im thinking about changing to a 520 conversion for my 98 srad 750 -1 (fnt) +1 (rear). i bought the bike used and theres a 525 set up on it now. 44 tooth rear sprocket and a 16 tooth up front. does the bike come with that set up from the factory, or has it been modified?? thanks for the feedback! http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

That's the stock set up,525/44 rear/16 front.

Yes, gear reduction stock on a 98 GSX-R750W is 16 front and 44 rear. They did come with a 525 chain that year also so is it possible it's still the original factory chain? How many miles are on the bike? I've done the 520 conversion on mine and went to an aluminum rear sprocket. It does lighten up the rotaing mass quite alot but you sacrafice longevity on the rear sprocket. The steel rear will last MUCH longer. I replace my rear about every year and a half or so.

yes, i ordered the kit from sprocketcenter.com and got the black anodized RRP sprocket. its light as a feather and they say it's suppose to last a bit longer because of the anodizing. the bike has 14k miles on it, and the chain is maxed out so i decided to do the conversion. looks like it is the stock set up because its a 525 16 tooth up front and 44 in the rear. thanks for the info... http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Everyone does this 520 conversion but I think it's a massive waste of time and money unless you need to find 1/10th second on the track. The aluminium rear sprocket was absolutely rooted at 10,000 km and the chain was a shot duck about 3,000km before that but I held on as long as possible before I changed back to a 525 setup with a steel front and rear. I know everyone is going to say the top spec 520 have higher tensile strength etc, but in my experience they just don't seem to cut the grass compared to the 525. And there must be a trade off somewhere in the chain for the light mass not just being the width. People will also say it wasn't maintained etc but it was and all dealers, shops etc I spoke to told me to go back to 525 unless I was racing or wanted to replace chains and sprockets regularly.
I would recommend going +3 in the rear if you can find a sprocket cause I've ridden a 98 750 with that setup but couldn't get bigger than 46 tooth from my shop in steel.