Switching from stock rollers to Dr. Pulley sliders.

k1dude · Post by **k1dude** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 2:58 am

Which weight should I choose? The stock 125 rollers are 11.5g. Lostmycage once posted that someone who weighs less than 170lbs should choose 13g Dr. Pulley Sliders. But that seems like a pretty drastic change. Or do slider and roller weights not correlate?

I know Eric doesn't like sliders. Does anyone have strong feelings one way or the other?

pdxrita · Post by **pdxrita** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 3:11 am

13g sounds pretty heavy for a 125. Maybe he was talking about the 150 when he made that recommendation? I put sliders in my Italia and I really liked the change. As for what size to choose, general rules are, lighter will get you off the line quicker, but you'll lose top end, heavier will slow down your off the line performance, but increase your top end a bit. So if you're happy with the current performance, keep the same weight. If not, then adjust accordingly.

Tocsik · Post by **Tocsik** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 3:16 am

You should be fine with 11.5, 12 or 12.5 gram sliders in your 125.
I see you are in North Cali; if there are a lot of hills, you might want to go with 11.5 or 12. the 13's would bog you down on hills for sure.

Skootz Kabootz · Post by **Skootz Kabootz** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 3:19 am

I prefer sliders. Personally I'd go with 12g and see how you like them. Next set you can go to 11g or 12.5g if you want. For the kind of riding I do I wouldn't go as heavy as 13g though. I tried 12.5 for a while as I was doing a long fast commute. They were OK but the uphill power and speed off the line suffered. Next install I am going back to 12g.

Tocsik · Post by **Tocsik** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 3:23 am

Skootz Kabootz wrote:I prefer sliders. Personally I'd go with 12g and see how you like them. Next set you can go to 11g or 12.5g if you want. For the kind of riding I do I wouldn't go as heavy as 13g though. I tried 12.5 for a while as I was doing a long fast commute. They were OK but the uphill power and speed off the line suffered. Next install I am going back to 12g.

Yeah, I ran 13's for a couple hundred miles. Loved it on the flats but they were just too dang heavy for regular riding. I have 'em as spares. Maybe I can get 11's next time and mix 'em every-other slot for ~12 gram equivalent.

k1dude · Post by **k1dude** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 3:31 am

Thanks for all the replies.

I don't mind the stock 11.5g. Of course in a perfect world, I'd have more acceleration off the line AND a higher top end. But since I can't have my cake and eat it too, I don't mind how my stock Buddy handles.

I also have some pretty big hills where I live and my Buddy slows to 45mph on those hills (50mph speed limit and drivers regularly do 55). So maybe I should stay with 11.5g. But maybe I should give the 12g a shot if it won't slow me down any more on the hills.

Edit: Oops. I just noticed Dr. Pulley sliders don't come in 11.5g. So I'll give the 12g's a shot.

k1dude · Post by **k1dude** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 3:44 am

If I'm swapping out my rollers and belt soon, should I also be upgrading my springs?

Skootz Kabootz · Post by **Skootz Kabootz** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 5:24 am

Tocsik wrote:
Skootz Kabootz wrote:I prefer sliders. Personally I'd go with 12g and see how you like them. Next set you can go to 11g or 12.5g if you want. For the kind of riding I do I wouldn't go as heavy as 13g though. I tried 12.5 for a while as I was doing a long fast commute. They were OK but the uphill power and speed off the line suffered. Next install I am going back to 12g.
Yeah, I ran 13's for a couple hundred miles. Loved it on the flats but they were just too dang heavy for regular riding. I have 'em as spares. Maybe I can get 11's next time and mix 'em every-other slot for ~12 gram equivalent.

That's what I did with 12g's and 13g's to get 12.5g. If you do combine weights be careful not to mix them up (like I did...). There is no way to tell the weights apart visually. So you'll need a very sensitive scale.

Tocsik · Post by **Tocsik** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 4:21 pm

k1dude wrote:Thanks for all the replies.

I don't mind the stock 11.5g. Of course in a perfect world, I'd have more acceleration off the line AND a higher top end. But since I can't have my cake and eat it too, I don't mind how my stock Buddy handles.

I also have some pretty big hills where I live and my Buddy slows to 45mph on those hills (50mph speed limit and drivers regularly do 55). So maybe I should stay with 11.5g. But maybe I should give the 12g a shot if it won't slow me down any more on the hills.

Edit: Oops. I just noticed Dr. Pulley sliders don't come in 11.5g. So I'll give the 12g's a shot.

