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Main Page CVT Principles - How it works, how to improve it....

Recently (By Fabio Dougie)
Added
Recently Have you ever wondered... what is a variator? how does a variator work?,
Edited what do rollers do? Well I must admit that some time not too long ago those
Added By were the thoughts going through my mind and that's what started me off
Me trying to make my scooters quicker, I was fascinated by how a scooter's
Edited By drive-train worked and how I could improve it....
Me

All Articles Here are some notes that I made on the Constant Variable Transmission drive-
train (I’ll call this CVT from now on) of a modern automatic scooter, I seem to
Discussion be constantly amending them because of the complexity of the topic, but also
Forum because it’s a lot harder to explain about the CVT than it actually is to
understand it…if you see what I mean!!

By writing this article I’m trying to explain how it all works so that 1) I can
follow it later when I have one of my senior moments and forget something that
I shouldn’t have, and 2) it can be of use as an introduction to someone trying to
understand what the CVT does and how it all works…. and perhaps more
importantly how they can make modifications to it to get the most out of it…

Some of the information I researched and sourced from the internet and from
other members of ModernVespa, and for that I can only thank you.
 A photo of a CVT showing Front Pulley Assembly/Variator and Rear Pulley
Assembly/Clutch

A few definitions
There seems to be several different terms for each part of the CVT and these
terms seem to be interchangeable, but to make it simpler for myself I’m going to
try to stick to these terms….

CVT
(also known as the transmission, or the drive-train)
The whole collection of items/parts that connect the engine
through to the rear wheel.

Front Pulley
(also known as the driving pulley)
This is the collection of parts which includes the variator,
outer front pulley half and rollers. It sits on the output shaft
that is the extension of the crankshaft from the engine and
provides the access to the power from the engine.
 Another photo of a CVT with the Outer Fixed Pulley removed
showing the movable pulley face of the Variator Assembly (on the
left)
and the Clutch bell removed from the Rear Pulley Assembly showing
the clutch mechanism (on the right)

Outer Front Pulley Half

(also known as fixed pulley half, or static pulley…. or a
combination of these terms)
This is the outer part of the front pulley mechanism that is
fixed to the output shaft of the engine and turns in time with
it, its usually bolted on with a substantial nut that has to be
tightened up to a precise torque, this nut is usually known as a
‘variator nut’ and on some applications can only be used
once. The pulley half is fixed on the output shaft both
rotationally and laterally.

Variator Assembly
 This includes the moving pulley half/ramp plate, the rollers,
the cover plate, and the plastic sliding bushings that keep the
parts aligned. This sits on the output shaft and is free to slide
along the shaft. It will slide along the shaft when the engine
changes revs and by doing so will change the gearing between
the engine and the rear wheels.

Photo showing a 6 roller variator (from behind), note the purple

rollers sitting on the ramp-plate
and the area for movement when they are thrown outwards by
centrifugal force

Rollers
These sit as an integral part of the variator and roll along
inclines (called ramp-plates) at certain revs of the engine to
help the change in the gearing be more useable (some
scooters utilise sliders instead of rollers, thinking about Dr
Pulley applications)
Drive Belt
The drive belt is the connection between the front and rear
pulleys and it allows for a varying gear ratio at different
wheel speeds/revs of the engine.

Rear Pulley
(also known as the driven pulley)
The rear pulley receives the input of power from the front
pulley via the drive belt. The rear pulley comprises the clutch
bell, clutch mechanism, torque controller and contra spring.

Clutch Assembly
The clutch assembly comprises the clutch plates and springs,
clutch bell. This is positioned on the rear pulley shaft that
turns the wheel via the final gearing in the rear hub.
A disassembled Clutch Assembly - note torque controller on left with
 large contra spring in place,
clutch mechanism and red clutch springs on right, clutch bell at
bottom

Clutch Springs
These are 3 (usually) small springs that are part of the clutch
and effect its ‘bite’.

