Modern Vespa

You will need:


- Set of standard screwdrivers
- Variator holding tool - http://www.modernvespa.com/forum/topic47278
- Torque wrench
- Impact wrench - not necessary but it will make your life easier.
- 27mm & 21mm 6 sided sockets for your torque wrench.
- Something to lock the rear wheel with - wooden wedge


Start with taking 4 black screws which hold transmission plastic cover out..

You gonna have to remove air filter cover for the transmission plastic cover to come off.. It should be 9 screws

Take the plastic round cover off using screw driver...

Finally the plastic cover is coming off..

Undo the driven pulley nut using either impact wrench or any other wrench.
21mm 6 sided socket - I used 1/2'' drive and it worked great.

Now the aluminum transmission cover screws, 7 smaller ones and 4 bigger ones..

Transmission cover off..

Attach variator holding tool. This one is from company called Buzzetti. More info here http://www.modernvespa.com/forum/topic47278

Undo drive pulley nut. Best for this is an impact wrench as it is very tight. 27mm 6 sided socket - I used 1/2'' drive and it worked great.

Remember which washer goes where. The bigger one no. 1 first than smaller no.2

Behind outer variator pulley you will find another washer..

Check the driving belt... this one looks OK after 3333 km :)

Variator with OEM rollers

Bushing and the variator housing with "shoes"

OEM variator and J COSTA

Housings

OEM variator

J COSTA

Notice that behind the variator is "another" washer. Just leave that on..

Its ON!


Last edited by joe bulva on Mon Jun 15, 2009 2:05 pm; edited 1 time in total

.......................................


Put it all back on in reverse order BE VERY CAREFUL WITH ORDER OF WASHERS !!!! Torque the drive pulley nut - torque 160 - 175 Nm.
Make sure that the drive belt is down in between the clutch pulley halves (It is not like that in the picture!) otherwise you

Put no.1 washer on, then the aluminum transmission cover and then washer 2 and 3. Just to confirm no. 1 washer goes UNDER transmission cover!

Torque the Driven pulley nut - torque 92 - 100 Nm. You need to lock the rear wheel.I used the handle of the big axe + holding the rear brake + parking brake


Last edited by joe bulva on Tue Jun 16, 2009 4:36 am; edited 9 times in total

EXCELLENT Write up. Will print and save it when I do mine.

No immediate plans to change the variator on my wife's 250, but, man, well done! I've book marked this thread.

Cool, thanks for that, Joe Bulva.

Haven't found a source for that Buzzetti holding tool in the U.S.A.

Just wanted to extend a big, "PROPS!" to a most excellent write-up. Very well done.

Cheers!

chris

Very informative and well done. I already paid to get mine installed and would say it was money well spent. I wish I had your mechanical ability.

Awesome write up!!! I have been asking and pleading for just this sort of step by step write up for awhile...Great job! I'm gonna save this and definitely see if I can use it to install a JCosta to my 500 in the future!!

Excellent, Joe. Clear large pics and step by step. Now, put together a workshop manual with pics like these and I'll buy a copy!.

I will never attempt to do this myself but wow. Looking at these pictures sure helps me understand the mechanics to some degree some part of what makes my scoot go. This is really fascinating. Bloody brilliant.

Dale

Thanks!

Very Well Documented!!!! Wish I could buy you a Pint or two..... Looks like I know what I'm getting next.....

I'll add to the many thanks. Nothing like good photos and step by step instructions.

Thanks a bunch - excellent job, Joe! I was waiting for something like this, and I just ordered my Costa ... yes, I CAN!

Awesome tutorial. I had just recently taken the plunge to get inside my 250. Then looked at my new 400 from the outside and was wondering how to get the cover off as it is different.

Do not see in the pictures anywhere to use a holding tool for the clutch nut. Holding the rear wheel is probably fine, but the tool for the 250 is low cost.

Has anyone found a source that has the variator tool in stock for delivery to U.S.?

Good write up, but can I add a couple of points.

When undoing the clutch nut use an offset ring spanner on the nut. The shaft has an hexagon on it to allow the use of a socket and wrench to hold the shaft still.

For tightening the clutch nut I found with the weight of the bike on the back wheel and parking brake applied that was enough to be able to torque the nut up with a torque wrench.

When tightening the variator nut, make sure that the drive belt is down in between the clutch pulley halves (doesn't look like it is in the picture) otherwise you risk tightening the outer pulley half against the belt. Then when the belt moves up the ramps the nut is not as tight as you thought. Resulting in the variator nut then working loose.

Very good point!
I've put your note under that picture.

Otherwise thank you for the praising comments guys. This forum helped me many times so why not pay some of it back

There is s bug on this forum which doesn't let me to update the note under the picture in full. I can add it and preview it fine, but once I submit it's just not there. I've tried everything including re-adding the whole post and using a different browser. Is there any admin arround please?

Great photo details! Good job! Nomination for the Technical Library!!
(*We need to make that variator tool more available... Unless, Jettin' Industries could make us one??)
Just one question, is the ax handle jammed up against the bottom of the transmission cover?
Also, are you going to write about your impressions of the scooter w/ the J Costa?

Can "we" get this put into the MP3 Wiki (which I will point out has absolutely nothing in it). This would make a great first article.

There is a post similar to this here http://www.modernvespa.com/forum/topic36495?sid=c1631ecfe693206079c3ff5541139b0f posted on this wiki http://mp3scooter.wetpaint.com/

Attention moderators: this thread should be included in the Technical Library. That's where it belongs.

The axe handle is jammed against the bottom of the transmission itself, not the black cover (if I recall). Also with parking + rear brake applied it didn't put as much strain on it (that was my feeling anyway).

