CVT TRANNY MOD

Taking the CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) apart and putting it back together is easy.  One nut holds it together, but take the belt off before you remove the nut.  Nothing will spring out of the CVT unit when you pull it apart and it's easy to figure out where everything goes.
CVT

My tranny was all gummed up when I took it apart, the centrifical weights (little cylinders shown in photo) were scored up, and the plastic end caps were worn down.  I cleaned all the crap out of the tranny, greased it (go easy on the grease or you'll have grease flying out the side of the CVT  and onto your leg while you drive it).  I slapped it back together and I gained about 5 kph (I didn't bother putting the little centrifical weight retainers back in, they are 3 thin metal clips held down by 2 screws a piece to hold the weights in place, and my CVT works the same without them).  I knew the front sheaves (pulley halves) weren't closing together all the way so I pounded some small lead fishing weights into the center of the centrifical weights using a punch (see the photo below).
Punch, CVT weights, and lead fishing weights

The heavier weights worked great and increased the top speed by another 10 kph (top speed now about 50 kph) while not taking away from the bottom end by any noticable amount;  I would recommend doing this mod, if you aren't pleased you can always pound the lead out.  I thought I could get more out of it, so I went down to the local hardware store with one of my centrifical weights in my hand.  I bought a high grade bolt with the same diameter as the weight (maybe slightly larger, but don't go much bigger than 1 or 2 mm or it'll be geared too tall from a standstill).  The bolt had a long section without threads on it which is what I cut into three sections and used as new centrifical weights.  Buy a couple of blades for your hacksaw while you are at the hardware store because those high grade bolts will eat up your blade before you're done your first cut (cutting the bolt into three sections took me about an hour, but it would take much less time if you replaced the blade every half cut or so).  Also be sure to file any burs off of the end of the sections as they will shred the insides of your CVT.  Grease those new sections before putting them in because you no longer have the plastic bushings to reduce wear.  I don't think this mod is particularly good for the CVT, but I'm sure the parts that would wear out are cheap, and mine seem to be holding up just fine after a few months of use.  This added 8 kph to my ped (top speed now 58 kph), but it is a lot weaker from a standstill and it really slows down on the hills, too bad cause that 8 kph sure is nice on the flats.  The bottom end loss is not worth it for the top end gain with the bolts for weights if you need to take decent sized hills in your daily ride, and I just recently swapped back to the lead filled centrifical weights.  I would recommend pounding the lead fishing weights into the centrifical weights for some more top speed, but don't bother with the bolts for weights.