36 tooth rear sprocket on 860 GT?

confusa · Post by **confusa** » Sun Oct 10, 2010 9:49 am

Looking at the service records that came with my 860 I see that a previous owner changed the rear sprocket to a 36 tooth version. Why would they have done that? What benefits or drawbacks would that have?

wdietz186 · Post by **wdietz186** » Sun Oct 10, 2010 9:03 pm

The PO likely did it to lower the rpm at highway speeds.As delivered in the US, Ducati saw fit to put 40t rear sprockets on to satisfy the american lust for low 1/4 mile times but that meant the revs at 60 were over 4000rpm,that made for busy interstate cruising and the rider searching for a 6th gear.The 860 has plenty of torque and will pull the 36t with no problem.

Post by **BevHevSteve** » Sun Oct 10, 2010 10:02 pm

Ow many teeth are on the front sprocket?

confusa · Post by **confusa** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 8:06 am

BevHevSteve wrote:Ow many teeth are on the front sprocket?

I don't see anything in the records indicating it was changed so I have to assume it is stock. I will need to check though. Should it have been swapped?

wdietz186 wrote: The PO likely did it to lower the rpm at highway speeds.As delivered in the US, Ducati saw fit to put 40t rear sprockets on to satisfy the american lust for low 1/4 mile times but that meant the revs at 60 were over 4000rpm,that made for busy interstate cruising and the rider searching for a 6th gear.The 860 has plenty of torque and will pull the 36t with no prob

I would assume the change would give poorer around town riding? I have always thought the bike could use more pickup in the low range but maybe that isn't related. I do mostly city riding.

Post by **BevHevSteve** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 8:10 am

to answer your original question, we would need to also know the front sprocket info, to see if that was changed or remained the same.

Once we know the #of teeth in the front, then we can calculate the ratio and make a recommendation. It is a straight forward thing although the answer might be different as to what type of riding you might want to do, and, how the bike feels to you presently..