New Vespa clutch made my bike a slow moving turd

Chris Cas /

Aug 14, 2019 09:13PM

The springs broke on my old clutch, so I replaced the whole thing with a 100mm euro version thinking it would be an improvement. Now I have it all set up with the new one and the bike's slower than shit.

I suspect the belt is slipping because you can hear the engine getting to really high RPMs but it's top speed it probably 15mph. It's odd because the belt seems plenty tight. I'm using a Gates AX40 and the engine mounts are little to the left of stock. What's stranger is that the stock setup had a really loose belt and the bike ripped. I tried a bigger AX41 and it was slapping the subframe.

What's is happening? Bad variator? Are gates belts shitty? Are the new clutch pads crap? What am I missing?

Re: New Vespa clutch made my bike a slow moving turd

Nick MBC /

khool1499

Aug 14, 2019 11:54PM

If you have the belt too tight the bike won't ever actually variate and you'll be stuck in "1st gear"

Try loosening the belt up. If the belt is slipping you will feel it, especially at take-off. The engine will rev high and the bike will sort of studder as the belt struggles to catch

Re: New Vespa clutch made my bike a slow moving turd

- Joe - /

Go to branch

xmb63

Aug 15, 2019 06:06AM

Maybe the contra spring is stronger in the new clutch and your variator weights aren’t heavy enough to make it shift. You can take a sharpie and draw on the cheeks to see if the belt is actually traveling up the pulley. (edited)

Re: New Vespa clutch made my bike a slow moving turd

Chris Cas /

cascascascas OP

Aug 15, 2019 09:51AM

Seems like that's probably the case as the new one feels twice as firm. I'll try the sharpie trick and see what happens. If that's case, how can I fix?