CF MOTO eating belts!

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04-12-2009, 11:16 PM
stevenjyork

CF MOTO eating belts!

Hello all I'm new here,

my name is Steven York I am the proud owner of a CF Moto V3 also sold under the Baron and Qlink brand names. For those of you not familiar, the bike is a 250cc single cylinder scooter/motorcycle with a belt driven CVT. I bought it direct from the Chinese manufacturer in Oct of 2006. About 18-24 months in, the stock drive belt went out. I was new in town so I wasn't quite sure where to go, I had it taken to a shop and about 4 months later (seriously) they got a new belt and rollers on it. I use to take it at freeway speeds a lot more back then, so when they replaced the belt I had them put in slightly heavier rollers (I got the MRP ceramic sliders at 25 grams i think) and I asked for a Kevlar belt to take the extra weight.

About 5 of 6 months later the belt went out again! While 18-24 months was to be expected (especially with freeway driving) I was not happy about 6 months after the shop put in a new one. Assuming the shop screwed me with a crap belt or installed it wrong, this time I dove into it myself.

I contacted Lee Thomas at BEAUFORT MOTORSPORTS for help and he graciously walked me through the process on the phone. Mr. Thomas owns BEAUFORT MOTORSPORTS and their soul purpose is "triking" these bikes. He sells hundreds of triked v3s and v5s a year and deals straight with CF Moto USA. Needless to say he knows these bikes inside and out.

He was concerned that the front variator may need replacing but after a few wiggle-this-pull-that tests we determined it must have just been a shoddy belt. I got a new Malossi Kevlar belt made especially for this bike and a new lighter set of mrp rollers (I was driving considerably more in town after the move and wanted a little more get up and go. The weights are 15 or 18 grams, only 2-5 grams lighter than stock and again they are sliders.)

With Mr. Thomas's help I cleaned the entire casing replaced the rollers cleaned the clutch and installed the new belt. It has been running great, better than ever in fact until today. I was pulling out at a moderate rate from a stop sign and at about 15-20mph there was an incredible squeal and I lost propulsion.

I just walked the bike home. I've yet to get the case off of it but I'm sure the belt has gone again. Last time the belt was so mangled we couldn't determine the cause of damage (or the manufacturer for that matter) I could tell that either before or after the failure the belt slipped the rear clutch and became lodged in between the rear clutch plate and the case.

What could be causing such quick failures of the belts? At $137 a pop I'm not to excited to put another one on there without diagnosing it. Any help? :confused1:
04-13-2009, 12:27 AM
forchetto

Hello and welcome to the forum. The CF Moto V3 is one of my favourite Chinese bikes. A great concept (automatic motorcycle-scooter hybrid), and on the road well before the Honda DN-01 and Aprilia Mana we hear so much about. CF Moto produces what are probably the only original designs in the Chinese industry, even if they use a clone of the old Honda Helix engine. (Type number 172MM-A, I think).
Unfortunately the Spanish importer's service, and their dealer network leaves a lot to be desired...

I can't really help you with the excessive wear of the CVT belt problem, although I understand that the size is critical. Too long, for example and excessive slippage occurrs, leading to rapid wear. They always recommend measuring an original belt for overall length, thickness and inside and outside widths to ensure any replacements are exactly the same.

Overheating could also damage the belt. Have you checked the cooling air intake to the CVT housing and its foam filter (if fitted), and the fan?.

The squealing points to a catastrophic failure of some component rather than just normal wear. This only causes the performance to drop gradually. Perhaps it's only the variator nut that has come undone. This has to be very tight (around 50-60Nm) and tightening them is not easy, specially if you haven't got the holding tool to stop the variator rotating while it's being tightened.
04-13-2009, 04:40 PM
CrazyCarl

I had a similar problem on my wife's 50cc scooter in China. The belts would get totally destroyed (looked like they exploded) every couple months or so. It was a problem with the front variator/pulley. When it got replaced with a newish stock pulley, the problem went away.

Unfortunately the mechanic did not exactly explain what the problem was and just replaced it. Either way, I know a malfunctioning variator can cause all kindza problems.

C
06-05-2009, 08:16 PM
messenger61

I searched quite a while for a replacement belt for the V3.
The belt for the Kymco People 250cc works (Don't know how long, but it works)
An it's not too expensive.

I just got in contact with the manufacturer (CF).
It is possible (but rather expensive) to order parts from China.

CFMOTO has just opened a european headquarter in Paris.
But they do not have parts for the V3.
06-05-2009, 09:04 PM
CrazyCarl

Have you tried calling the CFMoto USA division? I've talked with one of their regional sales reps at a local show and they seem to have their act fairly well together for a C-Moto company.

1-800-372-4323 or email: info@cfmoto-usa.com

http://www.cfmoto-usa.com/parts.html

This link even has their V3 Parts catalog as well as their V3 and V5 Engine Catalog for download.

:scooter:
CC
06-05-2009, 10:14 PM
forchetto

Quote:

Originally Posted by messenger61

CFMOTO has just opened a european headquarter in Paris.
But they do not have parts for the V3.

They ought to have. The bike is sold in Spain as a CSR Cruiser:

http://www.csrmoto.com/html/index_motocicletas.html
06-07-2009, 02:24 PM
messenger61

Quote:

Originally Posted by forchetto

They ought to have. The bike is sold in Spain as a CSR Cruiser:

http://www.csrmoto.com/html/index_motocicletas.html

Interesting, thanks for the info.

Seems that CFMOTO is currently changing the distribution system. From selling containers to everybody to CFMOTO owned subsidaries and licensed dealers selling bikes under the CFMOTO brand name. Don't know what happens to the dealers selling under their own brand name (as CSR).

Are the CSR bikes Euro3 compatible? (emission norms).
06-07-2009, 06:10 PM
forchetto

Quote:

Originally Posted by messenger61

Are the CSR bikes Euro3 compatible? (emission norms).

I don't know. I thought no carburetted bike could comply nowadays. Makers that have recently gone for fuel injection like Honda Innova, Honda CBF125, even the Indian Royal enfield, etc say they've gone for Electronic fuel injection to comply with Euro 3.
They have a Euro homologation number: e4*2002/24*0471*00. Don't really know what it means.
06-11-2009, 04:46 PM
messenger61

Quote:

Originally Posted by forchetto

I don't know. I thought no carburetted bike could comply nowadays. Makers that have recently gone for fuel injection like Honda Innova, Honda CBF125, even the Indian Royal enfield, etc say they've gone for Electronic fuel injection to comply with Euro 3.
They have a Euro homologation number: e4*2002/24*0471*00. Don't really know what it means.

CFMOTO also has fuel injected scooters, the E-Charm 125cc with FI is sold in a big auto parts chain right around my corner (under the "Explorer" brand name).
There is a Jonway Scooter (carburetted) with 244cc engine on the market in Germany currently (should be EURO3 compliant). But there are no (known) CFMOTO 244cc engines or scooters with FI or EURO3. I think CF will be switching over to the new Jet-Max 250cc engine with FI sooner or later.