Well I’ve ran pretty much every sprocket combo for street riding and I’m very familiar with the going up 1 or 2 teeth on the rear sprocket when running the 17T sprocket up front. However, I’ve just discovered that a 17/45 setup exhibits stuttering, but it’s so slight and happens so quick off of idle that you’ll mistaken it as a slow speed fueling issue. I’ve always noticed it but just dealt with it because it’s very sporadic and only happens just off of idle. As a matter of fact the stuttering can be controlled and avoided if you take off from a stop with more than normal throttle input. Like I said I always knew it existed but wrote it off that my fueling needed correcting in the very low/idle RPM area of the IAP map. Over the past 2 weeks I decided to tune the stuttering out, and no matter what adjustments I made the stuttering was still there. I even went back and installed both 17/43 and 17/44, and as expected the stuttering was there, but only at different RPM ranges. Therefore, my theory is that the higher you go on the rear sprocket, the stuttering occurs at lower RPM ranges. Since I had a 46 tooth readily available, I installed it and there’s absolutely no stuttering and it rides like having the OEM 17/42 setup mounted. Although I lost 5 mph on the top end by sticking with a 17/46 setup, it’s a wash because I run 190/55 tires.
Again, the 17/45 stutter is very subtle and can be mistaken as a fueling issue in the 1300-1600 RPM range. It can be avoided each time if you take off from a stop with a aggressive right wrist, but if you are taking off very lightly or cruising at parking lot speeds(3-5 mph) it’ll rear its ugly head.
* Last updated by: siroht on 8/12/2025 @ 10:46 AM *
