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Belt loose, belt issues?

Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 6:48 pm
by rboarderi
I think that my belt is too loose I just want all of your opinions. I took off the two belt covers this afternoon and it was filled with a lot of belt dust, this was all just cleaned out when I installed my variator less than 100 miles ago. When idling the scooter with the covers off the belt kept slapping the top and bottom of the case (possibly why there is so much belt dust?). I also feel like I have recently lost some top end speed even though I just installed a 72cc cast Malossi kit. This belt only has like 300 miles on it and is already at 15mm which is honda's minimum width. I am running a naraku variator up front and an oem honda belt. I used the honda drive boss with the new variator because the naraku boss seemed too long. Should I have used it? Could that possibly be why it is so loose? I don't remember the belt being this loose when I installed the new variator. Any help is much appreciated...as most of you know I have a 94 elite.

Re: Belt loose, belt issues?

Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 7:05 pm
by paulpauly7
check out your rear pully it doesnt look like its fully closed .Maybe a calapsed spring ?.

Re: Belt loose, belt issues?

Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 8:16 pm
by Wheelman-111
Greeting:

Worn spring or belt has become too narrow. Once it starts to thin, the wear accelerates. Just try a new belt, and/or measure the spring pressure to collapse an inch with a bathroom scale.

Re: Belt loose, belt issues?

Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 8:56 pm
by rboarderi
The spring is definitely good, I just checked, even took off the driven face just to double check. It has good pressure and seems to work very well. This scooter has less than 800 miles total so I wouldn't think the spring has gone bad already. The rear pulley had a bit of surface rust on it so the only thing I can think is that the rust was quickly wearing away at the belt. I just lightly sanded it off then wetsanded it as well. Maybe I just need a new belt, what do you think? Here is a video of the belt bouncing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXHb2ad ... qzOi7NBx6g

Re: Belt loose, belt issues?

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 7:57 am
by Wheelman-111
Greetings:

Accurately Measure the width of the belt. It should be over 15mm for an S transmission. 18 for ZX.

Re: Belt loose, belt issues?

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 12:15 pm
by rboarderi
The belt is at 15 mm right now. It is definitely not a ruckus belt. I bought this belt brand new from Honda, double checked the part number before and after receiving it. It has about 300 miles on it which is why I'm surprised it's like this already. The only reason I checked the belt it because I was hitting 50mph no problem with just gears and a variator a week ago and now with a BBK I am only hitting low 40's even though my take off is super quick. I have a new belt on the way so hopefully that will fix it...

Re: Belt loose, belt issues?

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 12:37 pm
by rboarderi
I guess I'll check the spring again tonight, the manual says the service limit is 92.8mm. When I checked last night it was nice and tight and was compressing the pulley well. Would a bad spring still compress both sides of the pulley with a good amount of force? A bad spring would not explain the large amount of belt dust in the case and fast deterioration of the belt from 18mm to 15mm over a hundred miles though. I'm really wondering if the very slight patch of rust on the driven face was wearing it down rapidly?

Re: Belt loose, belt issues?

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 1:23 pm
by cruzingratiot
when you take off the rear spring
take apart the rear pulleys
the grease could be dry and holding the pulleys from moving properly

Re: Belt loose, belt issues?

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 4:38 pm
by rboarderi
I have the clutch and pulley assembly taken off of the back of the bike but I am not going to remove the spring. The spring is very tight and isn't sticky or stuck like it had dried grease. The spring has definitely not collapsed and is moving very well. Since it appears to be working just fine I'm going to leave it the way it is.

Re: Belt loose, belt issues?

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 5:11 pm
by paulpauly7
couldnt hurt to remove the spring and the tourqe plate and regrease it remeber that grease is 20 something years old

Re: Belt loose, belt issues?

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 5:13 pm
by rboarderi
I'm actually an idiot. I measured last night 15/32 not 15 mm. The belt is actually a little less than 12 mm. A belt that narrow would definitely be my problem, right? Now it's just blowing my mind how it went from close to 18 mm to less than 12 mm over a course of 100 miles or so. Could the little tiny patch of rust on the driven face actually where the belt down that much? I wonder if my new variator is making the belt ride higher than it did previously and the belt is getting up to when area on the driven face that it never touched before, that's the part that had the rust. It's all cleaned up now so hopefully when I get my new belt everything works good.

Re: Belt loose, belt issues?

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 6:26 pm
by bonesv
Try using the magic marker trick to measure belt travel on both the variator and opposing drive pulley. Put lines on the inner and outer area with a magic marker. The belt will wear off the area it travels in. Then replace any parts that are suspect.

Re: Belt loose, belt issues?

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 11:42 pm
by Wheelman-111
Greetings:

If this is an S transmission and you bought a ZX vario, you must use the stock pulley boss, not the one that came with the new Variator. Compare and see.

Re: Belt loose, belt issues?

Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2014 7:45 am
by rboarderi
I'm using the stock boss, the aftermarket boss was too long.

Re: Belt loose, belt issues?

Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2014 9:39 am
by LMH
Don't forget that 4t gy6 varios and their bosses work on our engine.