Impressions after upgrading to Dr. Pulley variator/sliders.

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k1dude
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Impressions after upgrading to Dr. Pulley variator/sliders.

Post by k1dude »

It's been recommended on this site for years to upgrade to a Dr. Pulley variator and 12 gram sliders for improved performance over the stock variator and rollers on a 125. My experience has been less than stellar over about 300 miles after the upgrade.

Compared to stock, my upgrade has decreased my rate of acceleration and my top end has lost about 3 mph. The stock variator and rollers were very peppy, fast, and responsive. It accelerated quickly and maintained a good top end of about 63 mph. It had no problems climbing most hills.

Now my acceleration is sluggish, response is slow, and I can barely get to 60 mph after a long run-up. It seems to struggle with hills of any gradient.

I did change the belt from the stock Bando to a Gates at the time of the upgrade, so maybe that's the problem. Or perhaps the surfaces of the new variator need more time to polish up. Or maybe I should've chosen 11 gram sliders instead of 12. But whatever the case may be, so far I'm not impressed.

Interestingly, my gas mileage has increased from about 80 mpg to 90 mpg.

IMHO, stick with the stock variator and rollers.
sc00ter
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Post by sc00ter »

My friend got the Dr. Pulley variator and it works great in his Buddy 125. He's heavy (around 225-240) and I do not recall what Dr. Pulley sliders he went with. He also combined it later with a gear-up/reduction box swap from a Psycho if I recall. We somehow got the off the line launch dialed in very well and gained about 5ish mph top end with no flat spots. Take the time to dial it in, its worth the time.
Yalzin
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Post by Yalzin »

Did you go with 12g because others told you to, or because it was the right weights for you/your bike/riding situations?
ucandoit
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Post by ucandoit »

K1 I appreciate your post as next year or so my rollers and belt will be due for replacement. I'm happy with my Buddy as is. I plan to go with stock parts.
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k1dude
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Post by k1dude »

sc00ter wrote:My friend got the Dr. Pulley variator and it works great in his Buddy 125. He's heavy (around 225-240) and I do not recall what Dr. Pulley sliders he went with. He also combined it later with a gear-up/reduction box swap from a Psycho if I recall. We somehow got the off the line launch dialed in very well and gained about 5ish mph top end with no flat spots. Take the time to dial it in, its worth the time.
I understand that if I spend a lot of time, money, and effort upgrading and tuning, I can eek out some marginal gains over the stock 125 Buddy.

But for years, many here have recommended the Dr. Pulley variator and 12 gram slider upgrade as being the single best bang-for-the-buck performance upgrade you can do. Supposedly the felt difference was immediate and noticeable.

Any further upgrades had diminishing returns for the time, money, and effort required for those marginal gains compared to the simple variator/slider upgrade.

I was just posting my experience after doing the upgrade. I'm disappointed so far. I lost performance both on the low end and the top end and everything between. I would have kept it stock had I known better and not heeded the glowing reviews here for the upgrade.
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k1dude
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Post by k1dude »

Yalzin wrote:Did you go with 12g because others told you to, or because it was the right weights for you/your bike/riding situations?
Yes, for the past decade+, people here have recommended the 12 gram sliders almost exclusively. IIRC, only one heavier rider recommended the 11 gram sliders for acceleration, but he rarely exceeded 45 mph.
sc00ter
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Post by sc00ter »

Strange results but yes, the Buddy 125 is almost perfect as is. My friend got the Dr. Pulley only because the stock one got damaged and the Dr. Pulley was cheaper than the OEM. He also went with the sliders as well, but we tuned it with tuning rollers first and he than ordered the sliders. If the original belt is still good put it back on just in case. We only use the OEM belts on our scooters because we have found no improvements with a so called aftermarket belt.
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babblefish
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Post by babblefish »

I'm pretty sure the Dr. Pulley set added 3-4 MPH to my top speed, but it might very well have been a placebo effect. But then, there are a lot of things that I do to my various vehicles that are probably more placebo than actual, but it makes me feel good...Lol!
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skully93
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Post by skully93 »

I have the NCY variator setup, and 11g if I remember right, on my 150.