If you go to 12 gram sliders, you will help the top end *a little*.
A good compensation to keep or improve off the line is go to a stiffer main spring (or contra spring). You can get one that engages the clutch at 1000, 1500 or 2000 rpm's higher than stock. I run the 1500 rpm main spring with 12 gram sliders and I like it. You will rev the motor just a little higher to get moving from a stop since the clutch engages at higher rpm's but it's no problem for the motor.

k1dude · Post by **k1dude** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 5:48 pm

Tocsik wrote:If you go to 12 gram sliders, you will help the top end *a little*.
A good compensation to keep or improve off the line is go to a stiffer main spring (or contra spring). You can get one that engages the clutch at 1000, 1500 or 2000 rpm's higher than stock. I run the 1500 rpm main spring with 12 gram sliders and I like it. You will rev the motor just a little higher to get moving from a stop since the clutch engages at higher rpm's but it's no problem for the motor.

Thanks Tocsik. I'll buy a 1500 spring. What rpm is the stock spring? I remember someone posting it, but I can't find it.

Skootz Kabootz · Post by **Skootz Kabootz** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 5:55 pm

If you're going to get the contra spring too then you might as well save some money and get the Dr Pulley Performance II Kit and get the DP variator to go with it.

http://www.buggypartsnw.com/home?page=s ... gory_id=36

k1dude · Post by **k1dude** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 6:08 pm

Skootz Kabootz wrote:If you're going to get the contra spring too then you might as well save some money and get the Dr Pulley Performance II Kit and get the DP variator to go with it.

http://www.buggypartsnw.com/home?page=s ... gory_id=36

Hmm. Interesting. Is the Dr. Pulley variator worth $80 more? Does it perform better than the stock variator or does it just look better?

I see NCY also has an upgrade kit (variator, clutch, and 1000 spring) for a lot more money. Is it that much better than both stock and Dr. Pulley?

Skootz Kabootz · Post by **Skootz Kabootz** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 6:38 pm

k1dude wrote:
Skootz Kabootz wrote:If you're going to get the contra spring too then you might as well save some money and get the Dr Pulley Performance II Kit and get the DP variator to go with it.

http://www.buggypartsnw.com/home?page=s ... gory_id=36
Hmm. Interesting. Is the Dr. Pulley variator worth $80 more? Does it perform better than the stock variator or does it just look better?

I see NCY also has an upgrade kit (variator, clutch, and 1000 spring) for a lot more money. Is it that much better than both stock and Dr. Pulley?

I've used this kit for years on my 150 (1500 spring, 12g sliders and DP variator). You get a much more even power ramp with the DP variator. Plus its designed to be used with the DP sliders. I assume the performance improvements I experienced on my 150 would be similar with a 125.

gitsum79 · Post by **gitsum79** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 6:46 pm

k1dude wrote:Of course in a perfect world, I'd have more acceleration off the line AND a higher top end. But since I can't have my cake and eat it too

Actually, you can when upgrading to Dr. Pulley sliders from standard rollers.

The sliders are equal to rollers that are about 1/2 gram lighter. The sliders also allow the belt to ride just a bit higher on the variator.

So if you go with about 1/2 gram lighter sliders you will definitely have more rpm's during acceleration, but still have at least the same top end if not an extra couple of miles more.

On my Honda Elite 110 I went with 1 gram lighter sliders, which put my motor further into the powerband during acceleration, but still gave me a solid 2 mph faster top end.

On my HD 200 EVO I went with the stock 16 gram weight when switching to sliders, because it was already tuned pretty close to perfect. It still picked up a bit of extra pep and with some air box and exhaust changes it tops out at a verified 80 mph.

k1dude · Post by **k1dude** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 8:17 pm

gitsum79 wrote:Actually, you can when upgrading to Dr. Pulley sliders from standard rollers.

The sliders are equal to rollers that are about 1/2 gram lighter. The sliders also allow the belt to ride just a bit higher on the variator.

So if you go with about 1/2 gram lighter sliders you will definitely have more rpm's during acceleration, but still have at least the same top end if not an extra couple of miles more.

On my Honda Elite 110 I went with 1 gram lighter sliders, which put my motor further into the powerband during acceleration, but still gave me a solid 2 mph faster top end.

On my HD 200 EVO I went with the stock 16 gram weight when switching to sliders, because it was already tuned pretty close to perfect. It still picked up a bit of extra pep and with some air box and exhaust changes it tops out at a verified 80 mph.

Good to know. Thanks. So should I just buy sliders for $28 and stop there - or buy the Dr. Pulley Performance kit that Skootz linked for $125?

And also I need to decide on 11g or 12g sliders (12's in the lead right now).

Hmm. Choices, choices.

smarkum · Post by **smarkum** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 1:32 am

Do any of these mods impact at the pump?

Tocsik · Post by **Tocsik** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 2:58 am

smarkum wrote:Do any of these mods impact at the pump?

Check out my Fuelly stats in my sig

.
And that's with 28,000 miles. I ride the poop out of my scooter, too. It's fun.