Here are some photos of our recent rebuild of this 1982 Honda FL250 Odyssesy variator pulley, an early version of the style used on many modern scooters and even cars these days. Photos of this process seem pretty scarce out there so hopefully this helps!
The old variator assembly after removing the outer bell housing - notice the roller arms are flopping because the springs for these two rollers were broken - only 1 functional roller was left! Also, you do need an especially long puller to remove the variator from the driveshaft - the one we used was about 6" long
Each variator roller is held in by an M6 bolt with an M10 head, which is also held by a locking tab. We were able to use a large flathead screwdriver inserted through the center of the roller to bend it back and access the locking tab and bolt to remove them.
New rollers installed! We assembled each one completely with both springs, then levered each spring forward onto the roller arm. We used a spring puller to pull the end up, then a flathead behind the spring to hold it while using another flathead to slide it over onto the roller where it holds in place. Notice how the new rollers are holding firmly agains the central spindle now. When the engine is turning, centrifugal force has to overcome the springs on the rollers and thus spread the cones farther apart, so the drive belt falls lower - this is how it changes the gear ratio as you accelerate :)
Everything back together! And with the bell housing cleaned off you can actually see the manufacturers stamp on the retaining band. These were originally made in the USA by Salisbury for Honda.
