Modern Vespa

my malossi variator came with a white spring. do i install that on my lx?

I believe it's to replace the clutch spring.
Greasy or Spock will know

Stan is correct. It's a beefier clutch spring. You'll need a vice to compress your clutch and remove the nut that holds it together, then remove the spring and squeeze it all back together.
Greasy uses the Thighmaster, so he doesn't need a vice.

I knew you would know.
My hero!

is it necessary? or can i just leave the stock spring in there?

You need it, because of the change at
the other end of the belt

I'm not an expert on the specifics, but the beefier spring will be able to handle the extra power being generated by your new variator. Without it, I believe your clutch will slip.

It's necessary to make your new variator work correctly.

What it is doing is holding your moveable pullies together longer
to give you a lower gear for slightly longer, improving acceleration.

Well, kinda like that, it is a package though and should be put in.

I got the nut off the back of the clutch assembly by placing it in a vice and using the wife's strap wrench (no not that kind, the one you get from Sears to open pickle jars with) to turn the whole assembly off the nut.

In two stroke tuning you can choose between different strengths of that 'Contra Spring' to shift what speeds your powerband works at.

The ones that make your clutch slip or not are the small ones that hold the shoes together.

You don't need to change those on the ET.

I changed them on a Vino 50 I stage one'd, they held the clutch from engaging until 6,000 rpm instead of the usual 2,000rpm, but CVT geared two stroke
tuning is a whole different thing.

thanks for all the good info everyone.

i'm at another stopping point - i need to get the nut off the clutch. either i use a pipe wrench and two clamps, or i take it to the moped store and see if they'll install it. hmm...

I didn't put the spring in on my lx and really like the results, but my engine is stock other than that.