Modern Vespa

Hi Guys, I have been a looong time lurker and this is my first post. I have owned my Gilera Fuoco since July and absolutly love it. I came to scooters unintentionally being a cruiser motorcycle guy only.

In June I bought a Beo 500ie with a view to turn it over and make some money but inevitably fell in love with scootering, (I think its in the blood)which led me to buy my Gilera. I havn't ridden my cruisers since that day.

Now I love to tinker and wanted to try some different weights in the variator. After a lot of researching I decided to give the Dr Pulley slide weights a try, only problem was that all the online retailers seem to only sell the 15 gram weights.

I personally felt that this was too light considering that the stock rollers are 21 gram. I did not want the big 500 reving its head off every time I opened the throttle or at high speed.

So I contacted the manufacturer and ordered some 19 gram slide weights. I was able to do this as they have no distributor in Australia. Had to order a few sets though.

I did a comparison with the Dr Pulley weights with the stock weights. My results are as follows.

Stock vs Dr Pulley
Full throttle revs - 5500 vs 6200
Revs at 60 kms - 3800 vs 4000
Revs at 80 kms - 4700 vs 4800
Revs at 100 kms - 5100 vs 5100

These tests were done on the same day on the same stretch of flat road. The speeds are as indicated on the speedo. The difference in the scooter is amazing from such a seemingly small mod.

Crack open the throttle at any speed and the thing just launches compared to stock.

It accelerates so much harder that I find myself constantly full throttling and grinning like an idiot now.

The biggest improvement in my opinion though is how much easier it is to ride the scooter a slow speeds. It just feels so much more progressive compered to stock.

I have found that I do not need to use the rear brake anywhere near as much as before. Roundabouts and corners where I had to drag the rear brake before because of the way the bike accelerated I can do without rear brake after the Dr Pully weights were installed.

For such a cheap mod I am amazed with the results, I just wish I had done it earlier. I feel this is how the bike should have been from the factory.

I hope my post was informative to someone because I have learned so much from this forum and would not have been able to do this without the information found on here.

Thanks for the detailed post. I had the Dr. Pulleys
on my Scarabeo 500 gt, and thought they worked well.
However, if you like to tinker, as you say, a more fair
comparison could be made by checking performance
against stock 19 gram weights. Simply dropping the
weight will have an effect of course, down from the
21 stock weights, so an even comparsion would be
interesting between 19 gram stock and Dr. Pulleys.

Point taken. I do have some 19 gram roller weights and I will try them this weekend and post my findings.

Redfone, for those of us who are interested in doing this mod:

1.Can you tell us, in your opinion, the difficulty level of installing Dr. Pulleys?

2. Where/how much were your wgts?

3. Finally,and I know this is your first post, could you please post pics of the install, either the first time or the next time you get to it? The pics really do mean the world to those of us who've never performed this mod. I personally have successfully tried and installed 3 new mods thanks to great picture tutorials.

Thanks for the great detailed post and welcome to the scooter family!

luthorhuss, it was not that difficult an install to do. The hardest part was undoing the nut that holds the clutch to the outer case. The manual says to remove this with an offset ring spanner and another 10 mm spanner on the shaft to to stop it from spinning.

The clutch nut was on so tight that the 10 mm hex head on the shaft twisted right off.

In the end I used a 12v impact driver to remove it and the variator nut. This made the job so much easier.The whole job should probably take about half an hour to 45 minutes.

I bought these from the manufacturer direct as no one sells these here in Australia. I had to buy a few sets though and they cost about $USD 45 a set. I will put the other sets on ebay one day when I get the motivation.

I am going to install some 19 gram roller weights this weekend to do a fairer comparison to the Dr Pulley weights so I will take some photos and create a step by step of how I did it.

That would be great, Redfone!

Wow, I thought they woulda cost a ton more, but I guess I was thinking of the variator costs.

I lived in Nottingham, UK for short while, so for our American forum members...

Spanner = Wrench

. Just had to be a git and put that out there. Oi!

I look forward to the pics.

