NCY variator and rollers

[easyrider]

I am noticing this setup seems to be preferred over Honda original equipment.I have never been a big supporter of aftermarket over original equipment.There is always a tradeoff it seems. How does this product really improve the overall operation. Is it really a noticeable improvement , or just marginal, or not at all, and if so what are your findings.. appreciate comments.

[homie]

OH it's impressive enough to ditch the 16gram rollers and never look back. I don't think you are stressing anything. IMO Honda would have done it if it wasn't for the race to build the most fuel efficient PCX targeted to everywhere else but the states. This little Honda has been choked off intentionally and if you have the tools and the time LET THEM PONY"S RUN!

lets motivate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGhoLcsr8GA

[easyrider]

Comments / any definitive results or just subjective. I know in the car world they sell numerous add ons to increase horsepower like exhausts systems , breathers, programming etc etc and so on.. After testing only produce marginal gains and sometimes less.Just wondering the true effectiveness of these roller assembly's or are they snake oil.. No need for any music Thx

[homie]

I could dig out endless past threads on the exact stats in this forum... but so could you. No music

[easyrider]

Be so kind..send me a link or two.. Appreciate your help.

[homie]

Here is a funny one, back when scooterman was schooling us on the upgrade and we made some discoveries together. I had just purchased a new 2015 PCX150 and was willing to tear into it with him. It all ended very well with no surprises and I have been using the same NCY installed parts to date.

http://www.hondapcx.org/viewtopic.php?f ... +was+right

[txpcx13]

I just received my NCY parts today and will be installing them in about 2 weeks time. I will let you know my impression over stock and give you as much factually info add possible.
It really seems this set up is a good every day driver from all the parts that I have read and researched.
Ohhh... I have Golden Pulley Set, Drive Face, and 13G rollers.

[Mel46]

I haven't put the NCY variation on yet, but just changing the rollers out for the NCY 13 gm rollers has made my little 2013 a lot more peppy. I am not sure if it goes any faster yet, but it gets to its top end a lot quicker. We will see what happens after I put the replacement variation AND drive face on (I understand that you have to swap out both to be able to see the full benefits.)

[txpcx13]

When are you planning on putting in your new parts? I currently have mine here with me now but I will not be doing the install for about 2 more weeks. I love the stock performance of my scoot and I cannot imagine if it was even a little bit more quicker than it is now.

[Mel46]

Because I can't test the bikes it will be a while before I mess with the variator again. My first priority is my wife who is still going through her Physical Therapy and I would feel bad for her if I could ride and she still couldn't. However, I am itching to upgrade the bike and may go ahead anyway. :-)

[easyrider]

Appreciate all the responses ..looking forward to hearing about definitive results. I also read somewhere (I think) that after the first 1000 miles you should replace the originals. I think the original factory set is 15 gm?? But 1000 miles..Seems like a little overkill ???

[waspmike]

So which variator is the best and why?. My observations:
After a seven year interest in variators and researching English and foreign language forums it is not always scooter specific necessarily. It is less related to outright performance and seems to be based more on the roads and the type of riding.

I have discovered from their experiences and opinions that:

• If one lives and rides predominantly in the city and the riding is block to block, light to light and the primary requirement is off the line acceleration then Malossi seems to be the variator of choice. If set up properly.

• If one lives in the suburbs and rides on country roads where one is on and off the throttle because of overtaking traffic, or if one lives in hilly country or where roll-on acceleration out of corners seems to be more important or riding two up. Then J Costa seems to be the variator of choice. Stock out of the box.

• From this forum because the other forums I checked were not PCX specific where it seems there are many that live where they ride a lot on wide open roads, freeways or urban expressways where sustained high-speed cruising and top speed is the valued attribute then the NYC or Daytona/Advance Pro combination seems to win out. Although I suspect it is the slightly larger diameter of the Advance Pro drive face place that makes the difference. Which at 120 mm is slightly larger than even J Costa. Seriously though if you need to cruise at 75mph you need more than a PCX

• Where you may ask does Polini fit in here well they did not appear to be mentioned as much as the others in regards to different types of performance.

• I haven’t found much on the FR4 unit from Italy or the elusive MFR2 and Autisa doesn’t yet have one for PCX ESP.

