Modern Vespa

Literally two hundred yards from home coming down the hill to our village at lunchtime in the bright sunlight I didnt see a huge stone brick in the road and hit it at about 50+ mph. How I never came off is a mystery.

Anyway the tyre ran flat and back home Ive noticed that the front wheel is slightly misshaped where the air is now coming out if you try and pump it up. You can feel it if you run your finger round the rim. Hopefully there is no other damage.

I think ill need a replacement rim and a new tyre. Mo tech in Newcastle (UK) say a matching rim will be about £200 but could take a while to come in as they will have to order it from Italy. There are a few with tyres used on Ebay but not sure if I should take a punt on one. I am also not sure if the colours will match. This one looks to be the closest match but the seller says its a black rim. Mine is really dark blue. Any ideas? Mine is a 2014 model.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154495111031

My Wheel with the damaged area highlighted. You cant really see it though but you can feel it slightly if you run your finger around it and air is escaping from there if you try and pump it up.

I'm pretty sure yours is black too. It may be a bit faded if anything. I've never seen a BV350 wheel in a color other than black, and the parts list (for 2012) shows only one part number for the front wheel assembly. I'd go with the one on eBay. Ask the seller for close-up pics of marks and scratches if you're concerned about that.

Trust ebay for a quick fix .

You can use a wheel balancer and a fixed pointer to check true and run out. Unless you are worried about returning for refund. The human eye should have no problem seeing 0.075mm run out.

Thanks.

Ill go and have another look at mine. Its just that when I spoke to Mo Tech they said they would need my reg number to match it as there are different colours. So its a case of either doing that and waiting weeks plus at least £250 for a wheel and tyre from them, more if they pick it up and do it or taking an Ebay punt for £50 and getting my tame mechanic to do it.

My neighbour suggested putting a tube in on a new tyre but I dont know if Tube tyres are available for that bike or if its a good idea in the first place with the wheel taking such a bash although the damage is not visible to the naked eye. I suspect it will be out of balance though. I just want the quickest and safest solution really.

Do not follow your neigbour's suggestion.

Your wheels (front and rear) are "tubeless" off the factory. Meaning the wheels you have and the tyres are not suited for tubes.

If you have a too heavily damaged rim you unfortunately will have to replace it by a good one.

Thanks. Good advice.

50 on a new used rim seems like a no brainer compared to 2 and change with weeks of lead time. you may or may not be able to reuse your tire or the one that comes with the "new rim" so it's a judgment call there. but if you've resigned yourself to new tire, then that's a non-issue.

either way, only use a tube if you need to limp it to a service center. but truthfully, the cost of a tube and the pain in the ass of install would eclipse a tow fee.

I think the one I linked to is worth a punt. I just need to make sure its definitely the right one for my bike. ABS?

The slotted ring in the center of the brake rotor is for the ABS. Does your wheel have it?

Thanks

Do you mean this?



If so ill go and have a look later on mine, cant get to the bike at the moment.

Yes, that's for the ABS.

Many thanks. Ill take some photos later and post them so we can be sure. Really appreciate this. I feel like an absolute numpty on here as I know nothing. I just get on the thing and ride it, badly it seems

Closer photo of the wheel on my bike from the other side. I would say it has ABS. And of course there is indeed the ABS light on the dash.

So do you think that Ebay wheel pictured above is a match?

From the photos, it looks like a match to me.