Welcome to the MP3 area of MV glad to have another here.
A most excellent post on the comparisons. I don't thnk you should put the extra weights on ebay as you will have to change them for wear at some time.
Do you have any idea how long of wear the DR's last based on your previous use in the Beo?
Thanks OAD

It was me that had them on my Beo 500, and it seemed
they showed very little wear-I might have had them in maybe
4000 miles. but I am guessing.
An interesting note, I got a deal on a Polini variator,
and had my mechanic put it on the Beo. I just assumed he would use
the new Polini rollers too, but he put the Dr. Pulleys back in,
and the Polini and the Pulleys did not seem compatible.
Or perhaps they had worn to fit the stock variator, and might
have been fine if they had been new ones, in any case they hung up and caused problems. I had him put the
Polinis in ( and refused to pay for the change) and all was well.

in the main forum and the cannonballers all have said that if you have a jcosta use those rollers in it.
if you have the polini use only those rollers in it.
where as the dr pullys are for stock vari housings.

Old as dirt, I have owned the Gilera for three and a half months now and have only managed to put 1800 kms on it. At this rate I think it will be a couple of years before I need to replace them.

Today I swapped out the 19 gram Dr Pully slide weights for some 19 gram roller weights.

Stock vs Dr Pulley vs 19 gram rollers

Full throttle revs - 5500 vs 6200 vs 5900
Revs at 60 kms - 3800 vs 4000 vs 4100
Revs at 80 kms - 4700 vs 4800 vs 5000
Revs at 100 kms - 5100 vs 5100 vs 5400

The 19 gram roller weights seem to be consistantly 300 revs higher than the stock rollers.

Throttle response was better than stock but not as good as the Dr Pulleys. They needed a bit more throttle input at low speeds.

When cruising at speed ie. above 40 kms and you snap open the throttle the acceleration is impresive but not as good as the Dr Pulleys in my opinion. This is probably due to they fact they don't let the motor rev as high.

I have not tested for economy with any of these weights but feel because of the higher rpms of the 19 gram rollers they would probably be the least economical.

Performance wise and rideability I think they are an improvement over the stock rollers but not as good as the Dr Pulleys.

Another benefit I have found with the lighter weights is that there is more engine braking over the stock weights.

All in all I feel that for the little extra money that Dr Pulley Slide weights cost the benefits are well worth it.

I have taken photos of the recent roller change and will put them up in a different post with a step by step.

Redfone, you are an asset to this forum! That was a bit of
work to do, but the first time i have ever seen a real test
between all these rollers. Really interesting, thanks!

Redfone that was awsome report on the different weights and the Dr Pullys. I will order some and install them if it made that much throttle response difference. Thanks again for the info

I am sure you could sell your extras, I would be interested,
but the shipping from Aussie-land to mid America would no doubt make it too pricey.

I enjoyed doing the comparison as I learnt a lot too.

With the stepy step guide should I post it here or create a document and post a link to it so it can be downloded?

Hooked, I have sent you a pm with the cost.

anybody ever used Malossi tune up parts? It's quite popular here but I wonder what the review's like. I used their rollers on my last bike but didn't know much about scooters then to feel the difference.

This is my first time here and i am very interested in the difference between rollers and slides!
Does anyone has experiance with a Vespa GTS300 and Dr.Pully slides?
Are GTS250 slides compatible with the GTS300?
Maybe i am wrong here but if some one has an idea it would be cool.
Thanks for help!

Franzi

This is my first time here and i am very interested in the difference between rollers and slides!
Does anyone has experiance with a Vespa GTS300 and Dr.Pully slides?
Are GTS250 slides compatible with the GTS300?
Maybe i am wrong here but if some one has an idea it would be cool.
Thanks for help!

Franzi

This is my first time here and i am very interested in the difference between rollers and slides!
Does anyone has experiance with a Vespa GTS300 and Dr.Pully slides?
Are GTS250 slides compatible with the GTS300?
Maybe i am wrong here but if some one has an idea it would be cool.
Thanks for help!

Franzi

I bought a Malossi variator and slightly lighter rollers for my X9. Was a bitch to install, but that was because on the X9 I had to remove a lot of the plastics. Acceleration was much improved as was the low speed on turns. Dropped my mileage by 5 MPG.

