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I thought this was an interesting and possibly useful guide.  It's real similar to some of the spark plug diagnosis guides.

http://www.smellofdeath.com/lloydy/piston_diag_guide.htm

As many of you have seen from a few leaks on other threads,  I have been experimenting with a technique called variator notching.   The idea behind it is to elongate the roller ramps.  This enables the rollers to travel further thus pushing the pulley faces closer together and allowing the belt to ride all the way to the top of the pulley face.

On my initial trial with just roughly filed and sanded ramps I used my Dr. Pulley sliders and did actually get the belt riding up higher on the pulley faces, but still about 4mm from the edge.  Previously it had been running almost 8mm from the edge.  I also gained about 2-3mph faster top speed as compared to the Malossi multivar I run normally.  I tested this by taking a permanent marker and drawing radial lines across the variator face and measuring how much of the line was left after the test run. 

I was pretty exited about my first test run with the stock notched variator as it seemed to out-perform my Malossi!  I then proceeded to file and finish sand the ramps smoother.  In doing so, I ended up removing a little bit more material off the ends of the ramps.  I also took about .3-.5mm off the center of the face side to allow the pulley halves to come a little bit closer together.

With high hopes I re-installed the notched variator this afternoon to give it another test run.  I started the scoot and reved it a bit while on the center stand.  Then there was a change in noise, and the engine wanted to stall, didn't sound good!  I immediately killed the engine and pulled the cvt cover back off.  Two of my sliders had wedged sideways at the end of the ramp!

For now I'm going to have to call my experiment a Fail!  I still have reason to believe that this technique works and if done the proper way will out-perform many of the performance variators on the market.  I think I just took about 1mm too much material off!  I think even the way mine is now it may work with rollers instead of sliders.  I just don't have any rollers the correct weight to get a good comparison right now.

I think that ultimately, variator notching does work and is a viable performance enhancement if done very carefully!  It may take a bit of trial and error to get it right.  If you're on a budget and are considering buying a performance variator anyways, you may as well give it shot.  It could very well save you some money!  If it doesn't work, you're back were you started buying an new performance one!  I will however say that it is a very time consuming process and there is no way to really make it any faster.  If you try and remove too much material too quickly you'll most likely screw it up!  Take your time with a file and sandpaper, don't bust out the hacksaw and dremel!

I'm attaching a few pics.  The first one is of my roughly cut ramps.  This is the point at which I made my initial test.   Second is the after much more sanding and filing.  The cut aways are a little larger at this point, but this allowed for a smoother ramp.  This is the point at which I had the slider get wedged.  Third is of the face showing where I removed the .5mm around the center.

This question may be focused mostly towards Zombie, but if others have experience please chime in.  I got my Avon tires yesterday and got them mounted up.  My question is, I would really like to be able to re-attach the rear inner fender because it helps keep dirt from kicking up on my air filter.  The 130/70-12 tire fits with minimal clearance on the CVT side front. When I try and put the fender back in it binds between the engine air shroud and the tire.  There is also a bolt that holds the left half of the air shroud on right, but it actually seems to be rubbing on the right side shroud just where the halves meet.  I'm curious what the simplest place to remove some material is?  Should I grind on the air shroud, or the fender?  I'm also concerned that if I remove the piece of the air shroud that it will then bind on the bold.  Just looking for some ideas.  Thanks!

The front brake on my Vento project was in pretty bad shape!  The viewing window was cracked and leaking, and the whole system was full of sludge!  I took everything apart and cleaned it all thoroughly.  I came up with a fix for the viewing window which seems to be working nicely!  I haven't had a chance to try it out on the bike, but it has held for a few weeks now, and holds pressure when I pump it.  I just popped out the broken window, which has a compression ring around the front and an o-ring in the back and sandwiched a dime between.  I don't need to see how much fluid is in there, if I do I can take the cap off!  I may do this to my ZX50 in the future if it works out.  Those windows are plastic and the brake fluid breaks it down over time.  Seems like they would have used glass!

I pulled all of the plastics off to get a good look at everything to begin some troubleshooting of my top speed issues.  I previously plugged the oil pump inlet & outlet lines because I switched premix when I did the upgrades.  I believe that the oil pump o-ring is part of the seal of the entire crankcase, is this correct?  It was leaking like this before I did my upgrades.  I tried replacing the 0-ring and it seemed to be better, but I just disconnected to be safe.  There is no mounting screws that attach it directly to the crankcase, just a bracket that keeps it from popping out.  How can I seal the hole if I completely remove it?  I think that it may be leaking, thus causing some of my performance loss!  The other apparent leak is where the throttle cable enters the top of the carb.  I'm not sure if this particular point is cause for concern, because there is no apparent seal around this area.  Could this be causing some of my troubles also?  I am going to try and attach some pics.  Thanks for the help!

Ok, I know it's not a Kymco, but I just acquired a 2004 Vento Triton R4.  It was too good a deal to pass up!    It is definitely going to be a project!  I was hoping someone might know where I can download a service manual.  I have been unable to find one anywhere!  I did find one for the Vento Zip, which is very similar, but would really like to have the correct one.  Thanks!

Does anybody have any experience tuning an Arreche 19mm carb?  I just got one for my zx50.  Along with a Technigas pipe and Airsal 70cc big bore kit.  I got it running and idling.  I just cant get the main jet tuned right.  When I give it more than about 3/4 throttle there isn't really anymore acceleration.  The motor seems to make a clicking noise.  I can't really tell if it's internal, or just something rattling.  I'm running an 85 jet right now.  I had the 90 in it, but seemed to do the same, however I have it running better overall since I had the 90 in it.  The needle is in the middle clip position.  I'm about to do some plug chops, but it seems that it may be quite a bit off.  Just wanted to get some opinions before I throw a bunch of plugs at it. 
Thanks, Shaka