Help for J Costa install into B&W 250

[NigelB]

Hi All
I am a newbie to this forum and would like to hear from someone who has installed a J Costa variator into their 250 B&W. I bought my 2002 scoot in South Africa and shipped it over to New Zealand where I now live.

Some background:
I ride 80km (50miles) a day to work and back on flat roads, so I upgraded to the TKC muffler and 24g weight rollers. This gave me more top end and a really noisy scooter. 12months later the TKC bracket broke off, throwing the muffler on to the road which a car promptly rode over and destroyed. I resurrected my old muffler which has nothing left inside but still works.

My Variator:
After 30 000km (19k miles) using the 24g rollers I decided to service the belt/weights and my local scooter shop talked me into importing a J Costa variator + Malossi belt. Big bucks and 2 months later I installed the Costa. The instructions were not really good and I had no idea where to put the thin metal washer, but the rest of the installation was straightforward enough and I put in the new belt as well. However, during testing I found the revs to be way too high (60kph at 6000rpm) - definitely something wrong so I put the old belt back - same result, although the Malossi was a bit on the slack side with higher rpm's at takeoff.

The centre steel bush lengths of the Costa is identical to the stock bush, but I think that either the Costa bush is too long for this setup (maybe shorter with a spacer against the engine?) or the sliders are too light. No, I have not changed the clutch.

Has anyone had similar problems? Any advice appreciated.....

cheers
Nigel

[NigelB]

As a follow up to this (and  in case anyone is vaguely interested) I contacted J Costa directly and they emailed me an installation manual, different to and much better than the one supplied in the kit. However, the new instructions verified I was installing everything correctly - it is a very basic installation anyway.

I also took their advice and ordered and installed heavier 14g weights.

** Even with heavier weights, the J Costa variator still DOES NOT WORK **

OEM variator = 105kph (65mph) at 7000rpm
J Costa variator = 70kph (43mph) at 7000rpm

Both J Costa and my scooter shop have now gone quiet on me.

I can only assume that there must be an incorrect part in the kit, but J Costa is not forthcoming at all about any information. Very frustrating

In the meantime I have ordered some Dr Pulley weights to get me back on the road again......

[Trancebear]

Is the new belt the same size as the stock one?

[NigelB]

Yes, I tested with both the new and stock belts, so yes, I have become quite good at changing the belts and variators....

[Trancebear]

Is this the variator you bought?

http://www.sip-scootershop.com/en/products/variator+jcosta+for+kymco+_jc6138fs

[NigelB]

Yep, that's the one as far as the product code goes, although the rear housing looks different, but I think the pic is just a sample pic. The supplied weights were actually lighter, 12.5g, so I ordered 14g weights which did not work so well either.

[NigelB]

Hi all
Just an update on this issue - I sent everything back to J Costa. I still believe there is something wrong in the kit that was sent to me. Just waiting for my refund now......

In the meantime my Dr Pulley weights are just awesome! I installed 26g weights which I think is really the highest the scoot can handle on my weight. The rpms have dropped by about 2000rpm at 105kph !!! Currently it is 6000, used to be almost 8000. High speed cruising is now virtually effortless....

I also installed a new rear tyre and drive belt.

cheers

[zombie]

I missed this thread so anything added may be moot. The costa is a whole nuther animal. I've read on mainly Spanish forums about tunning these set ups. They are great on the largest engines but are uncontrollable on 250cc or less. They meed Constant adding of Teflon lube to keep the pins sliding freely. You just didn't have heavy enough pins. More tuning/time may have gotten you good results but all the parts are very expensive, and there is very little support for Costa products. I don't blame you for bailing.