Redfone, I am wondering what size weights you used?
Scootertrap, as you said, offers the 15 gram weights
at a size of 25x17. Assuming that is the size needed,
i can find no weights that will match ( 19 grams).
Is it possible you used a different size?
There is nothing on the Dr. pulley site that matches up.

what's the cc of your X9 and what weights were your rollers? how much was the variator?

Rob in Denver. The Dr Pulley weights I have are the 25x17, 19 gram. I specialy ordered these from the manufacturer as I did not want to go as light as 15 gram.

Redfone, do you mean they manufactured these just for you?
Or that the only place they can be found is through Union?
certainly could see why they made you by a few if they specially
made them for you!
If a few people here were interested, so that shipping from
Australia would be split among us, it might be worth buying
the extras from you.
Anyone else here in the States want some?

Oooo me, me!

460cc Master engine, If I remember the rollers were 9gm and the originals were 11gm., Variator cost around $180US

I'm down.

My experience in buying a few things off of eBay from Australia has been that the shipping can be quite reasonable, esp. considering the distance...

Hi Guys

You don't have to do a group buy. I can send them to the States for USD$55.00 including postage. If anyone is interested just send me a pm.

I have 5 sets left.

I was about to order a JCosta Variator from Scooter Trap but they where out of stock, then the Aussie $ became worthless and i discovered this post. What timing!

I've just purchased a set off redfone and had them installed. Now my Fuoco feels as meaty as it looks. It's got a great bite when you hit the accelerator. The extra revs also gives more throttle response and confidence on corners. I can't wait to go for a decent ride on the weekend.

Overall i'm very happy, having spent a fraction of the cost of a new variator.

Thanks heaps Redfone!

I was sort of in the same boat- about to order the J Costa... Just sent some paypal and can't wait to see the results!

Just got my weights in the mail today. Can't wait to try 'em out but won't get a chance 'til next week probably... Will post what I find.

Thanx, Nuccio!! 8)

Just had my mechanic install the Dr Pulleys I got from Redfone
and have only just ridden it home a mile or so from the shop,
but it is noticeably zippier!! Zoom-Zoom! Thanks Redfone!!

Got these installed last Friday and would call it a definite performance improvement!

Wish I had numbers- I had plans to record before/after data numbers but the only way I could figure out to do this while riding was to record the numbers using an in-helmet mic hooked to my venerable old mini disc recorder but alas, late last week I was thwarted by several days of soaking rain and I wasn't about to risk the equipment.

Suffice to say, though, the lighter weights really pep the scoot up. Definitely worth the money.

Thanx, Redfone! 8)

Hey, Rob,
How much did he charge ya and how long did it take him?

Lutherhuss--I didn't stand around and clock him, but the charge was $80 and thats what they get for an hours work, so probably took about that long.
I would have liked to do it, but I am a dolt with
mechanical stuff. I am able to make close to that
doing what I do, so I figure its a fair trade- I do what I do
so well, and they can do what they do ( hopefully) well.
And then its a sort-of break even.

An hour's about right. Probably a bit less the second time you do it

After installing the Dr Pulley weights coasting at 100km/hr my fuoco is running at 6400rpm. This is vastly different to Redfone's results.

i had my local dealer install them. Could they have installed them wrong? Any ideas out there?

???? 6200 is vastly different to 6400? Less than 4% difference, think error margins...

Jim, i'm not talking about full throttle. I'm talking about coasting along at 100km/hr. Redfone's results were 5100 rpm vs my 6400rpm!

What about "Rob in Denver" and "CheshireSoundLab"? What are your rpm at 100km/hr after installing the 19gr DrPulley?

Kevz

They could have easily put them in the wrong way. If you had no instructions, or did not read the instructions, you would be inclined to put them in upsiide down as it seems a more natural fit.

Even with 17 gram slide weights I was only pulling 5500 rpm at 100. What rpm's are you pulling at 60km and 80km and full throttle?

I would be interested in what the other guys are getting as well.