Cross-country racing is brutal on men, women, and machine. Sustaining eye-popping speed through dirt, mud, sand, rocks, and water for seemingly endless periods of time is nothing short of the survival of the fittest. Especially for a bike’s drivetrain.
You see, a bike’s sprockets and chain don’t naturally like dirt, mud, sand, and water anywhere near as much as those of us who like riding through it all. Those gritty elements act like sandpaper, creating drag and quickly eating away at the vital (and sometimes costly) parts that put power to the ground. All of that gunk acts like an accelerated wear test of your bike and wallet.
Pure torture. The ultimate proving ground for a motorcycle’s drive system might just be cross-country competition. No other form of racing punishes the components the way cross country does. Take the top riders in the world and have them wring out a bike over a long, unrelenting course through the most severe terrain. Then have them repeat the tortuous circuit lap after brutal lap. And just when you think they’re through, they go screaming into yet another lap. Wicked fun. But also wicked torture on equipment.
Pure genius. Some engineers at Sunstar had an interesting take on all of this. They knew it would take an ultra-tough material to stand up to the punishment of racing—especially cross-country racing. So, they developed a stainless-steel rear sprocket that not only wears like a superhero’s shield, it also doesn’t rust. It’s three times more durable than a standard mild-steel steel sprocket and as much as eight times more durable than aluminum. Oh, and it’s about 50% lighter than a standard steel sprocket.
Okay, that’s cool. But that isn’t even the best part. These engineering wizards also designed it to be self-cleaning. Yep, you read that right. After all, if dirt, mud and sand can’t stick to your sprocket and build up like chunky peanut butter on your chain, then those elements can’t destroy your drivetrain so easily. The end product? It’s known as the Sunstar Works-Z Steel rear sprocket and it may be the one sprocket that can single-handedly stand up to the cruel and unusual punishment known as cross-country competition.
Zig when others zag. One of the real breakthroughs in the Works-Z Steel rear sprocket is the innovative design. Conventional sprockets have perfectly aligned gear teeth, just as sprockets have had since the dawn of time and sprocket making. But the Sunstar Works-Z Steel rear sprocket has a unique offset sprocket tooth design that efficiently channels all of that unwelcome dirt and grime out and away from the sprocket teeth … and away from the chain. That little zig-zag means less drag. It also means less grinding dirt friction and longer drivetrain life. For the cross-country racer, that can mean the difference between getting on the podium and getting a participation award.
A winning combination. The ideal combo for competition or serious off-road play may be the Works-Z Steel rear sprocket matched with other premium Sunstar drivetrain components such as the Sunstar Powerdrive countershaft sprocket and the Sunstar 520XTG Works TripleGuard sealed off-road chain. With that setup, riders can roost away all day in the dirt, mud, and sand without worrying about tearing up their equipment like they might with conventional components.
Check out the Sunstar Works-Z Steel sprocket and other high-performance drivetrain components for your machine at sunstar-braking.com. Need help selecting the right parts for your needs? Hey, just ask!