Now I am fortunate enough to have two twins in the shed I have been thinking about gearing/final drive. I have always had a 48T rear sprocket on my B Rapide and I like it. It gives a useable 1st gear around town, roundabouts and hairpins plus a nice 70 mph cruising. My Shadow has the intermediate (high) 1 st gear and the 48T rear sprocket helps around town but still gives a comfortable 80-90 mph cruising, At the moment I am not sure if it is 7.3:1 or 8:1 compression. Both bikes have their "rough" spots; the Rapide at 75mph and the Shadow at 70 mph. My question is; should I play with the gearbox sprocket or go 5 speed?? Big difference in cost and in reality, anything over 75 mph in Australia is going to lose my licence. However, I hit a big headwind on the last ride and top gear @70 mph gave a mpg of 38 mpg on the Rapide. If I had held 3rd I would have had high revs and low throttle with probably same result. The Shadow is definitely stri=onger than the Rapide but in Australia it is a matter of mpg with the great distances between fuel stations. Any input is welcomed.