I mean with the longer gearing you have to keep the revs up and if the revs drop too much in say 3rd going around a corner instead of shifting to second then straight back to 3rd you gotta clutch it, with the shorter gearing I could stay in 3rd for ages and never have to downshift or clutch it, when I slowed down the bike would easily rev back up.
when shifting quickly through the gears it's hard to keep the front down without putting your weight on the front end. a sprocket's only like $20, I'd just get one and see how it goes, I was riding with 15/37 just the other day and I hated it, there's just not enough length between gear changes and sucks for wide open cruising