650 v star gearing

[wessolbuf1]

does anyone know if they make a diifrent ring and pinion gear for the 650s or possiably a taller 5th gear any suggestions would be nice I am trying to get the RPMs down a little bit while at crusing speed.

[DrBob]

Sadly, chenging the gear ratio on a shaft drive motorcycle is not as easy as swapping the ring and pinion on the rear end of a car, as the ring gear also has to mate up with your rear wheel splines, making these parts model-specific. Hell, Yamaha doesn't even sell the STOCK gears as replacement parts- you have to buy the entire drive unit already assembled.
I know of no one who makes a different drive unit with a different gear ratio, nor have I found anyone who has made the final drive from a different model fit.

You'd pobably be better off looking into a 5th gear mod. Changing the final drive ratio would put the motor below its power band, and the 650 is not exactly a powerhouse now, so acceleration would really suffer. But a different 5th gear would only change the engine RPM at highway speeds. If you can get a spare 5th gear you could probably get a machine shop to make you one with a touch of overdrive for a few hundred bucks, or maybe find one from another model that will do the same thing. For example, you can swap the 5th gear from an Intruder 1500LC/ C90 into an Intruder 1400/ S83 and lower your RPM significantly in high gear. There may be a Yamaha model with similar compatability.