1999 Suzuki Marauder VZ800.  I swapped the front from the stock 15 to 17.

I bought it from the Trike shop in Keene.  Those dudes are excellent BTW, I asked if they might rent me a socket big enough because I did not have one myself (33mm) and the dude lent it to me. Of course, he had all my info anyway, but it was cool and unexpected. Kudos to them!

I have never been happy with it on the highway and felt like I was always trying to find another gear (5 speed).  This is my solution; change the ratio.
I have not had time to try it because I had to get back up there and return the socket before they closed.

My friends say I will hate it.  Any real life experiences?

IMO you should have tried 16 first. It would have made a big difference. Though, if first is geared very low on that bike then you'll probably be fine.

That's a big swing. You're going to lose a lot of bottom end.
About the equivalent of dropping 6 teeth in the rear.

I've gone down a tooth or two on almost every bike I've owned. I'll trade buzzing along at highway speeds for better take off.

Seems like a helluva drastic change, but you may either love it or choose to go to a 16t. Fortunately fronts prix are cheap and easy to swap.

How old is your chain and rear sprocket? Asking because if they are old, they should probably go as well.

A.A.R.:

I took it for a ride today.  It operated very well.  I did not lose hardly any first gear.  The bike is torquey enough to overcome a standing start.  Second was a little taller and by the time I shifted it felt like third.  Third was nice for putting down to the corner and stopping in the middle of town.

Forth gear has grown into it's own being.  Before, 4th was kind of in-between.  Now it drives fine up to about 55mph.  Before not quite 50.
I think most of my in-town driving will now be in 4th.

Fifth has turned into a quasi overdrive.  Shift in about 50-55 and it purrs right along.  I was only on rt. 10 so I couldn't go too fast but I did manage to hit 65 and it felt like the old 55.

Chain is midlin', rear sprocket fine.  Even the old front sprocket did not look worn.  I did NOT have to break the chain to get it on, I just pulled the tire all the way forward and muscled it onto the rear. Then fixed the tension/alignment with the adjusters.

While dickin' with getting it on I noticed that the retaining clip on the master link was missing (for how long?) so that was the excuse I used to drive to Keene. I'll drive it as much as I can this week and take it up on the highway to really get a feel for it.

Here is a picture of the beasty from the scavenger hunt thread.

The clip on the master disappeared? Why does that thing not have a riveted clip is my first question.

Safety wire that sucker next time.

A buddy of mine, who was a bike mechanic at a local Harley/Yamaha dealer for over 10 years before he went to border patrol, told me he never liked changing the front sprocket size. He always changed the rear sprocket size instead. His thought was that 2 in the back was about equal to one in the front.

 My .02

Is your speedometer accurate now?  On most bikes changing gears affects it.

 
Probably installed backwards.


Better yet, get some Black Max epoxy and secure the clip with a bead of that...it'll never come loose.

You should be using a rivet type master link on that bike.

And I would have tried a 16 first. But they're cheap so that's still an option if you don't like the 17.

Speedo reads the front tire......

Probably by me.  I had it apart in May when i had the rear tire changed.

 
Happens...clip links aren't nearly as fragile as people make them out to be...race bikes, dirt bikes, thousands of bikes run them (and hard) and don't lose the link. But, proper installation and securing the clip are mandatory if you're gonna run one.

To see what you did and what a 15T or 16T front would do:

Gearingcommander.com

His may, some do not.  My F4i has a sprocket sensor.

 

It does.  You can see the drive cable in the picture.