Lubrication between the Boss and the Driveshaft...

[Dave Bo]

Ok, so about two months ago, I changed the stock 16 gram rollers to 13 gram NCY rollers in the vario... I did this after I changed my tires over to the Michelin City Grips because I had lost some acceleration do to their size and weight... The results were great but my top speed was only about 63-64 ( probably was a bit faster due to the larger diameter tires ). After reading some postings on this forum and others about "Rollers vs. Sliders" I realized that I could gain some top end speed by swapping over to 13 gram Dr Pulley Sliders. Here is what happened about five minutes into the job...

I took the cover of and loosened the vario nut. Everything slide off the shaft as expected except the boss and the cam plate ( the sheet metal thing behind the drive pulley ). It was stuck! Frozen in place! It literally took over two hours of carefully prying and 1/4 can of WD-40 before I was finally able to remove them... After a celebratory "adult beverage" I carefully looked for the cause of my problem and found a small RUST SPOT on the drive shaft... It was very tiny and came right off with a piece of 800 grit sandpaper, but man, did that ever cause me anxiety... I am guessing that some moisture from my hands during my 13 gram roller swap a few months before got on there and started to corrode the shaft. Imagine if I would have left it alone for a longer period of time? I would have been stuck there permanently! After cleaning everything up with denatured alcohol, I put a very thin layer of Lithium Grease on the entire drive shaft. I did the same to the inside of the boss as well. Everything went back together as normal...

The good news is the sliders did the trick... I hit 72 MPH on my way home from work today! I just thought I would share my story with you folks. If you're going to take your vario assembly off of the drive shaft, LUBRICATE INSIDE THE BOSS before you put it back together!

[you you]

Ok, so about two months ago, I changed the stock 16 gram rollers to 13 gram NCY rollers in the vario... I did this after I changed my tires over to the Michelin City Grips because I had lost some acceleration do to their size and weight... The results were great but my top speed was only about 63-64 ( probably was a bit faster due to the larger diameter tires ). After reading some postings on this forum and others about "Rollers vs. Sliders" I realized that I could gain some top end speed by swapping over to 13 gram Dr Pulley Sliders. Here is what happened about five minutes into the job...

I took the cover of and loosened the vario nut. Everything slide off the shaft as expected except the boss and the cam plate ( the sheet metal thing behind the drive pulley ). It was stuck! Frozen in place! It literally took over two hours of carefully prying and 1/4 can of WD-40 before I was finally able to remove them... After a celebratory "adult beverage" I carefully looked for the cause of my problem and found a small RUST SPOT on the drive shaft... It was very tiny and came right off with a piece of 800 grit sandpaper, but man, did that ever cause me anxiety... I am guessing that some moisture from my hands during my 13 gram roller swap a few months before got on there and started to corrode the shaft. Imagine if I would have left it alone for a longer period of time? I would have been stuck there permanently! After cleaning everything up with denatured alcohol, I put a very thin layer of Lithium Grease on the entire drive shaft. I did the same to the inside of the boss as well. Everything went back together as normal...

The good news is the sliders did the trick... I hit 72 MPH on my way home from work today! I just thought I would share my story with you folks. If you're going to take your vario assembly off of the drive shaft, LUBRICATE INSIDE THE BOSS before you put it back together!

Cam plate behind the drive pulley? What camshaft? What plate? What drive shaft? Crankshaft?

[Dave Bo]

Guess they have schools in the Center of the Universe?

[homie]

booooooooooooooo I did not add lubricate to the Boss, that was 2200 miles ago. Maybe I get back in there and see if what has happened to you is happening to me. How will I sleep until I know? I do recall the Boss was lubricated on the outside for sure and I did not wipe it off of course, but I touched it with my bare hands as well. To be clear which surface on the Boss had the rust, inner or outer?
Rats man, you say "carefully prying" that would mean NO metal tools... Chief say's "HOW"

[iceman]

Would any moisture from your hands or even a small amount of water cause that! I would have thought it would evaporate due to time/heat. Are you sure the out cover is sealed/seated properly and rain or washing is not the cause?

[Jge64]

Would any moisture from your hands or even a small amount of water cause that! I would have thought it would evaporate due to time/heat. Are you sure the out cover is sealed/seated properly and rain or washing is not the cause?

I also have a hard time believing a small spot of rust was the culprit, more like corrosion welded the item to the shaft. Next time soak it for 24 hours in PB Blaster to get it off.

[Blubayou]

Same happened to me on my Sym Joyride a few years ago.

I released the stuck part by starting the engine with the nut removed.........

You can guess what happened! The variator grenaded all over the garage. I do not recommend this method.

Anyway to avoid any reccurrance of such things I use a light wipe of copperslip on all such things, especially steel threads into alloy.

[Dave Bo]

A picture is worth a thousand words... The tolerance in between the shaft and the inside of the boss (part #3) is probably around .001". If corrosion forms on either the shaft or the surface inside boss, you will experience the same "oh crap" moment that I did...

PS - 13 gram Dr. Pulley Sliders purchased at Scooterworks.com for $29.99... Worth every penny.

FullSizeRender.jpg (87.6 KiB) Viewed 2249 times

[homie]

Relieved... I thought you meant something was sticking on the outside of the boss. I recall the inside was well greased, you could feel it when you put it back on.

[homie]

but then there was the header on this post

[lolofigo]

I have recently changed stock weights for 13g Dr pulley on my pcx 125. Acceleration is much better mpg almost the same but didn't get any top speed improvement. I get 65 mph on the speedo with new bando belt.