Malossi Multivar 2000

Hello guys and gals

It's been a while since I piped up on this forum...it's not my usual style to be so quiet!

I've been reading all of the topics and posts for the past 1.5 years and have read most of the ones previous to that. I don't remember reading anything on the Malossi Multivar 2000.

My wife and our friend both bought '09 SWings. Our friend's is really quite smooth on takeoff (0-15 mph) but ours is not. It has a pulsing vibration that resonates throughout the dash and fairing. I pointed out this fact to my wife when I rode the bike home from the dealer. She told me that it didn't bother her and she was fine with the way it ran...until our friend bought hers this year and she now sees how bad hers is.

I have traced the problem to the movable sheave on the front variator. It is not running true, and has a slight wobble side to side while rotating. I've found this to be more common on '09s than the previous years.

I don't want to replace it with a J. Costa but rather with a Multivar 2000. Does anyone have first hand experience with this product and if so, how smooth is it and how do you like all aspects of it?

Thanks in advance for your input

Y.P.,

I had a Malossi on my Yamaha Majesty and it was really nice. It smoothed it out a bit, but the Majesty was very smooth to begin with, and it gave it more get-up-and-go too. I think the reason most people choose the J. Costa is because it gives more acceleration than the Malossi. You may want to P.M. "dspevack" since he has had both the Malossi and J. Costa. Or maybe he can chime in if you gets a chance and sees this.

But the Malossi is a quality piece of equipment so if you choose it you won't be disappointed. Keep us informed. Have you tried to "de-glaze" the clutch shoes since that can cause additional vibration at times? Just hold the front brake in and rev it to about 4,000 rpm's for about 5 seconds. I do this about every couple of months, if needed, and it smooths out the slow speed acceleration.

Sounds as if it's a manufacturing/assembly defect. Maybe still covered by the OEM warranty.

Definitely not wise to be running with a wobbly variator --especially considering that at 65 mph crusing speeds the variator is spinning along at ~5000 rpm.

Thanks guys.

Jeff, get up and go isn't what my wife is after, only smoother take off (I know...I don't get it either?). It shouldn't be a glazed clutch as it had 0.0 miles on it when I picked it up. The dealership didn't get a chance to inspect and test it before I took it over. My wife bought it at closing time on a Saturday and wanted it home asap for a road trip the next day. I advised her that it wasn't acceptable to me but she insisted that it wasn't a concern to her...

Cosmic, I agree with you on the defect. It probably just passes Honda's tolerance check at the far end of the scale because quite a few other '09 Swing owners have complained of this on other forums that I've checked out. It seems that year in particular is worse than previous ones. I personally doubt that Honda Canada would have rectified the problem as they have tightened their warranty claims in the past few years ( I had a warranty claim on my VTX 1800 which they refused to fix...I had to do it myself).

Keep your comments coming

Yammapapa (Should have changed it to YammaGrandpa as of one week ago!!!)

I had the Malossi on before the J. Costa came out.
Then I bought the J. Costa, and dynotested the bike with both.

J. Costa, hands down. Not even a contest on any superlative.

Posted my findings on another forum, before this one even existed.

Don't know anyone who has bought a Malossi since.

You may want to check with Matt at Scootertrap.

He sells 3 of the 4 different kinds available for the Silverwing.
(The Polini is most like stock, so Polini=no value to change)

Ask him which he sells the most of, and his personal opinion, since he owns a Swing.
He answers emails rather promptly.

And considering the J. Costa is only $5 more than the Malossi...

Dan

dspevack

Thank you very much for your great advice from your own personal experience. I will give Matt at Scootertrap a shout for his opinion. Just a few days ago we ordered a Malossi from them and received an e-mail back saying they're out of stock 'til spring.

The reasons I chose Malossi over J Costa are as follow:

-Malossi comes with both sheaves, not just the movable side (the Malossi stationary sheave may be machined to a greater standard than Honda's?) thus possibly a smoother overall whole variator

-a few people on this forum have gone back to stock after using a J
costa...sticky weight pins, premature surface wear, cracked sheave...

-J Costa wears out the set of weights at ~ 16,000 km (10,000 miles)

-if I install a J Costa on her Swing, I'll never be able to kick her butt with my future T-Max, as it's down about 7 hp (I'd have to add a big bore kit AND a hotter cam AND a J Costa with racing weights AND lose 20 lbs AND...)

How far out in left field am I with my thoughts ...or am I?

Yammapapa (or should I change my name to Hondapapa for this forum?)

