Modern Vespa

So this morning, I was giving a tour of rural Oklahoma to a friend visiting from out of town. We were just outside of Waukomis, OK, cruising around at about 55 mph.

Suddenly, I felt the back of my GTS start fishtailing around and altogether freaking me out. I slowed and pulled over and sure enough, the whole tire was flat. To the ground flat. Apparently I hit a nail or screw or something, but there was a big, nasty, round hole--right in the middle of the tire.

Since I was maybe 8 miles from my house, we tried patching it with a couple of options that passerbyers had, but all the sticky stuff in the world would plug the hole. So, a friendly old man--who just so happened to look exactly like the egg farmer in Napoleon Dynamite--helped me load it up on his trailer and brought me back to my house.

So, I don't think it is safe to just get these Savas plugged. Though the tread is still good (only about 900 miles on them), it just sits with me wrong. So, I am going to get new tires. Which leads me to a couple of questions:

1. Replace both tires or just the rear?

2. I know people's tire choices are as strong as their color choices (Midnight Blue's the fastest), but what's the best buy? I've look at a bunch of topics about it and I have warm fuzzies about Zippys, Michelin Pilots, and Heidenaus. But, still, the Whitewalls at ScooterWest seem to be calling my name. Overall, what's the best bang for buck?

3. Should I stay with the same sizes as on now? What does the 140 have over the 130?

Anyhow, we're both ok. She didn't even know something was wrong. But it definitely made the three hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

When I have to replace my tires I want white walls! Of course that doesn't help, but I wanted to share.

I always replace in pairs unless you can get the same brand and model tire that was on it---they are designed to compliment each others handling. I just put on a set of Avon Viper Strykes. Art

Yeah, you'll want to replace the tire. Belted radials can be patched, but bias-ply - once they're punctured, they're history. Looks like you've done your homework - the tires you name are the favorites around here. I don't think you'd go wrong with any of them. I just mounted a pair of Zippys last week and couldn't be happier. An unexpected bonus was that the little bit of wobble I was getting with the Savas is altogether gone! If you're doing the work yourself, Moped's rear-tire removal procedure makes a great reference.

Is the work really something I can do myself? Is it worth buying a jack and whatever equipment is needed to mount the tires? What else would I need? I heard to expect about $80 at a shop to get them mounted. And the closest dealer is 2 hours away.

Be prepared for insisting on something else very soon.

There's no need to replace both tyres as long as the tyres are the same style of construction. Some tyres are very well matched together and are best of breed, in which case always replace with the same make/type of tyre, but again both don't need to be done at the same time.

Hi Mate, Sorry about your mishap. It happens to us all. To answer your question, Yes You can and should change your own tyre (correct spelling)

It's easy and there is a recent thread on here on how to do it.

https://modernvespa.com/forum/topic10536

Cheers, Jim