You can find my impressions with J COSTA here http://www.modernvespa.com/forum/topic47908

My opinion is that it performs differently on 400 & 500. Someone already pointed out that lighter weights would be more suitable for 400 but as far as I know J COSTA ships only one standard set of weights for both 400 & 500.
Next thing for me would be to experiment with Dr. Pulley HiT clutch + Sliding rollers and see how that performs.
Main thing I am aiming for is fast acceleration from stand still

Looking forward to that, too.

It's nice to see someone who's technically, as well as financially confident enough to experiment with new products like that, especially in this declining economy.

It's funny you say that because I was made redundant today. One week notice

Oops, I am really sorry to hear about your loss of employment. Is that how they call it across the pond-- "made redundant", that's cold! Keep looking, something better will come. You seem like a creative type, a fighter and a survivor (with good humor). In this economy, I guess no one should feel too surprised being laid off, let go, or "made redundant". I go to work everyday accepting the fact that "today could be my last day", seriously.

Cost-cutting has really gone mad all over the place, because it is always easier to do that than to find out why the business is failing (I've been to the chopping block once before so I know; and many times I have been on the other end of the block, so perhaps it's bad karma). I hope you will leave with some sort of benefit package; at least you don't work for British Airways, they're asking employees to work four weeks for free! Oh, man, you don't work for BA, do you, if so, I am really, really sorry?

I wrote Motorsport Scooters (scooterwest.com) a week or so ago asking about the Buzzetti variator holder for the 400/500 Master engine (part #5446) and was told they don't plan to carry it. So I wrote to Buzzetti asking for a U.S. distributor, and they referred me back to Steve @ Motorsport.

Well waddaya know, here's his reply: Rejoice!

Thank you, ramblerdan, for your persistence in getting this tool! You're our hero!

And thanks to Steve @ Motorsport for responding to the needs of its customers!

An absolutely excellent description and visual aid. Full marks.

Addendum for those with more long-legged bikes - while you have access to it, check that the idler pulley is spinning freely and without any noise. The bearings in these can fail in various ways leading to hugely increased belt wear. Just spin the pulley with your fingers - anything suspect and get it checked more carefully. Replacement bearings are a standard size (so no OEM part necessarily required) so cheap and easy to replace.

Very well done, thank you!

Maybe the best thread I have read on here and that is saying something cause there have been really great ones. Thanks for taking the time to do that!

Joe, I printed your post and pictures. I then used them step by step to take my variator off and replace the rollers with Dr Pulley 15 gram sliders. Great tutorial and thank you for making my task easier with good instructions.

Your post is the type help that truely makes MV a great source of information for the MP3.

THANK YOU

PS I will report on the results of the sliders when I have time to use them a bit. Quick test ride before dinner was a good first impression.

I used these instructions to install the J Costa Variator on my MP3 500 today. It made the installation smoother than the variator itself.

Thank you!

One note.....I only had one washer on the exterior of the aluminum housing (rear nut) instead of two like you show on the 400.

Joe Bulva - I was wondering if you might be able to answer a couple of questions concerning the OEM rollers.
1. I notice they sell on-line different sizes for roller weights: 15x2, 16x3, 17x12, etc. Do you know the actual size of the OEM rollers use on the Mp3 400? I like to get the same OEM rollers to replace mine old ones.
2. Where can I purchase these OEm rollers? I can't seem to find them on-line anywhere. The rollers I found are for MP3 250 or MP3 500.
Great illustrations by the way. Thanks for the step-by-step instructions.

You can only get OEM parts from a dealer, try here for OEM parts.
www.athensscooterco.com

For the aftermarket rolls go here
www.ScooterTrap.com

Wayne B

Just replaced my belt and weights (with Dr. Pulley sliders) today. Used both the horribly translated OEM service manual and Joe Bulva's instructions here. Job went very smoothly. The only head-scratching came when I needed to get the belt seated inside the dishes on the clutch side so there would be enough slack on the variator side.

Thanks again to Joe Bulva for the tutorial.

More notes:

* The M6 screws on the transmission case had 8mm heads; the M8 screws, 10mm. The hex shaft on the clutch side is also 10mm.

* I couldn't find a 20mm offset ("misaligned" as they call it in the manual) wrench for the transmission case (clutch) nut, but 13/16" worked perfectly.

* The variator nut is 27mm, which I also didn't have, but a 1-1/16" six-point socket was a very good fit.

I always wondered why they made oddball SAE sizes like 15/16" and 1-1/16". When would either be better than a 1"? Maybe they did it on purpose to approximate metric sizes? I suspect that metric socket and combination sets typically skip over 20mm because of the wide availability of 13/16". Likewise 19mm being relatively hard to find (here in the U.S., anyway) because it's a match for 3/4".

* Page ENG-3 of the MP3-400 service manual says "Remove the six M6 screws" from the transmission case. That is an error; there are seven screws, just as it says on page ENG-18.

Last edited by ramblerdan on Wed Sep 30, 2009 3:12 pm; edited 1 time in total

By the time you've done it ten times there'll only be five.

Give Joe lots of Karma.

if it's any help Joe. I have been running on a third of annual turnover for nearly a year and there are at last real signs of recovery in my industry, fingers crossed knock on wood mind that ladder!

Fay

Excellent post! I printed it as a pdf file and put it away in my Piaggio folder even though the dealer already installed my J Costa. You never know what will come up.

Brilliant piece. Thank you for the effort.

Does anybody care to advise me with regard to slider weights for my 500 if I even have a choice with the Jcosta. I am after acceleration above all else, so what can I expect?