[jonstover]

Gents (and ladies just in case),

I've been the owner of a used '08 ASW 150cc for about 3 months now. When I first got it I realized it had been riddin pretty hard, but didn't know much about them. Since learning about them, I have put a new clutch assembly with 2000 torque spring, 1500 clutch arm springs, new variator with 10 gram rollers and a new belt. These changes made a noticable difference in overal driving, but there is still some issue.

I took it to some general terrain (rolling hills, grass, leaves, etc.), nothing a small go kart likely couldn't handle. Unfortunately I still have the same problem I had when I first purchased it, if on an incline facing forward, it will simply not pull itself up the hill. In fact, it creates so much tension in the CVT it will break the variator fan nut lose almost every time. During this the tires never move. you can just feel the motor is stressed and transmission under tension, but it just can't generate the momentum to move forward.

Interesting enough, once it gets to 5-10 MPHs, it can take about any incline if it doesn't have to slow much. On the street i can reach 38MPH on flat road and maintain 25 MPH after moving full speed as I climb a steep incline. If I ever start on an incline it really struggles to get moving. In reverse however I can dig a trench on any terrain.

The engine runs great. The CVT seems solid, especially with all the new parts. If it were a car or ATV, I would say the transmission is stuck in high gear, but from the little I know, I don't think that's possible given how these buggies are configured. So my only guess is something is going on in the gearbox, but I can't find anything online or in forums that talks about potential issues or tearing these boxes apart and replacing parts.

Have any of you heard of similar symptoms or have any thoughts on what the issue might be? I hate to start messing with gears and shafts, but I've been all over this thing, so at this point, I'll tear completely apart I guess.

Thanks in advance for any advice you might have. I'm going nuts!

Jon