Variator teardown and inspection

[timk225]

Scooter : Jonway YY250T / Viva MP250RO / Honda Reflex clone.

I tried a few weeks ago to get the variator nut off with an air wrench and propane torch but was unsuccessful. This time, with a different air wrench, and a lot of hitting it with the air wrench, swearing at it, using a hammer and ratchet, propane torch again, and more creative swearing, I finally found the right combination of swear words to get the nut loose, calling into question the ancestry, ethics, personality traits, and sexual preferences of the Honda engineers who designed the scooter first, then the Chinese thieves who copied the scooter I have.

Then the nut came off, and there appreaed to be no loctite on it, it was just on REALLY TIGHT!

So once inside it, and having taken off the O ring sealed rear cover, I cleaned out the thin black Chinese grease and cleaned the rollers and other internal parts.

The 6 roller weights had 3 wear patterns. 2 with no noticeable flat spots, 2 with flat spots about 1/4" across, and 2 with flat spots about 3/8" across.

After a light but complete regreasing with Valvoline wheel bearing grease, I reinstalled the weights in pairs, with each pair across from each other, to help ensure the smoothest possible operation.

I also took apart the rear centrifigual clutch and gave the friction pads and metal bell friction surfaces a light sanding with 60 grit sandpaper. Just enough to take the glaze off.

It seems to work differently now, I hope better. Hitting the throttle hard off a stoplight will rev the engine to 4500-5000 rpms pretty quickly, by which time I'm up to nearly 30 mph, then the rpms hold steady while the speed goes from 30-55 mph.

[silas]

Thanks for the idea. My YY250T has 1000 miles on it, and has only been operational for about four months out of it's three year life span. This would probably be good preventative maintenance.

Silas

[timk225]

My gas mileage has dropped from the increased engine rpms since the variator work. What used to be 66 mpg is now 62. WTF.

[cpete1]

Now that the drive system is working better, maybe you are driving different. Your description says, "hitting the throttle hard". I put a jet kit in my big bike(V-star 1100) and the mileage went to sh_t at first. The power increase was so much so, that I was into it all the time. Things got back to normal after I drove for a while. Give it a chance and see what happens. Did you lube the clutch when you had it apart also ?
Chris

[timk225]

No lube on the centrifugal clutch assembly, I just gave the friction pads a light sanding.

This tank of gas I'm going to try and keep it down to 50 mph, which is about 4500 rpm on the Chinese quality tachometer. We'll see what kind of mileage I get that way.

[timk225]

I did a pretty good job of keeping the speed down to 50. Mileage increased from 60.5 mpg all the way up to 61.1 mpg. What the hell.

Where did my mileage go?

[macktheknife]

You gave it away when you said wheel bearing grease. This is not the prefered grease to use in fact with certain rollers or sliders you need no grease at all. The wheel bearing grease is thick and gummy and the weights are not responding quickly enough to lower RPM's. They need to move instanly with more throttle and it's taking more rpm to move them in your variator thus killing your gas mileage. More engine work equal less mileage.

At most a very thin coating of good quality lithium grease is all that's needed.