Hi Folks,

The other day I noticed that the first bar of my fuel gauge went down when I was on 38 miles.... Normally its in the forties.... I had been doing a fair bit of stop start riding mind, and with a heavy right hand on the throttle. After using a full tank with more varied riding MPG was around 48 as usual.

However again I was in the high thirties when the first bar of the fuel guage went off, so I filled up and worked out I had been doing about 44 MPG, a bit lower than the norm, but again in stop start traffic.

I checked my revs against speed and have discovered my revs are up about 200 to what they were when I first had the J costa installed.... I reckon that my drive belt has done about 13-14k miles, since its last change and the variator pins are have done about 6,500 -7,000 miles, so I figure its either the pins, the belt or both that are the culprit. That said I do tend to ride the S'wing quite hard, especially when commuting... I am quite surprised about the revs at 40mph mind! Still the S'wing seems to be going as fast as ever, I've not noticed a drop in performance, which I suppose also would tie in with the pins being worn, thus getting lighter....? That said, since the J costa works on a transverse system as opposed to a longitudinal one (as with the stock variator) would lighter pins make a difference.... In which case, I might be needing a new belt...


MPH Original Revs
Revs Now

40 4,000 4,300-4,400
50 4,500 4,700
60 5,100 5,300
70 5,600 5,800
80 6,200 6,400


Happy Riding!

Bernardo,

I would think that your pins, if worn enough, could be causing the 200rpm difference. That is what happened to me the first time I changed the pins, and I changed them at about 8,500 miles. Your belt should probably be good for about 20,000 miles really. I changed mine at 12,000, just because I was installing the J. Costa for the first time, and decided to start with the new Mitsibishi belt. I keep the old one since it looks brand new still.

When I decide to get new pins again I am going to use the dry lube on the bell housing to see if it reduces the friction and maybe allows the pins to last longer. Not sure if it will work... but what the heck. I was thinking that the worn pins increases the rpm's since they are ground down and probably weigh less. That is just my opinion but it seems to make sense.

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for that. I guess I'll be contacting the scootertrap unless I can get the pins in UK / Europe.... It's crazy that its so difficult to get them here and thus easy to buy from the USA as I did with the variator!

So it would appear that this is a downside of the J Costa.... So are you gonna consider the 21g Dr Pulley sliders?

Just installed my new J Costa. I really took my time, since I'd never torn into a variator before. I made my own "variator tool" to hold the outer plate while turning the nut--worked great. Before installing the new one, I sprayed dry lube into the bell housing and on the pin face of the inner pulley side. I was careful not to get any on the belt-facing side.

Seems fine so far. Seems smoother overall, and actually quieter when engine braking to decelerate. Revs are somewhat higher: 4,000 at 30MPH and 5,200 at 60. Definitely takes off with a kick when I open the throttle, I guess because it goes to higher RPMs while the scooter starts to move.

Well, bit the bullet and got the J. Costa. Took a couple of hours with Jeff's instructions laid out before me but I eventually got there. However, I was really cautious with the screws and bolts to make sure I didn't lose any. Impact wrench made removal of the variator nut a piece of cake!!

As far as the variator tool went, I didn't have any pieces of metal to make a Y shaped thingy. Wandered around and finally came across a piece of sample hardwood flooring that I picked up a few months back. I was 3 1/2" wide and close to 2' long. Drilled two holes for the bolts, and between the two bolts, I drilled a larger hole that I could use to torque the variator nut. Then I put one end of the piece of hardwood to hold it in place. It worked!! Torqued up to 76 or 78 lbs/ft - hard to tell precisely with the old pointer styled torque wrench but I checked it 3 times so it should be OK.

Got a few minutes to ride it but it wasn't too warm so it was a short ride. The takeoff was much better (lag was all but gone). It seeemed to accelerate faster everywhere (speed wise). Its still not a sportbike but it certainly makes for a marked improvement. In fact, I think it feels a little more like my old CBR600F2 in terms of acceleration now than some of my previous sub 1000cc cruisers (relatively speaking of course) but the Swing has good power everywhere so its a far more enjoyable ride than the CBR ever was.

I didn't open it full throttle really as I want to scoot around a bit first - although I haven't heard anyone say there's any kind of break-in period for the pins. Overall, it was seems to be worth the cost. I'll post more opinions once things warm up again.

Captain

Hi There Captain,

Welcome to the exciting world of J costa! By the way thanks for the tip about the variator tool... I'm thinking about replacing my drivebelt soon, and checking the pins, so that's a useful tip... I'll need to get myself a torque wrench and oder the belt...

Bernardo,

How many miles do you have on your pins? I ride kind of hard, and I think you do to, so we may wear them out sooner. I bought an electric impact wrench that only torque's to 90 ftlbs so I know I can't over tighten it too much at all. I do remember that my rpms' went up by about 200 rpm's and then when I changed them they went down the same amount. But hopefully you can get more miles out of your pins.

Hi Bernardo,

I sure envy you getting that good of mileage. After reading about your and Bill's (Honda-Silver) mileage I know I have to get a Power Commander. If I'm conservative, doing mainly 55 mph or so I can get 51 mpg but if I really give it heck it is in the low 40's.

As a matter of fact, I just filled up today after doing all interstate at 85-95 mph, and I only avg'd 39 mpg, which is kind of good I guess. But I was giving it WOT all the time but never going over 95 indicated. I just felt like having some fun for a tank. I also just commented on your London story, and it was a great story. Thanks.

Ordered mine today, can't wait till it gets here. Kinda bummed out about the whole having to replace the pins all the time though...I sure hope it is worth that extra hassle.