I give you credit for that tactic to hold it in place. bravo

judging by your plates, the left one in the pic was where it was wearing out. at high speeds. (dark stains) wear marks shows it was ridden more at lower speeds and at high, less in the middle. put a ruler on the face and see where the wear marks/valleys grooves are.

the problem is the grooves causes a wider distance between both sides and the betl cant ride higher because the belt is also wearing in time and gets thinner and the distance where the belt can ride between the 2 pulleys is getting wider and you will notice the rpm climb gradually and top speed will be limited. all in due time.

7000 is very little. maybe because adverse temperatures or simply because it was an old belt and material broke down.
the broken fins will cause more vibration over time and high speed.

Hi Jaz.

I've checked and cleaned everything, the only things out of the ordinary was the boss was a bit stiff in the movable face of the variator pulley requiring about 2/3 lbs of pressure to push it through. It looked fine though so I polished it up and then the boss would slide through with just the weight of your hand.

The variator/crank case had some dust inside but it was slightly oily feeling instead of dry and powdery.
I'm guessing something was over greased the last time.

The oil in the final drive was very thick. I may have used gear oil the last time I changed it, I only recently found out it should be motor oil.

Apart gtom that, everything seems fine. The clutch and the rear pulleys look great.

I've fitted the new belt, reassembled everything, had a 50 mile test run and then took the cover off again to see if there was anything obvious. There were no marks on the belt and my strategic chalk marks inside the cover were undisturbed.

I plan to do another thousand miles and then have another look.

Rocketman122 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 06, 2020 12:44 pm I give you credit for that tactic to hold it in place. bravo

judging by your plates, the left one in the pic was where it was wearing out. at high speeds. (dark stains) wear marks shows it was ridden more at lower speeds and at high, less in the middle. put a ruler on the face and see where the wear marks/valleys grooves are.

the problem is the grooves causes a wider distance between both sides and the betl cant ride higher because the belt is also wearing in time and gets thinner and the distance where the belt can ride between the 2 pulleys is getting wider and you will notice the rpm climb gradually and top speed will be limited. all in due time.

7000 is very little. maybe because adverse temperatures or simply because it was an old belt and material broke down.
the broken fins will cause more vibration over time and high speed.

I put a straight edge across the face of the pulleys and there was only a tiny sliver of daylight showing where the grooves are.

Well so far so good. I do have one question though...

Before this transmission clean and new belt I never really noticed any sound other than the engine. Now at lower speeds I can hear the Hoover type noises as the variator spins.
Perhaps it's a normal sound that has been there all the time and I'm just noticing it now because I'm listening for it.

Does anyone else hear the variator working?

I have to admit I was hoping for a response to the above. (This OCD is a PITA)

Red Dog, yes once you replace the belt you can hear it more, especially for the first thousand miles or so. It's simply the teeth, corrugations or whatever you want to call them making noise as the belt goes round. Common to all CVT bikes. My GTS300 has a new belt on it and I get the same, my Burgman did too. You may even feel some minor vibrations from it too.

Just a thought, but regarding your last belt wearing out very quickly. You did get the belt on the right way round right? It will wear out very quickly if not and start to delaminate. It's designed to operate under load in only one direction. It's an easy mistake to make and most of us in the trade have done that at least once in our lifetimes. When I did it I was just about to button up the casing and send it out but realised in the nick of time. Phew! Once you have done it, you never do it again! Same with cam belts on car engines. Check once, check twice and check three times. Then when you realise you have it on the wrong way round, take it off and put it on the right way!!...Lol

Edit: this is a bit late now but forgot to say that the variator should go back dry of all grease. Just clean everything carefully of any carbon, dirt or grit that has come from the belt or atmosphere. Don't use any lubrication on the boss or sliding components. I always put them back dry. Use only lubrication where the manual specifies. Regarding the clutch, the inner bearing at the back of the clutch requires high temp lithium grease on it's rollers and seal. Just use a very soft clean cloth on a finger to roll around the bearing a few times to remove as much of the old grease as possible. Then reapply an amount of new grease to the bearing. Don't over do it, and make sure the seal has some very minor amount of grease on it. You can put a little grease on the clutch input shaft splines but not too much. You don't want it getting out onto other things.

Thank you Mr Data for that excellent and comprehensive reply, it's very reassuring to know that I should hear some variator noise.

I did check that the belt was on the right way round, but I didn't check twice. (I wish I had done now because I'm worrying already, lol)

I intend to strip it down again after about 1000 miles (maybe 500 if I get anxious) and I will make sure to remove or replace grease where necessary as instructed.

Thanks again.
Tom.

If it's running ok, then just leave it. It'll be fine.

Well done by the way. You'll soon learn not to worry.

I did a 120 mile round trip yesterday, mostly motorway. Everything seems fine, just that hot rubber smell when I parked up.

Must say I haven't had the hot rubber smell! You sure it was rubber and not coolant which some folks mistake for a mild rubber smell?