What exactly does a 520 conversion do?

[evil jose]

I've seen the kits for sale and seen it posted on peoples sigs on the motorcycle message boards but I have no idea what exactly it does or what is it for. Since I'm needing to replace my chain and sprockets soon and was wondering if this would be worthwhile to go ahead and do.

[ELVIS]

from what i understand lightens the rotating mass. ie. smaller lighter chain. i could be wrong.

god bless.

[cbrjames]

It lightens up the rotating mass that the stock 530 has.

[cbrjames]

Elvis beat me by a second. It really doesn't serve any purpose for street riding.

[ELVIS]

Elvis beat me by a second. It really doesn't serve any purpose for street riding.

i have heard a few folks not recommend it for litre bikes, not as strong? you heard that??/

god bless.

[stunter bob]

i have heard a few folks not recommend it for litre bikes, not as strong? you heard that??/

god bless.
yea ive heard that....its a smaller chain...which means it can break easier...never seen one break though
it really doesnt make that much of a difference that you would be able to tell though..other than you wallet is lighter

[futant]

1. waste your money
2. make your bike slightly more dangerous
3. typically gives you a cheap skinney aluminum rear sprocket from a kit

now go and be dumb!

[futant]

4. makes you think your bike is alot faster, and causes you to always argue it was somehow "all worth it"

[Skidmark]

I don't have a bike so i'm just posting up randomness...

Do bikes have a crankshaft like a car?


I've heard of people "knife-edging" their cranks and i heard it makes a very audible difference when moving through the oil.

Maybe do that on a bike?

[evil jose]

Well I guess that settles that :eek: I'll stick with the stock length chain then. It's not worth any (perceived) performance gains from what I'm gathering here.

[stunter bob]

Well I guess that settles that :eek: I'll stick with the stock length chain then. It's not worth any (perceived) performance gains from what I'm gathering here.
length? lol...the 520 refers to the width of the chain...like a 530 is wider

520 (-------)
525 (--------)
530 (---------)

somethin like that

[The Raven]

length? lol...the 520 refers to the width of the chain...like a 530 is wider

520 (-------)
525 (--------)
530 (---------)

somethin like that


Right, length is affected when you go with more or less teeth on the sprocket.

[stunter bob]

Right, length is affected when you go with more or less teeth on the sprocket.
yea like me...18 up in the rear lol....long mufuckin chain

[Goose1]

Well I guess that settles that :eek: I'll stick with the stock length chain then. It's not worth any (perceived) performance gains from what I'm gathering here.


Save your $$ on the conversion and just go -1 down on the front tooth, youll loose a lil bit on top end but do you ever blast around @ 156 mph?



Plus it's a $29 part vs paying for a rear sprocket.

[evil jose]

My bad on the length/width thing. And I'm already down 1 tooth on the front. Does that make it an 18 tooth front sprocket? Any ideas what the stock 03 R6 front sprocket is? Trying to price out some parts here.

[stunter bob]

My bad on the length/width thing. And I'm already down 1 tooth on the front. Does that make it an 18 tooth front sprocket? Any ideas what the stock 03 R6 front sprocket is? Trying to price out some parts here.
most front sprockets are 15 tooth..so if your down one..its prolly a 14...going down in the front wears your chain a little faster and the sprocket...its better to go up in the rear...more expensive though
and the 18 i said was referring to how many teeth i went up in the rear from stock.its like a pizza pan

[The Raven]

My bad on the length/width thing. And I'm already down 1 tooth on the front. Does that make it an 18 tooth front sprocket? Any ideas what the stock 03 R6 front sprocket is? Trying to price out some parts here.


How did that affect your highway riding Jose? I wanna swap sprockets, but I dunno that it's worth sacrificing gas-mileage on my daily commute.

If you've still got those flushmounts btw, I've got cash in hand.