IT significantly smoothed it all out, ant it takes off faster. Standard Gates belt is what's on there methinks.
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k1dude
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Post by k1dude »

babblefish wrote:I'm pretty sure the Dr. Pulley set added 3-4 MPH to my top speed, but it might very well have been a placebo effect. But then, there are a lot of things that I do to my various vehicles that are probably more placebo than actual, but it makes me feel good...Lol!
Do you recall the weight of your sliders?

I think most people replace old, worn, and flat rollers. So they perceive a beneficial performance improvement with the new components. My rollers were still fine.
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k1dude
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Post by k1dude »

skully93 wrote:I have the NCY variator setup, and 11g if I remember right, on my 150.

IT significantly smoothed it all out, ant it takes off faster. Standard Gates belt is what's on there methinks.
Perhaps I should try some 11's.
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babblefish
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Post by babblefish »

k1dude wrote:
babblefish wrote:I'm pretty sure the Dr. Pulley set added 3-4 MPH to my top speed, but it might very well have been a placebo effect. But then, there are a lot of things that I do to my various vehicles that are probably more placebo than actual, but it makes me feel good...Lol!
Do you recall the weight of your sliders?

I think most people replace old, worn, and flat rollers. So they perceive a beneficial performance improvement with the new components. My rollers were still fine.
I've tried 12 and 13 gm sliders. The only difference I felt was a higher take-off RPM with the lighter sliders, which makes sense. The higher top speed was with the heavier sliders.
Some people can break a crowbar in a sandbox.
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Post by scootERIK »

I tried out the 11.5 grams Dr. Pulley sliders in my Buddy 125 and they performed ok. Acceleration and top speed were basically the same as the stock rollers. I only used sliders one time because they stopped sliding at around 4k(rollers usually last me 10k.)

For the last 30k plus I have been running Dr. Pulley rollers. I have tried both the 11g and 12g and I feel like the 11g are a better weight(at some point I might try a set of 10g.) The 11g give good acceleration and top speed. The 12g ones didn't give me any more top speed and they didn't accelerate as quickly. Also the 12g rollers didn't like going up hills or into headwinds. But the 12g do give you better gas mileage if you ride between 35-50mph most of the time.
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k1dude
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Post by k1dude »

scootERIK wrote:I tried out the 11.5 grams Dr. Pulley sliders in my Buddy 125 and they performed ok. Acceleration and top speed were basically the same as the stock rollers. I only used sliders one time because they stopped sliding at around 4k(rollers usually last me 10k.)

For the last 30k plus I have been running Dr. Pulley rollers. I have tried both the 11g and 12g and I feel like the 11g are a better weight(at some point I might try a set of 10g.) The 11g give good acceleration and top speed. The 12g ones didn't give me any more top speed and they didn't accelerate as quickly. Also the 12g rollers didn't like going up hills or into headwinds. But the 12g do give you better gas mileage if you ride between 35-50mph most of the time.
Hmm. Sounds like your experience is the same as mine. Perhaps I need to buy some 11g Dr. Pulley rollers.
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Post by lovemysan »

Change one thing at a time. Second, mark off a test track. I use a 600' test hill and the stock speedo. You don't need anything else. I start at the manhole and go the no parking sign then look down at the speedo. I don't really have anywhere to test top speed thats safe and never really got hung up on it.


With a stock engine tuning the transmission may or may not yield results. Especially for a heavier rider. If you reduce the roller weight you will gain acceleration but only for the time that the engine is making peak power. So in theory if you lighten the weights too much your 0-20 might improve but your 20-50 might be slower due to the engine working at an rpm that is above its peak power. If you go heavier you will be lowering rpms across the range. This will only improve top speed if the engine makes enough power. A light person will see more top end a heavy person less.

When I first put my new variator and gates belt on it lowered the launch rpm. After 20-30 miles it settled down back to normal. I guess the variator needed a glaze on it


I prefer the NCY golden variator because it has a higher initial ratio. It really only effects the first 20 feet of acceleration. If you want to wheelie its what you need.

If you want an actual difference in power get a big bore kit. If you want to really wake it up a ported head(150 head), camshaft, and big bore kit.
161cc big bore kit, NCY big valve head Hand ported, NCY transmission kit, jetted and tuned. I can port your cylinder head.
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