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I just put a new belt in, and it does measure 20mm wide, yet some reason it's not sitting near the top of the rear pulley AT ALL once I get everything assembled and run the bike! It's like a full inch down in there. The belt sat right at the top when I had the clutch off the bike and laid the belt in it. Belt is chinese brand.

It's also pretty tight after I run it then stop...do they stretch a little and go to the top after some miles or something? Or is my contra spring not strong enough to push it all the way up maybe?? I have the stock variator in so this really surprised me.

Here's how it looks, couldn't get a picture because it was about to rain cats and dogs on me.

Just did some more research on gas, octane, etc, and I'm seriously wondering could it be that I'm using too low octane gas and overheating the engine, which is transferring the heat through to the CVT, since they're basically "neighbors"!?

The past 2 weeks I've switched to ethanol-free 87 and have noticed my CVT cover has gotten burning hot again lately, yet in the reverse order - clutch side is now touchable, and the middle and intake (front) side is way too hot to touch. Very strange because clutch has usually been the hottest side. I am wondering if it's simply the gas is pre-detonating slightly or something.. and I say slightly because I don't hear anything obvious. I was told from the shop I bought my bike from, to ALWAYS use premium (93) gas. I never asked why exactly, but I'm thinking there might be a good reason and this might be one of them. My emissions tag on the side says 87 or higher, but at the gas tank under the seat, it's got a sticker that says 90 or higher. Confusing.

I don't hear any loud sounds, but I DO hear a quiet "engine rattle" (different from bike vibration) sound while riding slow or on side streets, and a high pitched rapid dinging sound at idle. The dinging I notice right away when the CVT cover is off and it comes from the variator area, or more like "behind" the variator...and what's there? ENGINE! (at least I think!) I don't believe it's the variator or rollers because I've swapped all that out many times and it always persisted. So I think that sound could be engine pinging. I already adjusted my valves to .004" each a couple months ago.

Taking a ride at nighttime doesn't seem to help the heat at all. I also just did an oil+gear oil change and no help in heat from that either. I'm going to give it some good 93 gas for a few tanks and see how it goes, and hopefully these heat problems are as simple as the gas I've been using!

I'm trying to figure out why I'm going through belts and CVT is getting so hot. I've gone through 3 or 4 belts this year. I was just told to check my variator fan as a cause of the excessive heat in my CVT. I was told the variator fan could be put on backwards and cause heat.. I don't see how that's even possible to put on backwards?? BUT I do have a smaller variator fan about 107mm that comes from my local shop I bought it from. It does NOT seem to be the fan that's usually put on stock scooters! Its fins stick out past the pulley.
(107mm fan) vs (115mm fan)  <-- Pictures

I also have a bigger variator in (Koso 115mm), so they're mismatched in size but seem to be working great performance-wise. I figure mismatch isn't a problem because scooters come with 107mm variators and 115mm fans and are mismatched stock anyway! Mine's just mismatched "backwards." I was wondering though, the Koso variator does not allow the belt to ride to the top of the clutch pulley at idle I guess because of the ramp shape.. so it's almost but not quite like taking off in 2nd gear. I was wondering if that was possibly wearing the belts down too? The main problem is they get THIN quick and they leave tons of belt dust.

I have bought 2 different 115mm fans online and both seem to be cheaply made with weird ramp angles and the 2 holes for using a pulley holding tool are much smaller. Last time I tried the 115mm fan it didn't seem to affect the heat, or at least in how hot the cover got... so I'm not sure what to think... does the bigger fan help at all with cooling? Or possibly do I need to go back to stock variator?

Drilling holes in CVT cover seems to have helped a lot, but I'm not sure if it's enough and afraid to buy another new belt if it's just gonna fry it to death too.

Just wanted to update anyone curious - the new starter fixed it! I'm back on the road again. And wow I haven't heard my bike spin up the starter this good since it was new. It always sounded like I had a half dead battery before when starting up..and all along it was just the starter.

What's interesting is, my old starter allows spinning in BOTH directions. The new starter will only spin forward. I noticed this when spinning the variator fan by hand, I couldn't turn it both directions anymore. My old starter also made "cute plastic gear" noises when I spun the variator... new one is pretty much silent. Just extra info for you all!

I bolded the part that happens. I found a thread of someone with the same issue/symptoms and it ended up being their starter.

I received a new electric starter and will put it in tomorrow. I now 80% believe the starter motor gave out... been wondering about that thing for over a year now. I took the starter off the bike and can manually turn the starter's gear by hand without issue, so it's not jammed, so I think it's just not reacting to the power fed to it.


Is it required to put motor/gear oil on the new starter before installing??


I don't have a multimeter or anyone around that has one. I want to get one and start learning how to use them for next time. Is this one from Harbor Freight good enough for all kinds of testing on the scooter? www.harborfreight.com/7-function-digital-multimeter-69096.html 

Jct, I didn't understand the instructions for jumping..which one is the big terminal? The only jumping I've done was the 2 solenoid poles so I'm new to that. Anyway I've got a small update. Sometimes when I press the starter button it makes a high pitched whine.