Contra Spring
(also known as contrast spring, pulley spring, clutch torque
spring, etc)
The contra spring sits behind the clutch mechanism and
maintains the gearing at the correct level at the rear pulley

Introduction
One of the biggest misunderstandings is that changes to the variator, clutch and
contra springs, and the weight of the rollers will increase your overall power, or
top-end speed. This is incorrect, what these changes do are to make the power
more useable by allowing the engine to maximise its RPM while it is
accelerating, and maximise the speed the engine is revving at when it hits the
highest gear ratio available. To optimise the scooter’s performance the engine
needs to be running at its maximum torque output consistently while
accelerating (which on most scooters is somewhere between about 6500-8500
rpm's as this is the level where the ‘power band’ is at its highest). The whole
point of the CVT is to keep the engine at the most efficient RPM by making the
gearing variable, the CVT adjusts the gear ratio to maintain that optimum RPMs.
Top speed will be achieved when the maximum horsepower hits the limits of
drag (friction and air resistance).

How it works
The CVT works upon the ratio of the diameter of the front and rear drive belt
pulleys. Both front and rear pulleys are an assembly of moving plates. At low
engine speed, the plates of the front pulley are pushed apart by the tension of the
belt as it forces itself between the plates. At the same time, the plates in the rear
pulley are pushed together by the spring beneath the automatic clutch. Behind
the moving plate of the front pulley, there are weighted rollers, these are thrown
towards the outside edge of the variator by centrifugal force, as the rotation
speed of the engine / variator increases. When the rollers move towards the
outside of the variator, the inside plate is forced together towards the outer plate
and this moves the drive belt towards the outside of the pulley. This effectively
makes the diameter of the front pulley larger. As the belt moves out on the front
pulley, the tension in the belt is increased, which overcomes the spring pressure
holding the two plates together in the rear pulley. The belt moves towards the
center of the rear pulley, which effectively makes the diameter of the rear pulley
smaller. In this way, the ratio between the two pulleys is changed and therefore,
the speed ratio between the engine and rear wheel is changed. The two diagrams
below will give you the basic idea of how the gearing ratios change as the road
speed/engine rpm changes.

A moving diagram showing front and rear pulley settings at high and low speeds
Another diagram showing front and rear pulley settings at high and low speeds -

Note in the sectional diagrams at the left and right that you can see the belt and
roller positions

Front Pulley
Starting with the front pulley, this is where the rollers and
ramp plate are located. As the revs of the engine increase,
centrifugal force pushes the roller weights outward and
up/onto the ramp-plates surface. This causes the sliding
variator to move toward the outer fixed pulley half. As the
variator slides closer to the front pulley it applies pressure to
the drive belt that sits in between the angled faces of the front
pulley half and the variator so that it forces the belt out to a
higher gear ratio. This is the basic operation of the front
pulley. Faster engine speeds cause the belt to go outward
changing the gearing.

Rear Pulley
Moving onto the rear pulley, the rear pulley has a large and
powerful spring (known as the contra spring) holding the
halves of the rear pulley together. The front half of the rear
pulley is placed under pressure by the contra spring to make
sure that it holds the correct tension to ensure the best
gearing. There are angled grooves that the pulley travels on.
As torque is applied, this limits the belt from travelling in too
quickly hence under/over effecting the gearing ratio.

Clutch Assembly
The rear pulley spins under the power of the engine via the
front pulley and the drive belt, and when it gets to certain
preset revs the clutch plates spin out and ’grab’ onto the
clutch bell which in turn spin the wheel (via the preset final
gearing in the hub, where applicable)

Modifications
There are several modifications that can be made to a scooter’s CVT drive-train
and these are best done in a balanced way….
Roller Weights
The first is perhaps to change your rollers, or more precisely
their weight…. Rollers can get worn with time and its not
uncommon to find ‘flat-spots’ at fairly low mileages (this can
be sometimes to do with riding styles). By lowering the
weight of the rollers that you are using it allows the scooter to
hold onto a lower gear longer (think about a car where you
don’t change gear till later to get a little more power). By
using lighter rollers you are allowing the engine to rev a little
higher than with heavier rollers and helping it to hit a higher
rev band before it ‘changes gear’ (it doesn’t actually change
gear but you’ll see what I mean). Having heavier rollers make
the scooter change up a gear too soon, again using the car
analogy, it’s a bit like driving along in second gear then
changing to third gear way too soon, the engine doesn’t have
enough cadence to keep the gearing good! Lighter rollers may
be needed in situations where the stock exhaust has been
replaced by a performance exhaust as the freer flowing
exhaust breathes better and takes the usable power band
higher up the rev range, using lighter rollers allows the engine
to rev up easier to reach that power range more effectively.
Also for a similar reason, a heavier rider may benefit from
slightly lighter rollers to allow the scoot to stay in a 'lower
gear' for a touch longer. Don't be tempted to go too light
though... this can lead to a reduction in top-end speed, I've
recently found that by changing my lightened rollers for ones
that are only a touch heavier (but still lighter than stock) that I
added almost 5mph top-end, the very light rollers that I was
originally using (although accelerating very well indeed) had
'robbed' the scooter of its maximum speed. It can be very
much a trade off between acceleration and max speed.. you
have to consider your riding style and the type of roads that
you use.
Weighing in! - 6 rollers weighing only 39 grammes in total, 6.5g per
roller

