Since I got my Yamaha C3, (Just a little 49cc bike
) I've loved it since I got it, but I've always felt it would be nice if it had just a little more power, particularly up hills. I enquired at a local scooter place every 6 months or so until recently they got a part in that they said would help.
It was some sort of set of rollers or something (little round wheeley things) that were supposed to help out. The first thing I noticed was that they were oddly shaped - instead of being round, they were about 3/4 circles, with a sort of soft triangle that sticks out on the remaining 1/4. Definitely not circle-looking.
So, it turns out that the effects were somewhat different from what I expected, yet good in an entirely different way. Here's what it's like to drive now:
At the bottom end, from 0-20mph I have quite a bit more torque, and also rev noticeably higher. This is good for situations where I'm starting from a stop going up a steep hill, or when I just plain old feel like accelerating quickly.
Now around 20-25mph, something kinda weird happens - the scooter feels as though it's
shifting gears. Now for those of you not familiar with the C3, it's got a Continuously Variable Transmission, which means, well, it shouldn't shift. Now, I gather that the weird shape of the rollers that were installed has something to do with this, probably causing some kind of change to do with the way the CVT is varying the gear ratio. Effectively, it's just like shifting.
Past 25mph, the engine revs a LOT lower than it used to, this has a few effects that would be expected of such a change: First, though my acceleration uphill is better until about 20-25, it, well...really sucks after that. Second, my top speed has gone up from 37mph to 43/44mph, quite a significant change. (I have no idea what it is since my speedometer stops counting at 60km/hr which is about 37mph and I can bury it now). Third, even with my "enjoying" the new top end of the scooter, I've gotten the best mileage tank yet, about 114mpg. (My previous best was 110.8mpg, and that was in much better weather - my last tank with the current weather was about 105mpg). Now, of course it's possible that there's a hiccup or something with my mileage, so I'll have to see how the next tank works out. I'm thinking that if I take it a little easier on the speed, I can probably get even better mileage.
If there are any other C3 owners this interests, I'll check what the part was for you. I'm not exactly Mr. Technical, if you couldn't tell.
Maybe I should start cardboard modding this thing. Kinda sounds like fun to me.