YammaPapa wrote:

[SNIP]
Cosmic, I agree with you on the defect. It probably just passes Honda's tolerance check at the far end of the scale because quite a few other '09 Swing owners have complained of this on other forums that I've checked out. It seems that year in particular is worse than previous ones. I personally doubt that Honda Canada would have rectified the problem as they have tightened their warranty claims in the past few years ( I had a warranty claim on my VTX 1800 which they refused to fix...I had to do it myself).

OK. Given that Honda Canada won't do anything for you, why don't you take off the belt case and take a good look at the variator. You can also check the operation of the variator while it's running on the center stand.

You might well find that the fixed variator pulley sheave has been installed crooked --most likely due to using an impact gun and jamming the belt in the variator (instead of using a ratchet and turning the variator to maintain the sheave alignment). If that's the case then you may be able to remove it and reinstall correctly on the splines.

There's lots of DIY info here on the forum about removing the Variator and/or replacing the belt. So check for that if you are apprehensive about doing that task.
The job usually takes about an hour. And being in Winnipeg, it's not as if you're about to miss out on any riding opportunities any time soon.

If you still want to upgrade the performance without breaking the budget you can always change the variator roller weights to lighter rollers or Dr Pulley slider weights.

Tim

YammaPapa wrote:

dspevack

Thank you very much for your great advice from your own personal experience.

-if I install a J Costa on her Swing, I'll never be able to kick her butt with my future T-Max,
How far out in left field am I with my thoughts ...or am I?

I think your biggest misconception is that there is value in kicking your wife's butt.
Kissing it ususally yields better results, and allows you to sleep in the same bed, where although smooth pickup is usually appreciated, speed is usually frowned upon.

If its really important to you, a foot slides between butt cheeks more smoothly than a tire.
PROTIP: Only use butt cheeks when parking a scooter to help keep it upright.

I say if you have to replace the variator, you should do so with the J. Costa.
Every machine has parts that wear out. J. Costa is no exception.
If you want reliability replace it with stock parts.
Honda is really good at long life for properly installed stock parts.
Keep in mind that a few people having some issues paints a worst-case scenario.
I don't think it represents a systemic problem. JMHO.

Cosmic Jumper

I'm very comfortable with working on anything scooter including trannies and have checked this one out. The fixed sheave is not the problem as it runs true. The movable sheave has a slight wobble. It may have had the bushing pressed in at a slight angle causing the problem.

I agree with disassembling the variator and trying various reassembling positions to get the smoothest results. If the assembly has been forced together incorrectly, it had to have been done at Honda as it was faulty when brand new.

No worries about breaking the budget on buying new parts (HondaMama can afford it). The reason I do all of our own work is not because we're cheap, but rather because when it comes to scooters, I find them to be an enjoyable piece of machinery to work on.


dspevack

You're the man...very funny. My wife was next to me when I opened up your post and we just split a gut (if you knew us, you'd say "That's a whole lot of gut to split!"). If there will be any kissing, it'll be her kissing me when I resolve her scooter dilemma!

If I'm going to replace the variator, I'm not about to buy a stock one. Who knows if the next one will have the same problem as ours? That's why I was looking at a 'stock' type from another source that perhaps has tighter tolerances with a smoother operation.

I knew that a lot of people here would try to convince me to go with a J Costa and I have to say, you're doing a mighty fine job!

Thanks guys

YammaPapa

I say if the inner sheave is the problem, and your warranty is over, get a J. Costa. You'll only pay for what you need. As far as J. Costa's wearing the inner sheave as DennisB's did, that's more a function of continuous very high rpm riding. It doesn't sound like she's into that. If you need to replace the pins at 16k km, big deal. They're what, $60?

I would think if you can see a wobble in the inner sheave, a Honda tech would observe the same wobble, and either reinstall the inner sheave properly, or order you a new one.
If your warranty is over I know what I would do. J. Costa all the way. If not, try Crown Honda in the Spring. They have a very good young tech and their service manager is very reasonable and accommodating.

bigbird

That's all great advice. It's also good to know where to find a good scooter mechanic in case I can't/won't do the work myself. I'll keep that shop in mind. As far as continuous high speed riding goes, I'm no angel when I borrow her bike.

I agree with everyone on the warranty issue. It should have been taken in to see if they would have corrected said problem. The thing is that HondaMama was perfectly happy in her little world. She's really easy going and doesn't sweat the small stuff (cars and bikes are all small stuff to her...I know, I don't get it eather!) and would rather be riding than have her bike tied up in the shop.

We don't have access to our bikes until spring as they're locked up in a storage warehouse. Come spring time I'll let you guys know which avenue I'll take to resolve the problem...so many solutions and so little time!!!

Thanks everyone. You guys ROCK