..the actual REVLIST!

....back from first Test with the new gear ratio 1:2,875! Mates, it's shorter than I thought(!), but suits perfect for narrow and winding streets and hairpins. I would guess that the topspeed has reduced around 20-25km/h. Nothing you can use for a journey, but the whole bike feels much more "light" and you never have the feeling that the engine is really working hard.

It reves very easy and also changing gears is now as smooth as it never was before. i.e. When you approach to a turn in higher speed, shift down and accelerate in in the middle of it, you have the feeling that it has less influence on the drivetrain. No bucking at all - very comfortable.

The actual speeds in comparison to revs in 5th gear are: 80kmh - 4400Umin, 100kmh - 5500Umin, 120kmh - 6600Umin, 140kmh - 7700Umin, 160kmh - 8800Umin. As you see, quite short, but exciting to drive. Of course you always have to keep in mind that a 750 aircooled carburetor engine is not as "hot" as a modern 750 watercooled injection.

The next useful thing might be a Dynojet Stage 1 Kit, which should give a better performance at midrevs. Let's see!!

 

......chains and pinions!

...selling my good old Lady in red gave me some problems in the past months. There was always something the people had to complain about. Wether it was the seat, or the black rims, or the exhaust, or the colour and so on, at least I put together a puzzle from all my machines and sold it for a reasonable prize. With the restparts remaining I started to puzzle again and build a cycle which is rather similar to the bike I originally wanted to sell.

The old chainset was rather rotten and I started to think about a new solution with a "supersprox" pinion in the back, a golden chain(always wanted that) and a different gear ratio. After some thinking and also talking to my favourite mechanic Herbert (http://www.hm-moto.de)   I decided to change the original 15-40 into a 16-46. The area around here in the eifel is a hilly one with curvy streets and less options for topspeed. So my aim was to have a better drivability in turns and hairpins.

You might ask "why a 16 in the front?" but after some  thinking about what happens in the drivetrain I wanted to achieve that the chain has a smoother radius while rotating, which gives you less influence on the swingarm and suspension.  -Okay! -  I know a Zephyr is not a racebike, but I was hoping to have a more comfortable drive. Here are some pictures before testdrive this afternoon.