Is there a 530 or 520 chain conversion for the KZ750?

Noticed the other day that my 1980 KZ750E had a 630 chain.
That's bigger than the one on my Busa(530).

Going to a smaller chain would free up a little power. There is absolutely no need for a 630 chain given the quality of modern ones made by D.I.D., EK, and Tsubaki.

A 520 would seem to be the perfect size.

I have a DID ZVM2 525 chain on my KZ700. I used a rear sprocket from a ZX10R, and a frontsprocket from some kind of Susuki. It's been a while so I'm not sure if the types are correct.

I looked up the standard sprockets on www.jtsprockets.com/48.0.html . Then I searched for 525 sprockets with the same dimensions (splines, holepatterns, offsets etc.)

What you do have to think of is the sprocket ratio. Try to use the same ratio(or really close to) what you have now. Don't look at toothnumbers! Just the ratio. Because the chains are smaller the teeth are also smaller which means you need different toothnumbers.

On my bike the standard 630 sprockets are 13-33 (ratio 2,538). I'm now using 16-43 (ratio 2,688).
I changed the ratio because I wanted the bike to accelerate a bit faster.
To get to almost the same ratio you can use 16-41 or a 16-40 combo.

Don't go too small on the frontsprocket, because this will wear out your chain faster.

Another thing you have to think of is the size frontsprocket you want to use. I found that on my KZ700 the 16 tooth frontsprocket was the biggest size that would fit in the small metal chainguard that is bolted to the engine.

When I converted to the 530 chain, I went just a tick taller on the gearing to 17/42 (2.47) vs. the stock 2.5 ratio. It didn't make a huge difference, but did knock the rpms down a bit at cruising speed. I was looking to reduce the buzz somewhat at 4-5K rpm.

kneedragger80 wrote:

When I converted to the 530 chain, I went just a tick taller on the gearing to 17/42 (2.47) vs. the stock 2.5 ratio. It didn't make a huge difference, but did knock the rpms down a bit at cruising speed. I was looking to reduce the buzz somewhat at 4-5K rpm.

That'd probably be the route I'd go, cutting down cruising R.P.M.s You probably gained most of any acceleration lost by the higher gearing by not sapping as much power with that huge chain.

Paling1 wrote:

Don't go too small on the frontsprocket, because this will wear out your chain faster.

That's the truth!!! Seen more than one squid on a Gixxer 750 or ZX-6 or such wondering why his parts wear out so fast.