I am new to this site but been around Hondas since the ATC 70 days(dating myself). I have several 1990 300TRX's and want to convert one machine into a slow puller for freighting stuff into our cabin site. Its a first gear trail, that being almost to fast as it tasks the centrifugal clutch a lot. I have 25 inch tires on the rear/24 inch up front and have been reading up on gear reductions some. If I had just one gear slower that would be awesome. What ratio would I be looking at? Thanks in advance for any suggestions on this!
Which ratio for my application
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there are many reductions available these days for a 300 , I have 54% in a couple of them 54% is a lot , I can take off from a stop in 3rd ------------- I don't know what the smallest reductions ratios are for a 300 , have never tried any other ratio on a 300 except 54% , I do have 15% in my 450 and it is lower but not as dramatic as 54% , building a 450 with 35% right now , have not rode it yet with the 35% ----- you could have a reduction built for you any where from $500-600 and install it yourself
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I would be tempted to go with a 54% gear reduction myself. It may sound a lot and also sound over the top but going faster is easy by shifting up a gear, if an 18% or 32% is not low enough you’ll be kicking yourself.
My old 300 had a 54% and with 25’s was great around the farm yard for towing, usually 2nd or 3rd gear but first was perfect when you were carrying an unsteady load.
My old 300 had a 54% and with 25’s was great around the farm yard for towing, usually 2nd or 3rd gear but first was perfect when you were carrying an unsteady load.
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A 34% will cost you slightly more, I don’t know why...
Try ‘reduction boss’ (Jeremy Lee), Ron Shaw or Don Oglesby. You’ll find them all on Facebook.
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I run several sets made by Jeremy Lee (Reduction Boss Machining here in NC). In my opinion his reductions are second to none. You can find him on facebook or I can send you his contact info if you are not on FB. If this is strictly a slow pulling machine I would probably go with the 34 on stock tires.
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Excellent, great choice of manufacturer too, from what i gather he’s the best in the industry. Look forward to hearing what you think of it once installed
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Great idea. i was thinking that 1st and maybe 2nd would be worthless with stock tires and wheels. 54% would give you less than half of your top speed in high gear...........maybe 20 mph at 6000 rpm's?
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When you send the cores back , be sure to get the washer off the inside back of the primary gear , it will sometimes stick to the gear , if you don't install it on the new primary then you will get a whinning sound , some people say it doesn't matter if you ude the washer or not , some do ----I got 54% in my 92 300 with 27 outlaws and 54% and 54% with 26's on the other and 54% is a bit much , but plans are to up the tire size in the future ---I believe I read RBM recommends 18% with 26's
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Something else I might pass on , I figured out that when you get the reduction , you will be doing more rpm's then what you were use to using , no tach so you don't see it , you can hear it but don't realize it , and you wind up running the bike hard , change your riding style and learn thumb control
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31 mph taken by GPS with a Ricks CDI was what I got top end.
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Wow, That's much faster than I would guess. So the top speed is 63 MPH with stock gearing? We are talking about 54% reduction correct?
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Maybe he is talking kilometers per hour ----- I need to clock my 300's and see what they will do , every ride I take in the woods I have a GPS on the handle bars and never once I have looked at the speed , with my bad eyes I wonder if I even could see it while running wide open
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You are forgetting that changing tire size will effectively change your final ratio as well. A top speed of 31MPH with a 54 and 28-30” tire is a lot different than what the top speed would be on stock 23/24” tires and that same 54% GR.
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Generally speaking fish anything above a 31” tyre is 72% reduction and up to pull tyres in all conditions. If your water riding in that sloppy peat bog stuff I’d say 31’s but even then you may well get bogged down.
Interested to hear @mac102004 opinion.
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I wouldn’t run anything bigger than 30’s with a 35%, even then with an aggressive enough tire you’ll find mud that will stop the tires. 53% is about ideal for 30-31’s, maybe 32’s depends on stock engine or not and again, how bad the mud is. 33’s I’d be running a 69% for sure. I know someone makes a 100% GR for them, so if you really want to be sure 33’s aren’t going to stop moving....
Of course with the right engine mods you can make up for the gearing or lack thereof. Big bore kit, mild stroker, cam, port and polish, all that fun stuff....probably get away with that 35% and 33’s.
It would sure be nice if guys would start focusing a little more on portals or even planetary reductions at the wheels on the Honda’s, 300 and Foreman’s alike. Big GR’s in the motor are putting a lot more stress on the transmission, diffs, axles etc. Moving that reduction as far as possible down the driveline really helps save a lot of components further up. I think with that’s currently available on the market if I wanted a big lift and GR for some 33” or larger tires I’d be looking very hard at adapting some of the current off the shelf portal boxes onto a Honda. Of course the Renegade they already sell boxes for.
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Of course with the right engine mods you can make up for the gearing or lack thereof. Big bore kit, mild stroker, cam, port and polish, all that fun stuff....probably get away with that 35% and 33’s.
It would sure be nice if guys would start focusing a little more on portals or even planetary reductions at the wheels on the Honda’s, 300 and Foreman’s alike. Big GR’s in the motor are putting a lot more stress on the transmission, diffs, axles etc. Moving that reduction as far as possible down the driveline really helps save a lot of components further up. I think with that’s currently available on the market if I wanted a big lift and GR for some 33” or larger tires I’d be looking very hard at adapting some of the current off the shelf portal boxes onto a Honda. Of course the Renegade they already sell boxes for.
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