Hi, been biking since I was 11 ( not on the road at first of course ) and went T-Max in 2001 as at 44 I was already paying the price a bit for all year biking for much of my life so needed a more hip etc comfy ride.

That was why I came in, but once I sat on the T-max for sale at a chaps house just north of Beverly it was like a revelation in comfort and handling and superb rideabilty. In love, hooked, amazed etc.

Not quite sure why some bikers don`t nod back as I would of thought most Maxi scooter riders are bikers who have gone a bit cronky or just ridden one and gone Wow !!!

The reason I`ve ended up getting on here is I`ll admit a bit of desperation firstly, but also about time and looks like a great place to pop on to etc and would like to tap in to a wealth of good advice and ideas etc.

So hello all and here I go with my XP500 dilema.

Had the bike ( is it OK to say bike as see it as that ) for just over 4 years now and when I pop on my sons NTV650 ( 97 ) I`m reminded how comfy and great my T-Max is but I would be happy to slide the engine over as always loved V-Twins. But the T-max 500 engine is great.

Sneaked off on the NTV for a 2 hour ride the other week then spent the next week rubbing in Ibuprofen gel in all the sore areas and throwing down Turmeric tablets and asking myself 2 Why didn`t I just pop up the road and back for a quick fix " ?

Anyway finally getting to where I am going !!! the 2003 T-max has started the odd bit of knocking type noises I thought might have been the belt so I decide to buy a variator tool and do the belt and rollers as I thought they might of been the origional ones. ( about 17K miles )

Turns out it wasn`t that but with a string of bad luck I ended up taking it to be done at the local bike shop as they said they had the tool and would do it etc. Big mistake sadly, very sadly.

Origionally the chap I was going to buy the tool off to do it myself with my biker cousin sold his last one in the batch, my sons NTV needed a lot of work for its MOT so went in to my local car garage where the young lad, his friend is a biker and great but he would of needed the tool and a manual getting. The NVT needed more than expected so I thought nearly out of time here as I park it and my hips up at the end of October so I unfortunately went to the local bike shop I mentioned 10 miles away.

Anyway dropped the bike off ( T-max ) for a new Yamaha origional belt and rollers and 4 days later got a call it was ready. Great, looking forward to some slightly more zippy new belt rides etc. Only !!! got there and when I sat on the bike and started it the exhaust note wasn`t right and looked and the exhaust was flapping and moving, the main holding bolt wasn`t back on. They put another different one on for me so I could go and off I went.

Straight away my mood already a little reduced fell further, whats happened here, where the power etc, why is it revving and wowing and now such a gap between throttle and response. Lost its bite and now a waiting game when you open the throttle before it gets to anything happening at the back wheel. Things got worse as I rode home. get on a decentish hill and open the throttle and instead of a progressive acceleration it revs up but nothing more power or speed wise shows up, and on steep hills it feels like its slipping wowing struggling etc.

Basically its lost all of its nippy-ness and on tap power and progressive qaulities. its right through the rev range as well. Sat behind 2 cars on the flat at 55/60 I thought I`ll shoot past here, whacked open the throttle and nothing much at all happened, no way I could overtake, I was lucky to creep a few feet more towards the back of the car, it was on a slight slope.

Also setting off it revs up far more with a longer gap before you go and is revving more much of the time but that does`nt translate to more drive or speed etc now.

Anyway they took the bike back saying it will just be a roller out or wrong and was back for another 5 days, then yes all sorted that was what it was, goes great now, really goes well now and a great improvement. Lovely I was so pleased as with my son on the back after I first got it back it was even more dire or opening the throttle wide etc.One up was bad enough.

Picked it up ( 2nd time now ) and set off hopeful, but absolutely the same or even slightly worse but its so variable and at different times so its hard to say.

I rang the chap up and he said they both rode and it and thought it was fine, and that they also tried it against one they have in there for sale a 2002 one. But I said its lost so much of its power, its doing a lot less to the gallon with all of the revving, the long delay on opening the throttle, often leading to nothing much at all at the back wheel, the wowing, the slipping on hills etc.

The clutch they had checked and was fine apparently, he said he had weighed the old rollers to check they were the same !!! as the ones going in when they did the belt.

I have been trying to work out what on earth has happened with anew belt and rollers all I can think of now if not heavier rollers is that they bent the variatior shaft a little, hence the variator holding on for far too long etc etc and how variable the oddness is now.

I`d really appreciate any thoughts, experiances ideas etc please. It should of come back a little better than it went in but now I would like just to get it back to how it was.

They say they will take it back and check the shaft is true, they musn`t of when it went back and also that they would compare it to the one there, ??? sorry !!!

Help Help Help please.

Best Mark. Thanks.

Hi and welcome to the forum.
All scooters are motorcycles, call it what you like.
Mne's called Dennis.

Mark they said
quote: he said he had weighed the old rollers to check they were the same !!! as the ones going in when they did the belt.
just for your own knowledge the standard YAMAHA rollers for your scoot are SIZE 25x15 EACH AND EACH ROLLER IS 19 GRAMS EACH , and there are 8 rollers... i can only think they may have put the wrong ones inon weight, do you know if it was a standard variator set-up... as in was the rollers standard and not dr pulley rollers i ask because dr pulley rollers are different shape and you put it 10 to 15% less roller weight each roller with better effect than standard on engine pull just saying because you could have ended up with standard roller put in which are only 16 gms each which would be too low in weight and thats will cause the reving and not going anywhere.... wheneven you have an issue always look for what you have just changed to be the cause.... so dont go thinking clutch slip etc... its always the last job done, they need to tell you the roller weight they put in or the weight of one they took out.... or you want them to weigh an individual roller in your scoot ,dont tell them you know what they should be 19 grams each until you need to , hope this helps and welcome lad

Hello, Hello, and thanks.

Hi Michael he did say they weighed them ( both lots old and new and they were the same ) and std Yamaha ones fitted. But the difference in the bike is amazing. He said they were Yamaha std ones in before and the exact same ones going in, he said weighed them both ?

Hopefully it is just a roller thing. Kicking myself as handed over cash, got to buy new rollers and a tool etc and do the work I paid for now.

I actually rang the Yamaha tech chaps and they were very kind, I described how it was before to how it was now, and how it was before , was of course right and should of been even slightly better. But they could`t say much obviously without seeing it or knowing what the bike shop did or put in etc.

I miss my lovely responsive T-Max.

Just out of interest it won`t damage anything to keep using it will it please as i`d like to get a few weeks out of it before my hips give in!!! If I go really steady it does`nt feel like its doing any harm ( I hope ).

Just going to message them asking for the roller weight and part number !!!

Many Thanks mark.

welcome