17T front sprocket installed with new chain. The 42T rear sprocket is still on the way, might take a while.
I didn't get the rubber cushioned sprocket, so it is a little louder.
There really is a ton of room for front sprockets on this bike. Even the 17T has plenty of room. An 18T would probably fit.
This is the closest hard part to the chain, at the closest it will ever get, as long as it isn't loose. As I discovered when reassembling it, the closest thing to the chain is not a hard part, but the cable for the sidestand switch. I ziptied it to another cable to help keep it further away, but I don't know how well it is working.
As far as riding impressions, I like it! The tach shows roughly a 500 RPM drop at 45 MPH. I can use 4th gear at neighborhood speeds, but I have to be careful to not drop below 25 MPH or it gets too rattly. Haven't gone on the highway yet, but it should be much the same, a more pleasant and less buzzy experience. Dropping below 2200 indicated in higher gears results in rattling, the rattling is a little more prominent now that the gearing is taller, so the load is higher for the same RPM. Pulling away from a stop is just fine with the taller gearing. Low speed traffic will suck i'm sure though.
My brother's SV can get away with lower RPM before being rattly, so i'll have to check out the chain tension on that bike and compare it to mine. Maybe mine needs a throttle body sync or something. Hopefully the DL650 cams and velocity stacks will improve low RPM rideability.
Gearingcommander.com says the 17/45 will be at 4512 RPM at 70 MPH, which is already lower than my dad's VFR 800 which does 4820 at 70. The 17/45 setup is 11.76% taller, and the 17/42 will be 17.64% taller.