Variator - Normal Wear?

Finally got around to installing my Dr Pulley 26 g sliders today and took off the variator for the first time - just over 14k miles on my 2002 SW. Everything came off just fine and had quite a bit of dust build up inside the variator - the rollers looked worn to me and there appears to be some wear in the channels that hold the rollers. Also, there are a number of slightly indented rings on face where the belt rides. I have put 4 close up pictures in my album but haven't had any luck putting these in a post in the past - will try again but in case it doesn't work hoping Jeff might give me a hand.

OK - I'm looking for one of you experienced SW members to look at the pics in my album and give me a read on what you see - is this more than normal wear for 14k and I need to replace or should my sliders be OK? Looking for your thoughts and welcome any advice.

Thanks,

Rick V

Thanks Bigbird.

I can feel the groves on both faces so just ordered them for delivery at my local Honda dealer - 10 % discount and no shipping for on-line order.

I hope the new parts along with the Dr Pulley sliders give me the a much needed improvement in smoothness - belt was replaced at 12k so that is in good shape.

I made a variator tool out of plywood which was one of the tools mentioned in the posts - it worked fine to remove the bolt without my electric impact wrench. My only concern now is getting it back together - do I need to force open the clutch to give more belt slack on the drive faces before tightening the bolt? The manual doesn't say this but I believe some members have mentioned such - what do you do?
Thanks again,

Rick V

To anyone in the know. How do you view someones album? Thanks.

Thanks BigBird! Now I have more interesting things to look at on this great Forum!!!

Thanks again Bigbird for the variator assembly/tightening procedure - sounds good to me - I saw the tip about oiling the nut both in one of your prior posts and also in the manual. Now, hope the parts come quickly but not in too bad a shape because still have my Aprilia Scarabeo to ride.

Hope your weather is improving so you can get out and enjoy the SW.

Rick V

Hey Bigbird my variator face plates came in today so now I have another question - this one pertains to the guides that fit on the ramp plate. I also purchased the Dr Pulley guides figuring I should have everything with the same material, but when I install the new guides the ramp plate does not move up and down freely - instead it sticks. At least two of the new guides seem too tight - with the old Honda guides the ramp plate moves freely. I plan on using the old guides but now have misplaced one and hopefully can locate it.

Did you use the Dr Pulley guides and did you have any problems?

Thanks Bigbird and anyone else who may have some thoughts on this.

Rick V

To Bigbird and others that might be interested, I have the 26 g Dr Pulley sliders in and have put about 200 miles on so far and generally pleased with the differences which are: 1. Large improvement in smoothness once the scoot starts moving - still have the "plastic" vibration when starting. 2. Some increase in the slower speed rpm's [no surprise] with a moderate boost in initial acceleration and a noticeable kick when accelerating out of a slow corner. 3. At 40 - 50 mph the SW feels very free and hardly working on a level road. 4. Around 400 rpm reduction at 70 mph on the speedo [about 66 mph by GPS]. 5. Mpg down about 2 mpg to 48 mpg based on the majority of riding in metro and rural areas with a small amout of interstate.

I did have issues with the Dr Pulley guides and after talking with Mike at Buggyparts NW, returned them for refund along with one of the original Honda guides - the Dr Pulley guides were narrower than the original Honda and after pushing the roller plate to it's down position had great difficulty in pulling the plate off - decided to use new Honda guides and the roller plate easily moved up and down. Mike was going to check the guides I returned against other stock for possible mislabeling but haven't heard anything further.

Thanks again to Bigbird on the instructions for re-assembling the variator - it worked out fine.

Rick V