So why the differences? It is difficult to pin down but the J Costa “pigeonholing” maybe the easiest to qualify as that company/technology was pioneered by a circuit racing scooter champion so it is easy to see how they might be biased towards attributes that benefit riding conditions which emulate or mimic circuit racing type riding.
The research continues…

[homie]

So which variator is the best and why?. My observations:
After a seven year interest in variators and researching English and foreign language forums it is not always scooter specific necessarily. It is less related to outright performance and seems to be based more on the roads and the type of riding.

I have discovered from their experiences and opinions that:

• If one lives and rides predominantly in the city and the riding is block to block, light to light and the primary requirement is off the line acceleration then Malossi seems to be the variator of choice. If set up properly.

• If one lives in the suburbs and rides on country roads where one is on and off the throttle because of overtaking traffic, or if one lives in hilly country or where roll-on acceleration out of corners seems to be more important or riding two up. Then J Costa seems to be the variator of choice. Stock out of the box.

• From this forum because the other forums I checked were not PCX specific where it seems there are many that live where they ride a lot on wide open roads, freeways or urban expressways where sustained high-speed cruising and top speed is the valued attribute then the NYC or Daytona/Advance Pro combination seems to win out. Although I suspect it is the slightly larger diameter of the Advance Pro drive face place that makes the difference. Which at 120 mm is slightly larger than even J Costa. Seriously though if you need to cruise at 75mph you need more than a PCX

• Where you may ask does Polini fit in here well they did not appear to be mentioned as much as the others in regards to different types of performance.

• I haven’t found much on the FR4 unit from Italy or the elusive MFR2 and Autisa doesn’t yet have one for PCX ESP.

So why the differences? It is difficult to pin down but the J Costa “pigeonholing” maybe the easiest to qualify as that company/technology was pioneered by a circuit racing scooter champion so it is easy to see how they might be biased towards attributes that benefit riding conditions which emulate or mimic circuit racing type riding.
The research continues…

you got that Chief

[homie]

well now that the whisperer's are waking up I'm going to go to sleep... let me know if anyone crashes

[Mel46]

Well, with Dave's help (Maddiedog), my wife's PCX 150 now has the NCY variator, drive face and 13 gram rollers installed. I tested it yesterday and it will require a little more tweaking but it seems much quicker. I needed to accelerate quickly in traffic after the light change, and it went from zero to 50 quickly. I had to back off since the speed limit is 45 mph. However, it drops down to idle just as quickly when I am coming to a stop. It is as though it has lost the really low speed, but that is why it will need some tweaking. Dave will test ride it to determine if we need to tighten the belt or add a washer, or whatever has been done in the past. He had this kit on his bike before really upgrading it, so he is familiar with it.
There is a small scooter gathering tomorrow in which we will be just riding around. Dave will take my wife's bike while I ride mine. So far the weather is cooperating, so it should be a fun day. Up to this time, in order to keep the bikes running well it has been up to me to take each bike out and ride them. That gets tiring when I can't ride them far because of the heavy traffic. My wife is afraid for me each time I go out. I think they call that being 'gun shy'. Ever since the accident she has been that way, though she continually tells me that she would like to be able to ride again someday.

[outlander]

Mel, do you still have the problem with the speed dripping off fast? Did you come up with a solution?

[ScottDR]

I am definitely interested in finding out what Maddiedog suggested too. Sure hope your wife is recovering well!

[Mel46]

No more problems with speed drop. It seems that the belt just had to seat with the new variator. After a long run in the country it now runs great. There is no noticeable difference while in traffic other than the fact that it takes off much quicker. No stalls or erratic behavior at all. Out on the open road it will now hit 75 mph. I was surprised that just adding 3 things could change the behavior of this little bike so much. Well, if you count making sure you have a new or fairly new belt as well, that might be 4 things, but my wife's bike had its belt changed about 3, 000 miles ago so I didn't change it. I am sure as time goes by it will need to be replaced well before any of the new parts will. After reading and interacting with members of this forum for quite awhile I found that most preferred this combination for upgrades and now I can see why.
Maddiedog rode my wife's bike while I rode mine and he really enjoyed the ride. He had sold his PCX because he purchased a much bigger bike and could only house one bike in his garage. As he told me after the ride, he had forgotten how fun this bike can be!