Modern Vespa

Just picked up a cheap 2009 LX 150 I want to turn into a little adventure machine. I found a few 10" options for off road tires for the rear wheel but am coming up with nothing for the front wheel. I really want to be able to brake and turn so I'm looking for options? I know the newer LX 150's use 12" front wheels. Whats involved in swapping to a 12" wheel? Any other options I should consider? Cheapest option wins, ideally I would just find an off road tire to work for me with the 11" rim but i've pretty much given up on that.

Welcome to MV from Latina, central Italy.
I don't have a Vespa but you will see they will get back to you soon. Ciao

i use pirelli SL60s on one of my aprilia mojitos ...

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In 11"? I only see 10 and 12 options?

sorry..i am running a 12" in the front and a 10" in the back

Can you share how you were able to convert your 11" to 12?

the Pirelli SL60's im running arent for a Vespa, its for my Aprilia Mojito Retro 50 that I'm building

Looking attractive, what about its driving experience?
Did you buy this New?
What is the fuel average?

I wonder why Piaggio decided to brand a small-wheeled, small-engined scooter "Aprilia."

this is a 2004 that i have had for several years in many different colors and conditions...its my favourite bike

It hasnt been stock in many years....i have redone the motor maybe 5-6 times....i have blown the motor at least 2x..once was cuz i drove it in a blizzard (yeah those tires rock) and i sucked up some pre-icer road treatment crap into my intake..

Mods:

Malossi Full Circle crank w C4 bearings
Lower cases ported and polished
70cc Polini cast iron sport BBK (ported and polished)
Top Performance 8 pedal reed cage
21 mm polini intake
19 MM PHBG w/manual choke
k&N 1100 filter
Malossi Multivar
Yellow contra spring
Malossi torsion controller
Malossi X drive belt
Naraku 4k rpm clutch
Turbokit exhaust
Motoforce R6 rear shock
Mojito 125cc front shocks
Stainless steel brake line
Sintered pads
Pirelli SL60s

I love this bike...its so fast...it goes over 60 mph but im afraid at that speed...i think i get about 35 mpg .... not bad for a 50cc (now 70cc)

your front is 11" not 12" so you're kind of limited on tire selection.

personally i'd go with Heidenau K58 front and rear. it's great tire and you have matchy-matchy front to back.

kenda also sells the K701 or the 761

there's stuff out there if you aren't concerned with a matching set or playing with tire size a little bit. or, you could always put an ET rim up front and be 10" front and back making it a little easier to get a matching pair.

hth

-g

I just bought a set of Heindenau k58s for my ET2... havent mounted them yet but I have heard they are a good all season tire

What all is needed to swap to an et rim? What does an et rim sell for these days?

Jixaw, love your little scooter project. looks amazing. what exactly are the cosmetic mods? thats the 50 I need for my little wife.

I didnt do much to the body:

respray of the factory color
added crash bars, a rear bumper, and bar end mirrors

I took everything thats chrome off and painted it matte black

an aprilia mojito 50 has a seat height thats like 24"...perfect for those that have a shorter inseam... my little g/f (5'3") cant ride the et2 (28" seat height)..but can flat foot my retro model mojito just fine

Also when i added the performance shock to the rear I ended up going with one thats slllllightly shorter so it drops it even more for her

I was doing some research on the bike while I was waiting for your response. USA only got the classic model with exposed chrome bars. the model you have have with cover matches the lines of bike much better to my eyes, with a blackout wala you have an amazingly nice looking scooter. jealous of a model bike we dont have as per usual.

oh yeah i forgot..i did change it so its a euro spec one...

The euro ones were called Habanas and they didnt have the stalk turn signals in the front and rear...finding the euro spec rear blinkers was a chore but i think the lines are beautiful now...its kinda like a 50's cadillac

i had to wire those 2 front lights as the front blinkers...in the usa models those lights are just reflectors...

edit: I have 2 of these Aprilia Mojitos...one is the Retro model that i have here and the other is a Custom model ..i have pretty much left the body of the Custom stock

Aprilia offered a range of scooters including 50s long before the company was acquired by Piaggio. They sourced engines from Minarelli, Rotax, and others.

this is correct...in fact the mojito line had the Franco Morini engine in the earlier models (mine) and the Piaggio HY-Per2 in the later models

I like the Mojito/ Habana. The Morini engine was a strong little motor, and, like everything Suzuki makes, just different enough from a Yamaha to be annoying the first time you try to service it. They more than likely renamed it for the US after they realized you're not going to sell a lot of scooters called Habana in South Florida.
Reminds me of the Honda Joker.

the mojito is one of the best handling bikes around. bump that up with a 70 kit and other mild mods and you basically have the johnny kick ass version of an ET2

the 150 with a 190 is equally impressive.

albeit HUGE pain in the ass to work on, great bikes.

-g

You would have a lot of fun being a mechanic in Italy, you can't understand how many good used scooters are abandoned behind dealers and workshops just because they have gone out of fashion and have too many miles (under ten thousand ...) and the owners don't want to spend on one proper maintenance due to the change of the transmission group. I'm not exaggerating ... next time I'll take photos.
My favorite dealership also has ten-year "old" unregistered models including an MP3 300 hybrid.

Little update for this thread. The Maxxis 130/90-10's did not fit on the rear. I didn't even try and mount this since it was super obvious they weren't going to fit without hitting the engine casing. I bought Shinko 421 3.5x10 for the rear and 3.0x10 for the front. I spent a good while fighting with the 3.5x10 on the rear trying to get the bead to seat and finally gave up. Took it off the rear rim and tried it on the front and the bead popped in perfectly. It mounted up and clears everything, and frankly it looks badass. So now i'll return the 3.0x10 unmounted tire and order the Bridgestone 4.0x10 tire which "SHOULD" fit.

Tire saga is taking me a bit longer than anticipated but almost there!


Trying to set the bead

Admit it, its badass looking