Variator questions...

[spreeinkc]

I finally got my bbk, v8 pipe, ct manifold, carbon reeds, 24mm carb, and 9:1 gears all installed on my elite and I love it! It makes riding so much better when you don't have to worry about getting ran over because you can't keep up. Anyway so I was thinking about anything else I might do and remembered variators. I did get a cheaper one off ebay last year, a Keli I think. It made a little difference but not much so then I picked up a couple Ruckus variators and again they made a difference but nothing huge. (although they were all stock at the time, swapped them around between my aero, se50, and sa50) So my question is should I get a better quality variator or are they all pretty similar? I also remember seeing somewhere they were talking about getting a different ramp plate but I can't remember what kind they were talking about. Thanks

[Crash]

I use the sef ramp plate.

[Wheelman-111]

Greetings:

The Polini-for-Ruckus is pretty hard to beat. I haven't used the Malossi, but based on comparisons between the top end products I'd expect it to be at least as good. The Polini uses its own bespoke ramp plate. SEFs and others can be modified to work but are very stiff in the Polini casting if used as-is. The For-Ruckus Polini measures 94mm at the rim, an increase in Overdrive of almost 10% compared to stock. With your 9:1 gears - which are a bit short for a big-block - that can make a pretty big difference.

See if RedEft has/can get one. Should be not that much more than the Keli + Ramp Plate + shipping x2.

[spreeinkc]

Did you have to grind any of the case to make it fit? I already had to take a little off mine for the Ruckus variator to fit.

[spreeinkc]

Cool. I'll probably go with Polini on my modded elite. Might try a couple of the SEF ramp plates on my SE50 and Aero. Where is the best place to get those at?

[W8kbrder]

Greetings:

The Polini-for-Ruckus is pretty hard to beat. I haven't used the Malossi, but based on comparisons between the top end products I'd expect it to be at least as good. The Polini uses its own bespoke ramp plate. SEFs and others can be modified to work but are very stiff in the Polini casting if used as-is. The For-Ruckus Polini measures 94mm at the rim, an increase in Overdrive of almost 10% compared to stock. With your 9:1 gears - which are a bit short for a big-block - that can make a pretty big difference.

See if RedEft has/can get one. Should be not that much more than the Keli + Ramp Plate + shipping x2.

I have roughly the same setup except my variator is a Prodigy. Am I understanding you correctly when you say a Polini variator meant for a Ruckus can be used in the Elite...without having to modify anything?

Also you mention that 9:1 gears are a bit too short for a BBK....what gear ratio do you recommend and what brand?

[Wheelman-111]

Greetings:

Stock Elite variator is about 87.5mm as I recall. (I haven't seen a stock one in almost 5 years, but that's what I remember.) So if you run a 94mm, it'll be about 3mm closer to the starter housing. (R =D/2) This means you may need to die-grind a little Aluminum to make some room.

9:1s may be tall enough for the high-revving Corsa, but big-bores that don't rev as high will run out of legs before they run out of power. I'm running 8.44s in the Fab, and I believe it would be a bit faster with 8:1s. The torque curve is just falling off as I reach the 10,500 Plateau, and if it had a little taller gears, I think it could use them. The variator compensates somewhat, but you really do want the variator to max out and hit top speeds as the RPMs reach the Best Power zone.

[spreeinkc]

That reminds me of another question. Should you run a slightly larger belt if your using a larger diameter variator?

And just fyi I did have to grind a little off of mine and that was just to get the stock ruckus variator to fit. I'm not sure what the diameter is on the stock variators.

So when getting and aftermarket one do you get one for an elite or for a ruckus?

Griphite9 are yours stock or aftermarket?

[Wheelman-111]

Greetings:

My rear pulley is the considerably larger ZX item which requires a belt that is both wider and longer. With a modest upgrade in variator diameter alone, a stock belt or one of RedEft's Malossi-for-S Transmissons works fine. If you go Really Big on the variator, there is a chance that a stock-length belt will be pulled so far around the front pulley rims that it could bottom out on the clutch shaft and break. In that case, the Malossi "Special" belt which is a few mm longer than 641 would surely be well advised.

[spreeinkc]

So will the aftermarket Ruckus variator fit the elite's or do you have to get one specifically for the elite?

[spreeinkc]

So far I prefer the heavier ones. Even after modifying my elite I still run the stock (9g I think) weights. Anything lighter doesn't feel as fast. On accel or top end. I even put some heavier Honda weights in my zuma b/c I didn't like the way it felt.