VMAX rear end

[Guest jet man]

Well I got my new Vmax rear end this last weekend, and installed it as well as a new clutch. What a difference the new rear gears make. I need to adjust the speed O healer, which I will do this next weekend, but WOW, I really like the mid range power difference from the old rear end gears. While I had the tire off, I went ahead and lubed up the hub according to the write up on the tech link. I don't know if the new rear gears or the lube made the difference but I don't have the awful wine any more. I have the more powerful stator comming this next week, and I will install it later this month. I talked to the guys at Blue Ridge sport max and they really seem to be some very nice folks. I paid the whole $600.00 for the new gears and sent them back my old rear end. The day he got my old rear gears he refunded me my $300.00 core charge.

 

With the new stator I am planning on getting the full ensamble from warm gear. I already have the gloves, I just need the rest of the gear.

[BigShell]

I've been running the VMax rear for maybe 9k miles. I love the feel. The bike seems to like it, too. I've done mods that were good and some that were ok. This mod makes me smile.

[KiteSquid]

Did you use Honda Moly60 grease on all of the splines and fingers?

[pegscraper]

You're aware, aren't you, that swapping the VMX rear gear on does not throw off the speedometer and does not require correcting it for that reason? You may want to correct the speedometer for the error built into the thing. But using the VMX rear gear does not change anything.

[GeorgeS]

After installing the V-Max rear end, on a 2nd gen, how does the final gear ratio, in 5th gear, compare to just driveing in 4th gear with the stock rear end ???

 

Any comments?

[pegscraper]

It will raise the rpms about 11%, which amounts to about 400 at 70 mph. It will be almost exactly right in the middle of what fourth and fifth gear with a stock rear gear are.

[KiteSquid]

You're aware, aren't you, that swapping the VMX rear gear on does not throw off the speedometer and does not require correcting it for that reason? You may want to correct the speedometer for the error built into the thing. But using the VMX rear gear does not change anything.

 

It does throw off the odometer, and it mostly corrects the error of the speedometer....

 

 

Now if someone could get into the firmware in the dash to correct the speedometer and keep the odometer correct with the stock rear end gears, I'd be VERY happy!!!!!

[GeorgeS]

It will raise the rpms about 11%, which amounts to about 400 at 70 mph. It will be almost exactly right in the middle of what fourth and fifth gear with a stock rear gear are.

 

One might also, just install a lower profile rear tire, and obtain some of the same effect.

[pegscraper]

It does throw off the odometer, and it mostly corrects the error of the speedometer....

 

No, it does not throw off the speedometer. It does not change the speedometer's readings at all.

[pegscraper]

One might also, just install a lower profile rear tire, and obtain some of the same effect.

 

You'd have to install a tire about 3 inches smaller in diameter to get the same effect. Impractical.

[KingPin006]

What does this gear change do to the fuel mileage?

[KiteSquid]

No, it does not throw off the speedometer. It does not change the speedometer's readings at all.

 

pegscraper, I think I stand corrected.

 

Doesn't the rear-end mounded speed sensor use the teeth on the ring gear for it's inductive pulses? I don't see any other toothed device in the diagram of the rear-end on pages E-2 and E-3 in the parts manual.

 

And if it does get its pulses there, what is the difference in the ring gear in the RSV and the 1st Gen Vmax? I ask because the Parts manual does not list a part number or a number of teeth for the ring gear in the parts manual.

 

OR is it just a different pinion gear between the two bikes? If so, I would like to meet the guy that designed the gears.

 

 

 

I guess meant to say:

 

IF you use a speedohealer type device, it does throw off the odometer while correcting the error of the speedometer or vice versa.... You can't have one without the other because both of them use the same rear-end mounted sensor.

 

Now if someone could hack into the firmware in the dash to correct the speedometer and keep the odometer correct with the stock rear end gears, I'd be VERY happy!!!!

