Commuting

[Bubba1982]

Hi,

Back on the road after 10 years of not having a bike, my last bike was a de-restricted Honda NS125R... haha, I was in my teens.. Loving riding my CB-1 now, im using it for my short commute to work and for fun when I get time..

Finding 1st gear real short in traffic, always up and down the gears and revs, does anyone else pull away in 2nd gear instead? was just thinking of trying it on my way in to work today but didnt't..

Loving the bike when im out of traffic tho 

[psubrock]

You might want to get a 39T rear sprocket. Stock is 41T. Going to 39T actually makes your speedo accurate too.

[91cb-1]

I find that if there is any momentum in the bike putting her in first is more likely to make the bike jump so i just leave her in second and pull away feathering the clutch

[Bubba1982]

leave her?? haha classic

Yeah have to stop an start at untold sets of lights, will give the 2nd gear pull away ago tonight..

thanks man

[xstreamcanadian]

are there any opinions about the 39 tooth sprocket? i am ordering new ones very soon, and am I going to be commuting on mine as well.

[ptlcb1]

Just my 2 cents...This is assuming the front sprocket stays the same... The larger the rear sprocket, the quicker the acceleration, but the lower the top end speed will be.  The smaller the rear sprocket, the acceleration will be slower, but the higher top speed you will have.  Having a smaller rear sprocket is like having an overdrive.  Your engine will not work as hard to maintain a certain speed, so its good to do this for commuting.

[clarkdw]

I have a 37 tooth rear with a stock front sprocket. Speedo is within 1km/h at 50, 100, and 150 according to gps. If you are riding two up it it is a pain in the a55. If you are a big rider it will make launching harder on the clutch. If you enjoy drag racing, it slows down your time by at least half a second. Top speed is very, very close to the same, only now it is in 5th gear instead of sixth. With the stock gearing my bike would bounce off the rev limiter at indicated 14,500rpm in 6th gear. This was at a corrected 180km/h. Now the 180km/h is seen in 5th gear just below the rev limiter. You MAY get a little more speed in a full tuck downhill with a tailwind.

What you do get though is much more comfortable cruising at highway speed. 120km/h is now around 8,000rpm instead of 9,000rpm as original. If I was city commuting or riding two up I would not keep my 37 tooth. I would try 39 or 40 or maybe even go back to stock.

Honda did a very good job of coordinating all the parts, including the gearing on the cb-1 to maximize the performance with the small amount of power available. Changing the gearing unless it is doing a lot of highway riding is not something I would do again or recommend. This is a change in my opinion after having made the change and ridden for several years.

[xstreamcanadian]

as usual, great info, thanks

[a_morti]

I will echo what CDW has said, I think many moons ago we were the first ones to try this mod. At the time I was doing lots of motorway miles and so it made real sense. I weighed less than 150lb back then, so didn't notice too much difference in acceleration but the -1000 rpm at motorway speeds was really a very good thing. Slight reduction in fuel use but not as much as you might hope for - but the CB-1 is ridiculously low on gas anyway. As CDW says, top speed didn't change. It showed lower on the speedo, but then the speedo was reading the true speed to some pretty tight accuracy rather than an inflated value.

It's a good mod for those doing commuting miles, but I would leave off it if you just ride at the weekend, as it does sap a bit of acceleration.

[Drewski]

After years of riding the CB-1, I still find myself looking for a "7th" gear Maybe the gearing might have been set to go with the original Japanese restriction

[a_morti]

After years of riding the CB-1, I still find myself looking for a "7th" gear Maybe the gearing might have been set to go with the original Japanese restriction

37t rear puts a stop to that, if I remember right! It certainly stops the bike revving out in 6th which is far more sensible.