I keep getting told to do a 520 chain conversion, but what does this actually give me? Also, will changing the gearing have any effect on electronic wizardry on the bike, would like to go up a couple of teeth on the rear just to have a bit more response at lower speeds.
520 is simply a thinner, lighter chain. If you keep the sprocket sizes the same, there’s no change to the “gearing”. in truth, unless it’s track only and you are happy to do more maintenance/adjusting, then for the road there’s no real benefit. A 520, although a little lighter, is inherently weaker than the 525 stock chain. If you did swap, you’d also need 520 sprockets and that would mean switching the rear to a carrier based setup like Renthal or Afam as the stock arrangement isn’t available in 520.
Yeah all track miles for me. Ok thanks, can’t be bothered to change the carrier so will stick to 525 and just change the rear sprocket.
If you’re just looking at a gearing change, you have maybe 2 teeth to play with unless you fit a longer chain. 1 tooth off the front is the easiest and cheapest. You’d still need a carrier setup to move from the stock rear size.
Joe for whats its worth,this was my experience. Like you i wanted to change the gearing as I found them a touch too long for the roads I ride etc.. I noted that the stock Ducati chain is not the best quality by far. I went up two teeth in the rear using the OEM sprocket from the Pani R. I have the S model. It was a direct swap no mods needed. At the same time I took the opportunity to get a quality chain. I chose DID X Ring. Others will have other preferences. I did not go 520 conversion. What I can say is, I still check my chain once a week and it needs adjusting maybe once every two months, sometimes longer periods. The stock one was no where near as good. I ride 1299 Pani S.
520 gearing (the sprockets) are easier to come by. but honestly you won’t notice a thing on a v4 in terms of performance for having a thinner chain the stock Ducati chains and most oem chains are usually crap tbf. I ran 520 on my race bike because of the above. It was easier to get gearing. just whatever you do, run the best chain you can justify/afford. I recommend tsubaki
