2010-10-20

The (short) Colt 3 Conversion long term test

➤➤➤ Optimizing the Piaggio MASTER 500cc CVT part V


2010-10-20 16.27
We have October 2010 and I am starting a long term test with my favorite Colt Conversion to see how the rollers and the belt behave compared to the 8 roller factory setting.

After 37200 km my Malaguti Spidermax 500GT got her first new rollers, a new belt and in a few days also a new clutch.

The rollers needed replacement, the belt was still going strong but had a 4 mm deep fissure in one tooth, so for the durance of this test he serves as a spare. The clutch springs I messed up while checking the clutch function without the clutch bell installed (see the video clips). After tinkering around with some springs from the hardware store I decided for this test everything should be in new condition.
From the washer and dryer test I have installed the 3 mm washer instead of the standard 2 mm washer.
Since I am often in the mountains I think the washer will enhance the low speed high rpm ratio a bit.

The new rollers are 21 gram original Piaggio 15 Euro for 8.
I did some speed to rpm tests

speed is in km/h
speed - 8 rollers - 6 rollers - 4 rollers - 4 rollers with 3 mm washer
020 - 2100 rpm - not measured - 3000 rpm - 3000 rpm
040 - 3000 rpm - not measured - 4000 rpm - 4000 rpm
060 - 3700 rpm - 4000 rpm - 4500 rpm - 5000 rpm
080 - 4500 rpm - 4500 rpm - 5000 rpm - 5500 rpm
100 - 5200 rpm - 5200 rpm - 5500 rpm - 6300 rpm
120 - 6000 rpm - 6000 rpm - 6000 rpm - 6700 rpm
140 - 7000 rpm - 7000 rpm - 7000 rpm - 7500 rpm
160 - 8000 rpm - 8000 rpm - 8000 rpm - not possible

Accelerating from 40 km/h with Wide Open Throttle the rpm shoots upwards and less than a second later is at 7500 rpm.
On the test ride above 80 km/h and WOT I saw often upper 7000 rpm numbers. 7900, 8000 and even once 8100 without the rpm limiter kicking in was seen but the V-max was below 150 km/h.

The Colt 3 Conversion is clearly not for everyone. If your speed limit is 100 to 120 than this conversion will give you the maximum power and torque in the 0 to 100 km/h band.
If you need speeds above 120 km/h often stay with the 2 mm original washer.

After this short road test I can confirm, the 1 mm difference in washers makes a difference.
The engine felt more like a turbine than an otto motor. You gain 500 rpm and more in WOT situations.

The mountain test with 2 riders was awesome. The response from the Colt 3 Conversion is even faster then with the outstanding Colt Conversion.
I tried to capture the feeling with a few clips.
Now they are shot from the backseat with an outstretched arm and a slight zoom. You can imagine that the result is not very steady.
Luckily I have the amazing Sony HX5 with a 10 time more effective active mode stabilisation (more info, see my HX5 blog).
To get the most out of this video, view in HD and use pause often the read the instruments more clearly.

this is the first part what had some problem in the clip below. 0-70 km/h
I need to accelerate slowly for the first second since my clutch springs are not working properly and the clutch engages below 2000 rpm.





2010-10-20
Surprisingly the consumption with the Colt 3 Conversion is only marginally higher than the Colt Conversion. But then the nearly identical consumption from the Colt Conversion with the factory setup was a puzzler for me a year ago in the beginning too.

Replaced the 3 mm washer with the standard 2 mm to see if I still notice a difference.
Yes there is a difference.
After testing the bike in near all road conditions from high speed to the twisties uphill the mountains here is my conclusion.

The Colt Conversion is the better all round setup. While the Colt 3 is superior in speeds below 100 km/h it looses noticeably above 100 km/h. While the Colt speeds up a particular Hill with 130 km/h the Colt 3 struggles to reach 120 km/h.

Also with the 3 mm washer the new belt is still scraping occasionally on the lower metal part of the lid mount.

Right now I try to get a setup between the Colt and the Colt 3.

The Colt 3 Conversion test will terminate now, but another long term test will start with the Canary Conversion.

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