Grease packed variators...

[eliteguy50]

Was this a performance trend back in the day or why did they pack the variator with grease?

[turtle13]

i believe the idea was to minimize roller wear through lubrication.
i think all it does is make everything messy....

[z50r-ghost]

good question.... o.g. Hawaii guys chime in anytime.

later, j

[sum-azn-kid]

well i aint no O.G. since im a noob but i DONT do that and dont know people who do. inside the trans cover/case there is soo much crap fromt he belt, when the belt wears down it makes dust. if you have grease in the vari the dust will stick to it and f' stuff up. every time i open my trans cover up i clean out the case, with a old paint brush and compressed air. thats jsut my 2 cents. bakaracer should chime in he's an old school rida.

[burnt_toast]

dry lube graphite grease is supposed to work best. goal to minimize friction, reduce wear, increase longevity

other forms or liquid grease just burn up upon heatup

personally never tried it yet, but can surely experiment and find out, will post results in my blog

[Wheelman-111]

Greetings:

The early scooters had an o-ringed cover to contain the high-temp grease. Evidently Honda-san didn't trust the self-lubricating properties of the rollers at first. The later Elites did away with the grease cover, evidently without a penalty in variator performance or longevity. Perhaps it's better for the rollers to, uh... roll, than to have them sliding around in old grease that seldom gets replaced.

One trick for all to consider is to file the sharp edges off the ramp plates. The knife-edge that's found there seems to like to "shave" the rollers whenever they travel to the rim. Just an easy kiss with a stone to round off has reduced roller wear on mine to near-nonexistent. Hmm, wonder why the manufacturers don't do this for us?

WARNING!! Subliminal Message: Sell more rollers maybe?

[eliteguy50]

The o-ring tries to retain the grease but I remember opening my first variated af05 and thinking 'Oh S***, my tranny seal is gone.' because of all the petroleum in there.

...Perhaps it's better for the rollers to, uh... roll, than to have them sliding...

That was my thought too. I have cleaned out every one that I've owned.

[z50r-ghost]

thanks, sum-azn-kid, Wheelman, Toasty and elite50guy for the replies.

I was kinda thinking that maybe back in the day in Hawaii there may have been some aftermarket performance varis that utilized that o-ring and retaining plate....

later guys, jon

[burnt_toast]

Greetings:

The early scooters had an o-ringed cover to contain the high-temp grease. Evidently Honda-san didn't trust the self-lubricating properties of the rollers at first. The later Elites did away with the grease cover, evidently without a penalty in variator performance or longevity. Perhaps it's better for the rollers to, uh... roll, than to have them sliding around in old grease that seldom gets replaced.

One trick for all to consider is to file the sharp edges off the ramp plates. The knife-edge that's found there seems to like to "shave" the rollers whenever they travel to the rim. Just an easy kiss with a stone to round off has reduced roller wear on mine to near-nonexistent. Hmm, wonder why the manufacturers don't do this for us?

WARNING!! Subliminal Message: Sell more rollers maybe?

I'm intrigued about your process to file the backplate, think you could snap some pics of it up close? Would like to duplicate

And if you can find at least 5 folks who want roller packs, I'll setup a groupbuy

[Wheelman-111]

Greetings:

Quoth Toast-y:

I'm intrigued about your process to file the backplate, think you could snap some pics of it up close? Would like to duplicate

It ain't fancy. Just a stone on a Dremel run easy over the corners. Before the round-off, you can scrape off a fingernail on that sharp corner. Presumably, if the rollers travel out to that edge, they get "shaved" too. I just file the edge of each of the 6 "tracks" until it no longer feels sharp. If I get a chance I'll post a Wheelman "pic".

[capturedbyrobots]

The Elite 250 has a grease packed variator stock.
I'm not excited to get into that mess, but I'll have to soon....

[zuphilius]

Greetings:

If I get a chance I'll post a Wheelman "pic".

Maybe we should all pitch in a few $$ so Mr. Wheelman can purchase a righteous camera for close in work.

After all, his descriptions and how to's would be made more...enjoyable with some quality pics.

[Wheelman-111]

Greetings:

Quoth Zuphilius:

Maybe we should all pitch in a few $$ so Mr. Wheelman can purchase a righteous camera for close in work.

SO you got a problem with my Kodak Brownie?!

But I really appreciate the thought. I'm a man of Simple Tastes

If that isn't practical to pictorialize greasy Scooter Parts, perhaps Something More Mundane. At that price, it should come with its own Model:

CanonModel.jpg (16.71 KiB) Viewed 3735 times

Just to adjust the focal length, y'understand...

[fightingplankton]

Greetings:

If that isn't practical to pictorialize greasy Scooter Parts, perhaps Something More Mundane.

if you want one of those, i have an extra lying around...i was just gonna throw it out w/ my iphone4...its old already.

[zuphilius]

Greetings:

Quoth Zuphilius:

Maybe we should all pitch in a few $$ so Mr. Wheelman can purchase a righteous camera for close in work.

SO you got a problem with my Kodak Brownie?!

Not at all. You should see me with my VHS suitcase helmet cam...