http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tdVY6Kone4

I know how the variator works, but it looks like it has TWO variators.

I was wondering what happens to the "slack" when the variator changes pitch, but now I can see that both the front and the rear gadgets change proportionally.

Here's my brain's attempt to understand:

1. The front gadget is the clutch. The fat coil spring tends to keep the cones squeezed together, and that's what takes up the slack of the belt.

2. The rear gadget is the variator.

3. The variator is what actually changes the "gearing." The front pulley expands or narrows as the force of the variator "pulling" on the belt forces it to do so over the objection of the coil spring. So the front gadget is just passively reacting to what the variator does.

Right?

Please tell me I'm right.

Oops. Clutch rear, variator front.

By the way: What's the weight of the OEM rollers?

1) The 'front gadget' would be the object on the left. It's the Variator. It expands or narrows relative to the engine rpm's and the centrifugal force on the variator roller weights, or slider weights.

2) the 'rear gadget' is the Driven Pulley assy. Hidden behind the Driven Pulley is the clutch itself. The clutch shoes expand as the Driven Pulley's rpm increases. The shoes expand to contact the Clutch Bell (Honda calls it the Clutch Outer) which is directly connected to the rear wheel via the final reduction gears.

3) The action of the Variator Pulley and Driven Pulley expanding and contracting in consort are what changes the gearing.

This site might help explain the working of the CVT, but the illustration of the rear pulley/clutch is assbackwards relative to the Silverwing. The Silverwing clutch is attached to the 'back half rear pulley'.

http://flexistentialist.org/blog/archives/2003/10/27/cvt-basics-constant-variable-transmissions/

Hope this helps

Tim

Hi Mickey,

Hope this helps:

hey mickey,
That is a video of my bike i made in 08. i'm supprised it gets so many
viewers
As the others have said, the variator is the larger front one and the
clutch is the rear one. As the engine rpm increases the belt in the front
increases diameter the the rear spring loaded one is forced to follow.

glad you liked my video.
Paul

Having completed the installation of my "yellow springs" and 26 gram rollers I can now say, officially, "I understand." It's an absurdly simple system, really.