[evil jose]

most front sprockets are 15 tooth..so if your down one..its prolly a 14...going down in the front wears your chain a little faster and the sprocket...its better to go up in the rear...more expensive though
and the 18 i said was referring to how many teeth i went up in the rear from stock.its like a pizza pan

Thanks for the info bro, I'll have to look into that.

How did that affect your highway riding Jose? I wanna swap sprockets, but I dunno that it's worth sacrificing gas-mileage on my daily commute.

If you've still got those flushmounts btw, I've got cash in hand.

It's kind of a hard comparison since I bought the bike like it is and didn't get a chance to ride it stock. I'd probably say it's worth it even with the sacrifice of gas mileage. Check your PM's.

[The Raven]

Check your PM's.


Must not have gone through or something. :confused:

[Goose1]

Stock R6 is a 16-48 ratio and thats for 03 also.

[the spindoctor]

if your getting it because the stock one is wore out, then yeah, a 520 isn't a bad idea. it'll be cheaper than a 530. people run 520's on liter bikes all the time, you just have to look at the tensile strength and don't get a cheapie $20 no-name chain. side by side, there is a very noticable difference in weight, but you won't notice a difference in how it rides. most of the of 520 kits come with new gearing which you already have, so thats where most of the hype comes from, not the difference in chain size. i've run them on all my bikes and never had any problems. aluminum sprockets are the only thing i'd avoid, or at least keep an eye on as far as longevity is concerned.

[hustleman]

if your getting it because the stock one is wore out, then yeah, a 520 isn't a bad idea. it'll be cheaper than a 530. people run 520's on liter bikes all the time, you just have to look at the tensile strength and don't get a cheapie $20 no-name chain. side by side, there is a very noticable difference in weight, but you won't notice a difference in how it rides. most of the of 520 kits come with new gearing which you already have, so thats where most of the hype comes from, not the difference in chain size. i've run them on all my bikes and never had any problems. aluminum sprockets are the only thing i'd avoid, or at least keep an eye on as far as longevity is concerned.


Agreed... If you need to change the chain and sprocket it will be cheaper to go with a 520 conversion. Thats what I did. Don't have to worry about the chain snapping just because its a 520. Chain breaking usually comes from wheeling all the time or attempting to wheelie. I've swapped my out to 520 and have no complaints. Actually saved me some money so I'm happy. Call Greg Fowler he'll purchase and install for $250 if you don't feel like doing it yourself.

[Super Coupe]

When I did chain and sprockets on my 636 I got the 520. I think it might have had it on there stock.

[HobieF3]

I'm not saying it makes all the difference in the world, but in 02 when I was still riding a 96 F3 I had free mods, jet kit, ghetto fullsystem, K&N, and a 520 conversion my bike out top-ended every jap 600 made in 02. When the 636 came out, it was the first 600 that could out pull and out top end my DATED, BEAT, 80Kish mile F3.

I had a 520 conversion with stock gearing at first, as well as a few other sprockets, you could feel the difference just with the stock gears. I didn't buy a kit though. It was a DID ERV or EVR 2 chain, something like that, they no longer make it, it's been replaced with a newer version. My first sprockets were AFAM. They wore a lot quicker than the stockers, vortex is REALLY soft, but the chain was on the bike a good 20K+ miles with minimal stretching and anyone that knows me knows the bike was put through hell for a street rider.

The only reason I bought it was because the old chain was so worn, everytime I clutched it, the collars were snapping off the chain, DOH!

[The Raven]

I'm not saying it makes all the difference in the world, but in 02 when I was still riding a 96 F3 I had free mods, jet kit, ghetto fullsystem, K&N, and a 520 conversion my bike out top-ended every jap 600 made in 02. When the 636 came out, it was the first 600 that could out pull and out top end my DATED, BEAT, 80Kish mile F3.


Exactly. It's all rotational mass, and will free up some torque, as well as a little HP. It's like getting an aluminum flywheel and driveshaft in a car, it isn't gonna blow your mind, but there's a noticible difference.