Modern Vespa

I am thinking about adding Smart Tire to our scooter and I was wondering if there was anyone who has done this mod yet? I just ordered 3 new tires from AmericanMotoTire and wanted to do this at my next tire change in about 500 miles? If I am the first, I will take pictures of the install and finished product for others to decide if this is something they would want. I love the one installed on my FJR so much I thought Emily should have one on her scooter too. Anyone else considering this mod?

Hmmm. Crazy. If you do install, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts.

I've gotten two flats (on motorcycles, not scooters) and they've both been in the rear. AFAIK, almost all bike flats are rear tires. And when the rear goes flat, it is typically a slow leak and you start to notice the handling gets "bad" and cornering is vague and pretty soon you pull over, take a look, and then say a couple of bad words. It isn't like there is no warning that it is going south.

Just my 2 cents.

I agree that most flats are in the rear of the bike and that most of the time they are a slow flat. Let's just say that I see it's a problem with the tire, I now have time to ride to my local dealer for a repair or new tire rather than being stranded on the side of the road or worse if you are in a high speed turns riding 2-up.

I also like to make sure I always have the right tire pressure before I ride so the performance of the tire and gas mileage doesn't suffer. Keep in mind this will monitor both tire pressure and temperature so you are less likely to have a blow out if you ride in heat with tires that are under inflated.

Hell, I guess I should also pick up an emergency transponder while I am at it. This thing would be nice if you were to break down in the middle of nowhere.

I could definitely see where it would be convenient. But I also agree people should check their tire pressures more often, ideally before every ride. If you do track days you learn quickly how critical tire pressure is to handling.

My most amazing tire pressure story is when a bunch of friends and I were riding down from SF to LA along Hwy 1. We were going a pretty good clip (on Ducatis, not scooters) and I noticed one of the guys' rear tire looked pretty deformed. But he's a really big guy so I figured maybe that's how it usually was. Then when we were taking a break I mentioned it to one of the other guys, and he said, "yeah, I noticed that too." So we busted out the tire gauge and checked it - he has 16lb in the rear! And this was on a newly mounted tire. We all figured that he must've been sleeping with the mechanic's wife, otherwise why would they guy try to kill him?

(Post script - always check your tire pressure after you get new tires installed. I've had some pretty random numbers, like 40lbs show up.)

Generally, that's true, unless you run over something. I did that once and the rear tire went from being appropriately inflated to flat in just a couple of seconds. Scary is the only good word for it.

And after any service - sometimes the tire pressures when you get the bike back are so incredibly random that you shake your head in disbelief. I can understand 20psi in one tire, but not 40psi in the other.