Modern Vespa

For a long time I have had a judder on the front end of my 221. Between 60 and 70mph it vibrates and goes away as it speeds up. This is no big issue but when slowing down from high speed, especially suddenly its more concerning. Some years ago I brought stick on balance weights and had a go at balancing it on the scooter. Results mediocre. Better but not gone. Done this for a few front tyres with similar results. All the time I was sure it just needed doing better.

Game changer. Brought a bike wheel balancing jig on ebay, cheap Chinese garbage but hey, it worked. Now 20g stuck on (in the right place) and its wonderful, like silk brushing over velvet in the breeze.

Here's a recent thread with more discussion by our pals
Tire/Wheel Balancing


If you do this yourself, balance the hub on its own first. Be sure to fit all 5 wheel nuts.


My jig. I'm going to be balancing everything myself from now on.

Hmmm, if you tried an entire assembly and put the valve stem where the weights are I wonder if you would need less weight?

Good one Jack! I was pleasantly surprised when I balanced the hubs and rims on the P200. The front end used to wobble a bit when I'd go hands free. Now it's smooth as butter...


Balancing the hub so when I change rims/tires all that needs balancing is the rim/tires.

I've been wanting to do this but wasn't sure if those cheap Chinese ones would be worth it. Looks so.

Jack - have just a faint amount of what you describe - right between 50-55

That’s two votes for balancing.
Suspect I’m gonna really like the effects now that I’m seeing that speed more.

Also suspect my new 11” rims are more unbalanced than my last.
Will be interesting to find out!

Thanks foe posting y’all.
Will let you know if it makes a difference on mine.

This is the one I got Swiss: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PT9D8KJ/ It looks like it's unavailable, but you get the drift.

I had to lube up the bearings so it spun super easy, which makes balancing more precise.

qa, seems all those similar ones on amazon are unavailable. Shortage of wheel balancers in the force!

I just ordered this one:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HGXCTK8/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

with these weights:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08GFQVYHG/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have this Marc Parnes wheel balancer that i sometimes use on my KTM's... http://www.marcparnes.com/KTM_Motorcycle_Wheel_Balancer.htm In the motorcycle world, you would have the tire and tube mounted while you balance it. Also, on brand new tires (both moto and auto) look for the yellow and red "ink stamped dot". They get lined up with the valve stem depending on how your bare rim is weighted. https://www.topgear.com.ph/features/tip-sheet/do-you-know-what-those-colored-dots-on-the-sides-of-new-tires-are-for-a2600-20181008 Yes, even most scooter tires have those dots as well.

I've really never thought about balancing a 10" rim before. It makes sense though. But i've have much bigger issues finding rear brake hubs that run true and are not warped.

Amazed we did the same thing the exact same way but then again, how many ways are there.
Still so impressed with the smooth riding. Wish I'd been a bit more interested in this issue years ago.

Well this one is going back to Amazon! The mounting cones are milled poorly with lots of slop in the rod so they do not sit centered on the rod hole when tightened, causing it to not be balanced without even throwing a wheel on it. And the bearings were crunchy even after lube!

Gonna try the harbor freight one tomorrow.

Bummer...

This one is sitting in my office waiting for assembly.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JBZ2XH8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Hope it doest suffer the same as Swiss's.
Swiss - post how the harbor one is after you give it a go.
I'll do the same.
Quite looking forward to seeing what the effects are.

I was looking at this one,

https://www.amazon.com/DURHAND-Motorcycle-Bicycle-Balancer-Truing/dp/B08B1HNCTW/ref=asc_df_B08B1HNCTW/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=459657529872&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5475553609936405144&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=200613&hvtargid=pla-942171290616&psc=1

I want it to adjust bicycle rims also. I have one that needs trued. I know with Harbor Freight I’ve bought two of something I had to have that day and used the best parts out of two boxes. Then returned the second one as defective.

I’m looking at the bearings from the point of view of wheelchairs having an off the shelf bearing. You can replace most of them with a bearing from Grainger, McMaster etc. Look for a bearing number on the seals. Racing RC cars the $1000.00 hobby grade version, not the $69.00 Walmart version, if the seals are rubber a metal shield or no shield bearing will have less friction. Or even a fidget spinner if you ever play with one of those.

If the bearings feel like they have grit in them you can usually remove the seals flush them clean, then lubricate again. Rubber seals will usually pop out with an exacto knife. I’ve taken apart rust seized bearings, cleaned the rust out, flushed with whatever I had that worked. Then relubed with grease, I only due this in an emergency when a wheel is locked up and I don’t have a replacement. For the wheel balancer application I’m going to try a light machine oil.

I’ve seen complaints about the rod and cone fit, make wonder what can be done with the fit? Maybe a larger OD rod? Somebody measure the rod size and let’s see if there is something a little bigger, if seen some junk, who knows maybe the rod is undersized?

https://www.mcmaster.com/rotary-shafts/rotary-shafts-5/for-motion-type~rotary/finish~chrome-plated/

https://www.mcmaster.com/rotary-shafts/rotary-shafts-5/system-of-measurement~metric/

Last edited by Christopher_55934 on Sun Nov 22, 2020 6:16 am; edited 2 times in total

I have a wheel balancer that I bought off Amazon that's still in the box. I never got to it before the move.

Since I have the new 11" tires & rims on the way from SIP, I'll break it out and balance those before they go on the bike.

Well on assembly and quick test with a spare hub, the harbor freight one looks to be fine. The mounting cones are milled correctly with minimal slop in the center hole for the balancing rod. Hub spins fine on it. The only down side to the harbor freight one is that there are no adjustable feet and bubble level for the base. But that's easy solved by gluing a bubble level to the base and just using shims underneath the base to level it.

I'll report back when i actually get a chance to balance my hubs and rims on the Stella.

Balanced a couple of wheels a few years ago, about 15 - 20g per wheel from memory. Wasn't the night and day I'd been hoping for, but then I looked more closely at them for straightness... and couldn't find any. After that it was an easy choice to get some decent wheels, in my case the Pinasco split rims. Have never even thought about balance since then.

Finally did this on front hub and rim. Took 7 grams (1/4 oz) for the hub by itself, and 35 grams (1.25oz) for the SIP 2.0x10 tubeless rim and SIP Performer tire.

One thing I noticed when applying the wheel weights on my stella/lml was I needed to attach the wheel weights as flush against the inner wall of the rim as possible so the weights would clear the brake caliper. First attempt I attached them in the middle of the inner rim and they were contacting the caliper when attached to hub and test spun.


wheel weights attached to inner rim flush against the inside wall to avoid hitting brake caliper.

Coincidence. I had my rear wheel off today. Balanced it and ended up with 2 x 25g in about the same place on the rim.
On my front, I stuck weights on the outside. Used voodoo's shoe glue to be sure they stay put.

Initially used glue gun on them to help keep em on. But gave up on that when they were banging the caliper. Figure I'll try them as is on inside of rim and if they go missing i'll revert to the same method on outside.

The hub got one 7 gram weight with glue gun covering it to hopefully keep it on.

Out on the road today to test the front hub and wheel balanced. Interesting feeling to have a more stable front end that seems to want to go straight instead of wobble around! Felt like a different bike and almost like I need to get used to it again. Didn't realize how unstable it actually was until the opposite was felt. Really need to get under the bike and get dirty to pull that rear hub/wheel for balancing.