Hey Mass, I was wondering about this. I have installed the 16F/43R on a friends zx-14. When I went to lube his chain the jumping was very alarming. I was all over the bike looking for the reason but all checked out to be OK. May be his chain? My 17F/45R is smooth as silk No jumping of any kind. I was planning to take a second look he gets a few more miles on the new gears. But if this is normal I won't bother? Whatcha think ?
The 16T will have the chain clattering and jumping a bit more at first.
None of it will be present even during the very first ride after the install
with the proper chain adjustment and the wheel not dangling in the air.
The bike felt as smooth as before and it was actually convinient to cruise
in 5th and 6th gear at low speed and keep the Brock's pipe a little quieter for once.
The bike WILL NOT develop any vibration or noises of any kind with the rubber padding.
My old zx10 had the chain jumping really bad when the rear was up in the air
even with the stock gearing. My gf's R1 seems to do the same thing up on the stand.
Heads up everyone attempting to remove the nut on the sprocket:
It WILL NOT come out without a serious fight or a really powerfull impact driver!
It takes some serious strenght to defeat a nut torqued that much by hand.
And the needed socket is 27mm- Autozone has the DEEP socket in that size with 1/2 drive for around $10,
and it's the exact tool needed, a regular 27mm will not have the reach if I remember correctly.
The manual calls for applying non-seizing agent on the sprocket shaft upon install,
you can skip it, but you're risking to have to apply insane torque to get that nut loose again.
I simply forgot... well f*ck me if I need to go back to the 17T... eh!
Replace and bend the washer!!!! Again: replace and bend the big washer.
The 16/42 gearing with the 190/55 rear is essentially equivalent to just -1T in the front
and is great for the zx14 IMHO. The 43 and 44 is a bit too much when you want to push the bike
a bit harder or enjoy hitting twisties... it's just a tank slapper waiting to happen upon exiting
a corner and getting on the throttle a bit early. My front seems to be extremly lift happy with
the feather light BST front wheel. Actually the BSTs will make you shy away from the 16/43 and
attempt to make it work with 16/41 or 42. It honestly feels like the bike puts down another 25 rwhp...
or maybe I'm getting soft... LOL.
Long story short:
TRY the 16T front- YOU WILL LOVE IT!