[Guest jet man]

Well unfortunatly, I have not had the opportunity to ride with the new gears except for the ops check ride. With that being said I will be riding tomorrow, with my tom tom on board to check the speed. I do know that the original gears are 11 teeth and the new vmax gear is 10 teeth, so with that I assume that the speedometer will be off a little. As those of you who know though with the speed o healer it is rather easy to adjust any small error that may exist.

On another note, who of you have the upgraded stator, I should get mine the end of next week. I am looking foward to running heated gear as well as the auxiliary running lights. I did the watts conversion and the new stator should put out a peak of 808 watts. I don't know what other touring bikes stator wattage is, ie; the gold wing, but I imagine that, that is more than enough to support many items.

[GeorgeS]

The buckeye perf Stator will handle 2 riders, with 2 pieces of heated clothing, each. And a set of driveing lights, no problem. With some to spare. If you need more heated clothing, just turn the driveing lights Off.

[pegscraper]

It's tricky to understand why this swap doesn't affect the speedometer. It took me a while to believe it myself. I was familiar with cars where the speedo was read from the tailshaft of the transmission. I had changed rear end gears in cars before and always had to compensate for the speedometer. So why not on this bike? It's because the sensor on this bike doesn't read driveshaft revolutions. It reads the teeth on the ring gear on the rear wheel. Okay, it reads them through an idler gear. Okay, so that idler gear happens to be the pinion gear on the back end of the driveshaft. But it's still a 1:1 ratio from the teeth that go by the sensor to the number of teeth on the ring gear, no matter how many teeth are on the pinion gear. The Venture has 10, the VMX has 9, but there could be 135. The ratio stays 1:1. (I don't know where jetman is getting his numbers, but they don't match up with anything.) The Venture's rear gear ratio is 33/10, and the VMX is 33/9. The ring gear on the wheel has 33 teeth. All that changed is the pinion gear. And that's why this swap doesn't affect the speedometer. Whatever the speedometer read before the swap, whether speedo-healed or not, it will read the same thing afterwards. Yes, it would be nice to figure out how to separate the speedo and the odo and be able to correct each one of them separately. Then you could make them both accurate.

 

What will happen to the gas mileage? Nothing. Lower rpms does not automatically mean better gas mileage, and higher rpms does not automatically mean worse gas mileage. It's a known fact that the RSV will run a higher top speed in fourth gear than it will in fifth. That right there tells you that the ratio for fifth gear is too high and the engine can't pull it properly. Even at legal highway speeds, the throttle has to be held open farther in fifth gear than it does in fourth gear. So the engine spins slower in fifth gear. Having to open the throttle farther to get it to pull a too-stiff gear is not saving any gas. In fourth gear, the engine is spinning faster, but it is also working easier. Plus the engine is running closer to its powerband and is much more responsive when you need a little extra for getting up a hill or whatever. You wouldn't have to downshift to get the power out of it that you need. The overdrive on this bike (and most cars for that matter) makes no sense to me. It's simply too high. Fourth gear on this bike is what high gear on bikes used to be, and as far as I'm concerned should still be. But changing the gear ratios in the transmission is a rather difficult job. However the VMX rear gear swap is quite easy, and for the most part band aids the gear ratio problems. But in my view it's still not ideal. The gear ratios in the transmission are still too far apart.

 

To prove my own point to myself, last fall I ran several tanks of gas never using fifth gear. I shifted and rode the bike as if it had a four speed transmission in it, and this included some 85 mph interstate runs. And this is with the VMX rear gear, so it's spinning even faster than a stock fourth gear. I don't have any real gas mileage numbers, but I know I was getting the same number of miles out of a tank as I always did. I didn't lose any range on a tank of gas. That says to me that there's no difference in gas mileage. There was a world of difference in the way the engine ran. It was much smoother and much more energetic, it didn't pound and shake when I gave it a little throttle for an overpass, and I didn't have to downshift to pass somebody. Hmmm. I think I might have some plans up my sleeve to get this engine the gear ratios that it really wants and let it run like the sport bike engine that it is.