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So after removing the variator assembly, I carefully cleaned out all of the components and purchased an outside pulley (until my new assembly arrives as it is on backorder). I took some pictures of the splines and showed them to a local guy who owns a scoot sales/service shop. He indicated that they didn’t look too badly worn but did notice that perhaps a thread or two was a bit stripped (which might have caused the nut to loosen).
I also noted that the idle had been set by the previous owner seemingly too fast. The manual says the bike should idle at about 1,600 RPM +/- 100 RPM, which is where it sits when warm (according to the tach). When cold however, it’s at 2,000 RPM. I do recall when riding it that even when warmed up, it seemed to run a bit fast and I could feel the belt gripping the clutch, pushing the bike forward slightly. On the center stand, the wheel spun pretty fast as well. I wonder if the constant braking at idle, combined with not moving, with the idle set too high didn’t cause the belt to work the outside pulley and nut loose, thereby shortening the life of the pulley.
So I put it all back together with a generous amount of Loctite and put a lock washer between the nut and the pulley. I know it’s not necessary, but my hope was to get the nut on the better threads. I verified no gap between the outside pulley and the bushing/hub/thingy. I also lowered the idle speed quite a bit. Cold or warm, the tach reads about 1,100-1,400 but the engine doesn’t seem to be struggling to stay running (though I think I’ll tweak the mixture just a hair).
We’ll see how this goes. The last one failed at about 400 miles, so I’ll look at this one at about 200 and see what it looks like.
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