Dr Pulley Sliders
An alternative to changing variator rollers is to swap them out
for Dr Pulley "Sliders". These are specially shaped sliding
versions of the variator roller, they are manufactured from
low friction materials to allow them to slide as opposed to roll
(variator rollers don't actuall roll as you would imagine but
more shuffle, slide and skip along inside the variator ramps
making them on some occasions quite inefficient). The shape
of the sliders change the dynamic of the variator to allow it to
hold onto high gearing (hence top speed) better. Most users
install sliders that are 10% lower in weight to their original
rollers, by doing this the user gets 3 great advantages..... 1)
lower weight sliders means better acceleration..... 2) the shape
of the sliders allow for better top speed..... 3) the low friction
material used to manufacture the sliders allows for smoother
CVT operation.
 Dr Pulley Sliders

Performance Variator Assemblies

The main effect of performance variators is to change the
angle/curvature of the ramp plate so that the rollers deliver a
better spread of acceleration throughout the rev range. If you
are thinking about getting a new variator, consider this.. it
will probably not have any effect on your overall top speed.
What it will do is give you a more steady acceleration.

Contra spring
If when you approach a small hill the scooter slows
drastically you may have too light a contra spring. The contra
spring helps push the rear pulley back together when torque is
applied to the rear pulley. In addition, slowing down from
speed and then struggling to accelerate up again also indicates
too light a spring because when you slow down the spring is
supposed to push the rear pulley together into a lower gear
ratio. If you go with a heavier contra spring, you may need to
go to a slightly higher roller weight. Likewise, if you go to a
lower spring, you may need to go to a lighter weight.

Torque Controller
There are angled grooves that the rear pulley travels on. As
torque is applied, this limits the belt from travelling in too
quickly hence under/over effecting the gearing ratio.
Replacements can be made of this part of the rear pulley with
a performance part that has differently angles grooves.

Clutch springs
The initial ‘take-off’ of your scooter is mainly controlled by
the clutch-springs, these are 3 small springs that allow the
clutch to bite.. as the clutch spins the centrifugal force pulls
against the springs to allow the clutch plates to ‘grab’ the
clutch bell. By replacing these springs with performance ones
you can make the clutch grab at higher revs hence allowing
the take-off to be more ‘snappy’. The downside of this is that
in heavy traffic the revving up of the engine to get the clutch
to engage can be tiresome.
Replacing original clutch springs with Red 2000rpm springs to give a
 racier 'bite'

Drive Belt
It is widely recognised that the genuine piaggio belt does the
best job, replacement 'performance' belts tend not to last too
long (comparatively), however replacing a worn belt with a
genuine belt will give you an increase in performance. The
top end speed of you scooter may be affected by a worn/thin
belt as the belt struggles to reach the outer limit of the driven
pulley and hence not reaching 'top gear'.

New belt versus old worn belt, these two belts were originally the same width!
De-restriction
Some smaller CC scooters may be restricted by placing a washer in-between the
faces of the front pulley half and the variator, this stops the belt from reaching
the outermost position on the front pulley hence not allowing the scooter to hit
‘top-gear’. It is a fairly simple task to remove the washer to de-restrict the CVT.

(Please be aware that on front pulley units with an aluminium outer pulley, the
thin washer fixed between the bushing and pulley plate must not be removed.
Taking the thin washer out erroneously thinking it is the restrictor washer may
cause damage to the front pulley unit.)

This is the restriction washer that may need to removed on smaller CC scoots

...and finally..... here's a video that explains more about how a CVT works....

.
Last Updated Sun Oct 05, 2014 1:20 am