Variator belt travel help

General / Honda Ruckus Performance
#1

i need some help tuning my cvt…(honda ruckus get) new member here and new to cvts too.

so heres the thing, ive got an intake and exhaust, jetted 38/85 and am running really good.
as far as the cvt goes, ive got a polini variator, stock belt in good condition just under 18mm so ok for now (tried a Pollini but it was trash wore very very quick) and a pollini white contra sanded enough that it spins freely on the clutch(at least it does with the clutch open).

i did the contra simply because it felt better, however i am still tuning an may still go to stock not yet sure.

anyways my problem is variator travel. i have tried sever different weights, with 5.5 pollini tuner weights acceleration is good and sits at 8400 rpms nice and ideal.
with the 5.6 weight that come with the variator i sit at around 8200 rpm and have about 1.5 mph higher top speed (gps spreedo) than the 5.5 tuners. top speed of 41.6
i still have 3-4 mm of unused variator space
i also tried the 6.9g weights that came with the variator as they are the heaviest i have, to see if they would give me more variation. They make the bike feel sluggish and have very poor acceleration. rpms dropp to 7500 or so thru acceleration. and make variation worse.

my belt travels all the way down much clutch exept for about 1mm before the two sides of the pulleys rest against each other(the flat portion idk what the technical term would be)

im thinking my variaton may be limited by my belt length, but have no idea what length would be ideal, nor if my conclusion is even correct.

one thing to note is i have two 1mm spacers between the variator boss and the stock drive face in order to allow the belt to ride low as possible during takeoff. The shims definitely impact rpms but would they impact variation this much? should i remove them?

should i move back to stock contra and lighter weights?

any advice would be appreciated thanks

#2

Hello! The Polini variator is larger in diameter than the stock one, so it needs a longer belt to reach the top of the variator. I’ve had good results with the Daytona belt, which is longer than the stock Bando.
The shims on the boss might help a little with initial takeoff, but they also hold the variator and drive face 2mm further apart in “high gear”. I would try it without the shims, or maybe just one. The belt should be in firm contact with both sides when it’s riding on the boss, with no play.
The 6.9s are worthless, way too heavy. You might want to try some 5.0. You can mix weights as long as you alternate them in the variator, so it stays balanced. So, three 5.0 and three 5.5 for a 5.25 average. Once you decide what weight, or combination of weights, works best, I suggest investing in some Dr Pulley slider weights. They’re kind of pricey, but they last a long time and don’t get flat spots like the rollers.
Hope that helps!

#3

Thanks for your quick reply.
Yeah i definitely plan on getting sliders. I am new to cvts however iv been doing quite a lot of forum browsing an research. Appreciate the tips, ill look into a longer belt and go from there. :slight_smile:

#4

@oldfart55 hey about that Daytona belt, hows it sit in the rear with no shims? top of the pulley or pretty close? And if you happen to know the overall length of it that would be great. if not ill try to find it online!

#5

Yeah, the Daytona rides very close to the top of the clutch pulleys. I have an old one that I measured at 802mm, but it may have stretched a little.

#6

okay cool. sounds like the ideal belt for me, what a price on those things though lol. fortunately im not in a huge rush for a new belt because it still rides as it is:)