49cc TaoTao Scooter Clutch Issue. Need Help By terrigno (Read 5,011 times)

[terrigno]

He told me I can bring it back after a couple of weeks to change something.

[terrigno]

The Roller weight is 5grams. And it has a flat spot. You think he installed heavier ones in there?

I might just have to go back to him and tell him that these rollers are 5grams and these lighter ones need to be installed back in there. That actually is what makes the difference? I can buy them since there cheap and try to install them. But since he charged me that amount, I might just have to scoot to Raleigh and have him do it and change the rollers since that is what was in there in the first place. I don't want to do more work since I paid him $110 to do everything already. I don't think he changed the actual clutch since he didn't give that back to me, just the variator and said it was the clutch. I mean these guys sell these things and fix them and have all parts for them to. So I don't see why he wouldn't realize this difference? I'm not understanding that. He said to give it maybe 2 weeks. If it still seems the same, to come back and he will change something. But would changing that out actually need time for it to break in and go quicker? I mean it seems slower now and revs lower also. Is that normal to let something like that break in?

[Alleyoop]

Are you telling me the rollers in there are 5 grams and they have flat spots?? your not making any sense. OR ARE YOU SAYING THE OLD ROLLERS HAD FLAT SPOTS.

Well he is giving you a lot of BS about a couple of weeks for whatever to break in(HAHA). The only thing that would need to wear a little would be a new belt other than that the Variator and Clutch do not need to break in.
You install them and should notice good or bad right off the bat.

So when you say slower how much slower on the SPEEDO?

[terrigno]

Yes. lol I'm saying a couple of the old rollers had flat spots. I took one out from the messed up variator and just weighed it. Its the old one, it says 5 grams.

So I would need 5 gram rollers to have the speeds I had before? I am going to assume that the new variator and rollers he installed are heavier rollers right?

I can notice that the speed has dropped a bit. I can hear it by the rev, even though I don't have a tach to prove it. I'm going to say around 5-10mph difference I am noticing.

[Alleyoop]

just so you know a STOCK 50cc tao tao does maybe 30-32 at best to get to 35 and near 40mph you need a BIG BORE KIT to up the displacement by at least 20ccs.
So your probably loosing a couple mph at best no where near 5-10mph I would say maybe 2 mph at most if the weights are to heavy and is causing some lose of rpms.

[terrigno]

So maybe what your saying is this is another issue? Because its not reving the way it used to. It seems to be riding in a lower rpm then it was before. I have an exhaust on it. And it seems like its not as throaty aa it was before. So roller weights don't make that much of a difference?

[terrigno]

I have a changed spark plug in there. NGK. Would it make a difference if its not as tightly installed?

[Alleyoop]

No, plugs, CDIs and Coils do nothing for speed and don't believe anyone that sells you that piece of BS.
The weights will cause lower rpms and lose of top end.
Just so you know
Weights:
Rollers = 1 gram heavier you will loose 500-600 rpms.
1 gram lighter you will gain 500-600 rpms.
Sliders = 1 Gram up or down your rpms will change by 200-350.

So if the weights were 5 grams before and he installed 6 gram you lost 500-600 rpms if he installed 7 gram weights you lost about 1000 rpms that is a lot.
Remember RPMS turns the Variator and turns the Clutch, so less RPMS less top end more rpms a little more top end.

[terrigno]

Oh man. Thank you for the notes. Now I'm learning. He had to install heavier rollers cause the RPMs are down. I can hear it and I feel it. It's like one constant hum throughout the whole range. Should I just buy lighter 5gram rollers or go back and tell dude to swap them?

[Alleyoop]

You want to know what gram weights are currently in there. So I would take the variator off and get 1 roller weighed. If you guys do not have a scale that can weigh in grams take one roller to the post office and ask them if they would weigh the roller. That way you will know exactly which gram weights to buy you may need 2 gram lighter or 1 1/2 gram lighter now that you know what a gram will do with the rpms you can tune your cvt to your liking. You can also buy a performance Variator which is larger in Diameter than what is on there.
Remember a larger wheel will turn a smaller wheel more times.

So a bigger Variator the belt can climb higher and create a bigger wheel and thereby turn the Clutch more times for a little more top end.
You can measure your Variator across and see what the diameter is and maybe get one a little bigger in diameter. Then you can again play with the weights to find the weights that will get the belt to climb as high as possible on the bigger variator for more top end speed.
Alleyoop

[terrigno]

Man Thank you so much for your responses. Its really helping me learn more about the scooter. I feel like calling the guy up when he opens and telling him this. I don't want to have to open it up right now because the symptoms you describe are pointing to heavier weights in the variator. I do have a scale, I weighed one of the weights I have and it is 5 grams. I feel like calling him and asking him if he has 5 gram weights and to put those in there instead of what is in there now. That should be covered and I shouldn't have to pay a dime. Learning all of this, I can see that I can do these things myself. But I paid a pretty penny from error on my end of not being educated about this. So I want to get my money worth lol. I should go ahead and get new rollers anyway since there cheap and probably a better and bigger variator, I guess off of ebay. Is there a specific type you would recommend? I just don't want to put something that's crap on there and make it any worse or cheap. This is my mode of transportation so I don't need cheap things bogging it down. The TaoTao was cheap enough lol

[terrigno]

Alright. So I called the guy up and this is what he said. He said that he put 7gram weights in there. He said the lower the gram weights, the quicker they will break. He said maybe 1000 miles the 5 gram weights would eventually break again. He said the heavier gram weights last longer. I didn't know that with changing the weights that would be something that has to be done all the time just to keep the scooter running right. Does that make sense? He doesn't have the 5 gram weights in stock, which are the ones that came on the scooter. He said if I got a cheap pair on ebay that he can install them for free. But I would eventually want to learn the process of doing that myself which I got some videos that show how to remove the variator nut (which is the tricky part) and the rest is pretty easy from what I see. Does that sound about right with the variator weights? Isnt there lighter weights that are durable quality that will last a lot longer and stronger?

[Alleyoop]

Dr. Pulley weights are the best they are made out of quality material and will last much longer than the other ones that you can pick up for 10 bucks or so.
So you can see if he has 7 gram weights in there you are down about 1000 rpms which is a lot.
So if you get 5 gram weights your rpms will go up 1000 and you will have more power.

You need to get an IMPACT WRENCH so you can take the Variator and Clutch nuts off when you need to. Also other nuts on the scooter will be much easier to take off as well.
For the price the shop is going to charge you to do these simple things you can get your own tool to do it yourself.
Here is a good one and cheap and a 20% off coupon to boot don't forget to get the sockets.

www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=electric+impact+wrench

20% Coupons:
www.coupons.com/coupon-codes/harborfreight.com/?utm_expid=87900937-26.L5HLq-3tRDW32dT82rP1lA.0&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com

[terrigno]

Man. Thanks for that reply. My fad has all the tools here at the garage and I'm going to make sure that I do this install. I got these 5gram ones off eBay. But ill also look foe the name you mentioned. It really is a lot. The power loss is horrible for what I'm experiencing. Going up a hill was at like 10-15 miles mph. I felt like I could walk faster then that. So you have the best video that shows exactly how to take that variator off? I took the clutch off before. But I wont need to mess with the rear clutch. Just the from pully right?

[Alleyoop]

Here you go a 50cc CVT JUST LIKE YOURS changing the weights: