Upgrade Plan for Stock 2001 Elite S (SA50P)

[Thyrus]

Hi Everyone!

I bought a great running EliteS from my old housemate and am looking to spruce it up a bit. I mostly use it to commute to work and it's a bit of a climb (~300 meters) and the MPH drops from 35 to 25-30 depending on the grade. Ideally I'd like to get the bike to maintain 35MPH going uphill so that I don't have to pull over into the bike lane and wave people past.

I've read several posts here but am a little unclear on the "best path" to follow in terms of incremental upgrades/improvements to the bike.

1. Replace the Variator. This seems to be the first upgrade people recommend for these bikes although I am unsure as to what roller weight I'm looking for. A "high-speed" variator I found on ebay has 9-gram roller weights but I feel like I read somewhere on the forums that for an Sa50P i want 7-gram weights so clarification on that would be great. It looks like I can even skip "upgrading" the variator and just remove the restrictor plate or is that as much of an improvement?

2. I'm not exactly sure on what the best "second step" is. User graphite9 has stated that the next thing to do is swap out the gears although I'm not sure exactly what gears I'm looking for and to upjet the MJ to a 78. I'm guessing along with this step I should drill out the exhaust restriction washer.

3. If i can get the bike to low 40s consistently and can maintain 35+ uphill then I'll probably be happy with it at that point, but if I still want more power I guess I can more research into getting a BBK. Not too sure what else to look into.

I'm pretty new to all this so if someone has guides or links to any of the above mods that would be really appreciated.
Cheers!

[Ben L.]

Polini vari with the weights that come with, 9:1 gears, Malossi 72cc cast iron kit and upper 80's main jet. I'm running mid 50's and have no problem going 40+ up the steepest hills around here.

[maddog]

stock derestriction with stock gears and you will climb any hill even at 400 lbs !