the kph one it came with, as I can't stand the stickers.

A long awaited parcel arrived in Sheffield from a dealer in Swansea today after a fleabay purchase. Front sprocket 15t, rear sprocket 43t and a 520x100 chain. The bike is a '98 and had on it a 15t, a 46t and a 102 chain when I bought it.

Am I right in thinking it should actually be 14t, 43t and a 100 chain up to '98?
Surely 15x43 would make first, which is long enough already, almost unmanageable in traffic?

15x46 and 14x43 each give gearing of 3.07 as far as I can tell...

Going by photo I'd say that's a 95/96 spec 600 monster, possibly registered late as old stock in 97

I owned a nearly identical 600 on an M plate - 1995

[peatrich]

#Utopia - I've not heard of a crankcase saver, but it sounds a good thing to have. I'm going down to 14t front from 15t.
#Gary Tompkins - It had a kph clock so I wondered if it was grey import.

[peatrich]

I've just searched on here and the saver part seems easy enough to make with a small piece of stainless - I'll give it a go, thanks Utopia!

[slob]

As Scotty says, looks '97 or earlier. I'd guess it was 15/43 - 100 as standard, being a late one.

I'm fairly sure Pomp1 means "14" not "13".

Zhango is right about going up on the rear rather than down on the front, however this may not allow space for a case saver. It may also necesitate a longer chain to account for the extra teeth, which is why most of us opt to drop a tooth at the front instead.

[peatrich]

14x43 is the same as 15x46 except you need two extra links from 100 to 102.
I have been making a cardboard template for a chain saver and I'm sure it will fit with a 14t on the front.
I noticed today changing the back sprocket that the rear wheel was made in November 1996 so it was no doubt brought over here early '97 and wasn't registered for 18 months!