530 to 520 conversion: spacer?

You need the spacer that goes behind the countershaft sprocket from the XT-TT.It is a little thicker. Part number 90387-25507-00

Thanks guys.

I'll check out what the spacer looks like and whether I can substitute something cheap for it, as I just checked and they're $30AU, which is however worth it considering that quality 520 chains are half the price of 530 chains here, and there's a drought when it comes to the sprockets!

Aside from being 3mm out on chain alignment if you don't.... as was the "stinky" bike, 3mm at the front adds up to a lot by the time it reaches the rear wheel.

..just make sure that the lock washer is engaged in the splines before fully tightening the nut..and make sure you bend it over properly once the nut is tightened.

SR

Thanks for the responses guys. I seem to be getting mixed messages (on here, and at the SR500 Club last night) on this matter of the front spacer and whether a rear spacer is thus needed. Of course Sven qualified his statement with "assumed". Any more words on this? Is there a good way to verify the answer when I've got the parts? I'm guessing that if it is an issue - if I need to add a spacer to the rear - I could just place washers/spacers of the right thickness between the sprocket and the hub, around the bolts - does that sound ok?

Well I got the new 520 sprokets and chain on. I had no idea how to get the old spacer out, and feeling rather impatient with the unrideable state of my bike I laid aside the $30 XT spacer I'd bought and went and put a 50 cent washer in there - I'll chuck the other thing up for sale if anybody wants the proper washer. Busted my chain breaker and had some wierd problem with the circlip so I took it to a trusted shop and the guy verified in the process that the chain lined up fine.

Took the bike on the freeway with the new 17 41 sprocket set-up. Was hard to gauge exactly how things are as the bike has suddenly developed a new surging issue which is there 50% of the time, and is not the chain because it's happening at idle with the rpm jumping by 1000 at a time! Likes to stall too! Anyway, when running smoothly, the rpm wasn't that much lower but it was enough to make a difference. 4000rpm seems like a magic number, if I can cruise below that the bike feels so much happier, and I can now get in to the mid 90s (km/hr) below 4000rpm which is good - the point was so that I could do some touring and I think this set-up should do the job. Accelerates well enough for the cruiser style I'm aiming for with the bike, though all the way up to 100 there's a definite difference, it does feel much less gutsy. Am very interested to see how it feels on a proper run with this surging business sorted out.

Yeh I tried pulling it out, wouldn't budge, though my limited tool set restricted me to trying with a pair of pincers - maybe need a big pair of pliers!

I can offer a bit of a ride review of the new sprocket combo: 17, 41. I rode about three hundred kms yesterday, on freeway, through mountains (incl Black & Reefton Spurs). The ride is much improved, indeed next time I’ll endeavour to get the 40 rear. 100km/hr is still about 4000rpm, but the rpm decreases to a greater degree than expected at speeds below that – so I can sit on the highway (100km/hr zone) at 90km/hr at 3500rpm, which is still fast enough not to be a hazard and fine for cruising all day. At 80km/hr I can drop to 3200rpm which is very pleasant. Naturally I’ve lost some pick up. Indeed the bike has really lost pizzaz in that department, but it’s good enough – still significantly faster than most cars from the line and can accelerate quickly enough at 100km/hr to over-take. I did this mod to make the bike better for cruising and touring, so the loss in road burning is not really an issue, it fits with the style of riding I’m going for, with higher bars and saddle bags.

One area where the new set-up lacks is dirt bike riding – the bike has now lost all connection (performance wise) with its roots. At one point I was riding up a greasy dirt (clay) road through a rain forest, which I was doing rather slowly in first gear. The bike stalled, and wanted to stall most of the time. I have carb / surging trouble at the moment, and I think this was half of the issue, but I’m pretty certain it was also the sprockets – they don’t pull well at very slow speed with low (as possible for an SR) rpm. The bike tends to surge and jerk a bit. There are also odd jerks at other times during acceleration and deceleration, something I’ve noticed in the past when you change the sprockets from standard to drop rpm. Its nothing too serious and at speed I’ve come close to ironing these minor jerks out via riding style. It would be more of an issue if I was commuting in the inner-city as I used to, but now that the bike's reserved for country riding there’s no real issue.

So all in all I think the conversion has worked well. Acceleration is fine with this set-up if you don’t mind a decrease in the old oommph factor, and freeways and highways are much happier places to be.