Drive Belt, Clutch Plates and Dr. Sliders.

Hi ALL,

My 2008 SWing is starting to vibrate on take off but only the first couple of stop and goes. After everything warms up it goes fine.

I tried holding the brakes and revving it up to 2000 rpms, or so, for a few seconds and that seemed to help a bit.

The scoot had been sitting for two years before I bought it from my sister in FL. It's got just over 19,000 miles and a new belt was put on at 17,700 according to the receipt that was in the paperwork that came with the scooter.

I put a new battery in it after I trailered it home and new tires on it a couple hundred miles ago. Plus oil and filter and some other normal maintenance.

This winter, which is fast approaching in MN, I'm going to put on a new drive belt, clutch plates and some Dr. Sliders. Then it should be ready to take anywhere. I'll also keep the old drive belt seeing as it looks great with no cracks or weathering that I can see. It will make a good spare to keep with me. I still haven't decided on what weight sliders I will put in. That will come after doing some research on this sight and going over the various comments about different weights and outcomes.

This will give me something to do along with dream about next summer when we have our two or three weeks of good riding weather.

Dale; I don't think that you'll need those clutch shoes you're concerned about. With all the members and posts on this forum I don't think that there have been more than half dozen who've replaced the clutch shoes --or the clutch springs either, for that matter. However, if you need to, or insist on, doing the clutch shoes then you should probably do the springs as well.

As a winter project you might want to remove the Driven Pulley assembly and disassemble the clutch shoes to clean & lube the shoe pivots. Then lightly sand the shoe faces and the clutch bell to deglaze everything.

Good idea to keep the old belt as a spare too. Though if you are going to pack it along as a spare while on a trip you might also want to have a "Y" type variator holding tool. Plans for that tool are on the forum here somewhere --and it packs a lot smaller that the Leroy Beal plywood tool.

Tim

Dale,

I always revved it up to 4,000 rpm's for 4 seconds. If you have trouble knowing where the "4,000" is on your rpm gauge just ask someone. I'm from Illinois and I remember when my brother moved up to Minnesota he forgot what numbers were. But I always used to rev it to 4,000 rpm because when you just rev to 2,000 you probably didn't engage the clutch.

Dale I can understand putting 24g or 26g Dr Pulley sliders, I plan on going to 24g in my newest Silverwing. With only 1,300 miles on your belt I don't know why you would need to change it. And with that low of mileage if I did anything with the clutch I would just take some 80 grit sandpaper wrapped around a paint stir stick or anything flat and sand the glaze off the clutch pads. I wouldn't think you'd need to do anything more.
I didn't sand my clutch pads until 45,000 miles unless big bird did them when he put my 26g Dr Pulley sliders in.(I don't remember without looking it up in my maintenance records)

JeffR said: "If you have trouble knowing where the "4,000" is on your rpm gauge just ask someone. I'm from Illinois and I remember when my brother moved up to Minnesota he forgot what numbers were."

ROFL! It's the cold weather up here that freezes our brains a bit.

Thanks JeffR for the 4000 rpm tip. I did get it up to where the clutch did engage but probably not high enough or long enough to matter much. It did smooth out a bit but not a whole heck of a lot. I'll give it another try tomorrow.

As for the belt. It does have very few miles but the SWing had been sitting under a tarp for two years. It does look great and all but do they weather rot like tires? Or is it good because it's not really out in the weather like tires are?

I'll also check the clutch pads and housing and clean everything up. Once I open everything up I will be able to see what's going on.

I want to thank you all for the helpful tips and info. I will have plenty of time to take care of it all. After all, I am in MN! We have 10 1/2 months of winter, 2 weeks of cold spring, 2 weeks of cold fall and the rest is for putting on as many miles as we can the rest of the time. That is if we can keep away from road construction...

Hey Dale,

I thought you would enjoy that. You seem to have a good sense of humor. I remember when my brother lived there and said that the winters were colder and longer than Illinois but still loved Minnesota. Even though you don't have too many miles on your belt, like you said it is kind of old, so you may want to replace it. I haven't had a belt brake before but that is one thing I always changed a bit early. I'm a lazy guy that hates to walk and would hate to have to have the bike break down and leave me walking. But you Minnesota guys are much more "manlier" than me so you probably wouldn't mind a nice long walk among the "Moose's". lol

The drive belt will not whether rot like tires ,the sun ,wind,rain ,does not affect the belt,like it does to the tire .But if you don't feel safe then replace it . Good driving habits  will go a long way to the life of the belt. I change my belt every 45 k kl , change the oil at 10 to12k kl ,clean,and re use the oil filter twice before replacing.My swing don't burn any oil ,my brake pads are like the day the were installed.all my riding is hwy riding 68k kl on the clock.

I took the SWing out today and revved it up in the driveway before heading out. JeffR I took your advice and this time I revved it up to around 3800 rpms and held it there for about 4.5 to 5 seconds, counting the seconds in my frozen head. I could, however, "SEE" the numbers ticking by as I counted. It was amazing!!!

When I did take off it was smooth as a new SWing. Well, I can't really say that because I've never owned a new SWing. But if I did mine would be as smooth as that. Or would that one be as smooth as mine? Now I'm confusing myself so I'll get out of here before my head turns totally to frozen mush. Is that possible? If frozen would it still be mush? Or would it be solid? WOW! The possibilities are endless...

Dale,

That is good news.  You need to get a lot of riding in because doesn't it start snowing in October there?  I sent you a PM just now about the manual.  I'm off to my therapy now since I am totally confused reading your last post.  Or maybe I can just watch re-runs of Dr Phil. lol

Hi JeffR,

I got the PM and replied just now. Sometimes it doesn't snow until October. I ride it every chance I get. It isn't as warm in the "cab" as my pickup but it's a lot more fun.

As far as my last post goes, I think it's clear as mud. It made perfectly sensible to me. LOL

Say HI to your therapist for me.