Honda SWT-400 personal log

My 2nd Malaguti Spidermax died with just 18000 km because of a broken piston ring and I need a cheap (<3000 Euro) and reliable big scooter. The selection is limited if you live on a small island.
I test rode a Kymco Xciting 500 (caburator model) what had a very bad acceleration and horrible hill climbing capacity - with only the rider. Yurks

updated 2019-11-16

I was tempted by a 650 Burgman but there is a 16% incline direct from our house up the street and  having seen that bikes belt failure, I will exclude this Burgman. (The metal segments are secured by 2 very slim rubber belts what hold the whole thing together,  rupture results in a $3000+ repair.)

A Burgman 400 K7 was tried earlier and they are for cruising not sporty hill climbing.
Everything with a Piaggio engine I mistrusted now especially after reading an insider report what major cost cutting is going on by Piaggio. If you think Boeing, you are in the right ball park.

That left very little in the 400cc and above range. For some reason 300-350cc is very popular now and the former maxi-scooters went mostly the way of the dinosaurs.

 I found a 2009 400 Silver Wing (old model), tried it with only 30.000km and the experience was like similar to the Kymco.  My wife and I agreed after the first 2 minutes - NO WAY - not only a horrible slow acceleration comparable to an old 50ps non turbo Jetta diesel but also the very bad hill climbing capacity combined with a wobbly ride and the seating positions were less than optimal.
... sigh

Then another Silver Wing 400 from 2009 but the new model with a fancy designed top case. I read a lot of good test scores in the ride reviews about the newer model (2009) of the Honda Silver Wing called SW-T400 or SWT-600.

We rode the Honda directly in our place, tried the 16% incline 2 up and were quite happy. The way this bike was behaving, except a slight steering bar wobble around 40kmh with relaxed hands, was like my 6 roller conversion on the modified Spidermax. Somebody must have tinkered with the CVT.
The problem was, this bike already had 72000km, but was well cared for and looked more than OK.
We came to an agreement then the SWT-400 changed owners.

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1st check up

As time goes by, I changed all the little things to make the Honda more convenient, safer and more fun.

I started with the CVT check, removed the plugs and did an endoscopy of each piston also a general looking around. There were a new belt and spark plugs, the Malossi rollers looked near new if it was not for the scraped off writing on some rollers side. The break disks and pads were new, the front tire was new, so the previous owner invested some money in it to keep up with the maintenance in a positive way.
 

If you ever work on the spark plugs, get yourself one of these micro ratchets

Clutch pads

When I opened the CVT for a second time, I wanted to have a look at the clutch bell and the state of the clutch also.
The bell looked good with ho heat discoloration or wear marks but the clutch pads showed burn marks on 1/3 of the surface. (That happens with stock rollers because they slowly engage the clutch for the extra softness)

no need for action, a few 1000 km with my Canary CVT mod and they are fine again.

Abrasions

There were also some abrasions in the CVT lid and on the clutch ring holder from a previous wrong install. -  I colored both parts and put it back together and on the next opening there was no scraping on the colored surfaces. So this seems fixed.
I noticed micro slits all around the driving pulley where it is in contact with the belt. That is a new one to me, will keep an eye on these disks. Nothing on the driven pulley.

...
more to come