Modern Vespa

Hi all

A few weeks back I posted that I noticed my rear tyre was losing approx 25% of its air each week. I found myself pumping up the rear tyre every week. The tyre wouldn't deflate totally but would slowly go down over a week to a point that i thought it was best to top it up. With Xmas upon us, time and money is thin on the ground so I thought about purchasing some tyre sealant.

My questions are:-

1- Is it safe to keep topping the air pressure?

2- What tyre sealant would you suggest?

Before I'd consider sealant I would determine the cause. Use some soapy water and check the beads, stem and the rest of the tire.

^^^^

This.

If the leak is via the bead or the stem, it can be near impossible to stop such a leak with a tyre sealant - at least in the short term. Far easier to take the wheel off, take into your favourite tyre place, and have them fix it. A new valve, or sealing the bead shouldn't cost more £15, all done in a couple of minutes.

If the tyre itself, that would be a pin-hole leak - find it and plug it with the tyre-plugging kit. Oh, don't have one? It's a good Christmas present for someone to give you.

In the meantime, topping up every few days is fine, as long as the rate of air loss isn't increasing.

Check this link to an assortment of references to Ride On.

I had add this a precaution to a flat while on the road and also attributed a smoother ride due to the balancing properties of same.

https://www.google.com/#q=ride+on+tire+sealant

1. No
2. None

If you can't figure out where the air is leaking out, and it's pretty easy given the recent invention of soapy water, put a tube in it and call it a day. Sooner or later you are going to be riding, the air is going to decide to leave a little faster than it wanted to previously, the tire is going to disinflate, the bead will break, and you will be right f*^*ked, especially if you are going fast or into a corner. This is the sort of thing that you fix right away, not only because it reeks of common sense, but because even for those to whom common sense is a novel concept, if this happens whilst you are with passenger, you can put yourself into a situation where you say to yourself for the rest of your life that you should have fixed that tire. Brakes that work and tires that hold air are really basic safety items.

Good advice from Jim as usual.

As for putting a tube in it remember that the big benefit of properly designed tubeless wheels and tyres is that they almost never go bang. On the other hand a tube can deflate instantly with much more dramatic effects.

If your wheel is in good condition ( not corroded ) it is most likely that you will find something still in the tyre such as a screw or small nail which has gone through cleanly. You can remove this and plug the hole using a repair kit.

I have had mixed results with injected sealants, the one I used failed in cold wet conditions and I reckon an unreliable sealant is worse than none at all.

Regards Roadster

Figure out whats wrong with your tire and put Ride On in your new tires. Works like a charm. Good luck

The added issue Vespa gives you is that there is minimal access to the valve on the rear wheel as the valve points towards the right hand side where the exhaust is. It's even quite difficult to pump the tyre up as the exhaust gets in the way. Do these liquid/gel sealants come with a pipe and I won't be able to get a bottle onto the valve without having to take the whole wheel off, and if I have to do that then I may as well just get the whole tyre replaced ?

My rear tyre went flat on my way home a while back, luckily I got home too! I decided to just get the tyre replaced to be safe. Once I had the wheel off the bike I pumped it up and used some soapy water and found a sharp piece of metal had split it. It's a shame as the tyre had plenty of tread left but I was happy to just sort it.

yes, they usually come with a short length of hose, say about 150mm long. Attach one end to the squeezy bottle and the other to the valve stem.

With the order of Ride On you should receive a hose with a 6mm / 1/4" ID that will fit right over the valve stem. If not just go down to hardware store and pick up a 6" - 8" piece. Once it's in you simply give a shot of air to clear out the stem. Then you screw valve back in and add air to proper PSI. Take it out for a ride (at least a couple of miles)...this will disperse the sealant. If you need to add more, just repeat process. I discussed same with Tech at Ride On to insure that application was done properly. There is also a shelf life that should last as long as you have usable thread on your tires.

Check out link on prior post...a lot of information that should address questions.

TB has you covered. Thanks TB. They also have a chart on how much you put in per tire also. Your so right on getting to the rear valve stem on our bikes. Real PIA especially since our muffler (50 and 150 same scooter except for the cc's) gets really hot super fast. Takes a while to cool down as well. If you have some extra money or ask Santa to get you some tires pressure sensors. While it doesn't help with accessing the stem it tells you (quite accurately) how much air is in them. That way you don't have to check it manually. Not cheap $149 with shipping on amazon but worth every penny. You can program highs and lows for each tire on the fob and it with alarm if it hits them. Ride on doesn't affect it also. Good luck

Thanks for all you advice and help guys. After much debate and reading your responses I thought it would be safer to replace the tyre. Luckily I did, as when I went to collect my vespa that garage showed me the old tyre. There was a tear in between the tread and this is where air was escaping. Luckily the tyre didn't blow or disintegrate!!