Modern Vespa

steveo, I actually agree with your basic point that it was irresponsible to ride on a tire that was clearly already well past needing replacement.  (Luthor and others, the OP did eventually acknowledge that the tire had already been bald.)

This bit, though, was completely unnecessary: Luthorhuss is exactly right that that kind of over-the-top bashing teaches people to keep their screw ups and learning experiences to themselves, leaving all of us the poorer.

We can let the OP know he screwed up without making him regret he ever told us, and without making others afraid to do the same.

DITTO!

He might have ridden the tire too hard. He might not. "Blimey - talk about missing the point" as you put it. You actually are convinced that I'm on here arguing that riding the tire hard or in poor condition is safe. Ridiculous. You're in your own little world. So to make it completely clear to everyone, you, wayne, etc...

1. Riding the tire hard or improperly is wrong, unsafe, and dangerous to you and others.
2. Using "common" sense when replying to a person who has 50ish posts, and is obviously a NEW RIDER, should prevail over your 3rd grade, child like gut reaction to a "scary photo that scares you" and makes you want to revert to calling someone idiots.
3. Taking the time to explain to people just how serious this is works about a billion times better than saying they shouldn't be in the hobby, they are stupid, and in general acting like you were raised by cavemen.
4. Finally and most importantly, as much as me and wayne disagree and have nice heated forums sometimes, I'll take his opinion anyday over SteveO, who for all we know is a 14 year old girl who has never even sat on a motorcycle. Bottomline: no pics, no info, no topics started and single digit post mean your opinion is worth slightly less than a salesperson at the dealership to me.

+1 ... Spot on and smartly said.

Luthor, those are good points.

Steveo - these forums do have a strict no 'ad hominem' attack policy, and your posts did skirt rather close to the line, and some may have taken them as over it. So careful wording is sometimes required for the grumpier posts! BTDTGTTS...

That said, I hope we all know where we are coming from now, and we'll all keep a good eye on our tyres and not take them for granted. Especially on MP3 250's with 12" wheels.

8)

It's just the responsible thing to do, for the safety of yourself and others on the road.

In other words, if you've begun to hit the wear bars on ANY of your tires, and choose to continue utlizing those tires, you have begun to become irresponsible in your dutiful consideration of your own safety and the safety of others.

chris

When my tire blew, it scared the s**t out of me. When the explosion happened, I learned my lesson immediately. I knew at that point that I was an idiot for not maintaining proper maintenance and risking my life and that of others.

I just want to thank all of the kind folks that posted positive comments. And let this post be a reminder to all that scooter safety is #1 and please do not be an irresponsible rider like I was. On Saturday, my mechanic will show me all the things that need to be checked out before every ride.

I love this forum for all the valuable feedback it provides for us all.

PS: I googled "SteveO" and it turns out she is a 14 year old girl who has never even sat on a motorcycle...

This post was not quite
What we were hoping to see
Try again, perhaps?

This post was not quite
What we were hoping to see
Try again, perhaps?

I could be and often am wrong but it looks like that the wear bars are still visible on that tire (at least on the outside of the tread) and don't look that bad, the issue it the center was worn out and I haven't had this tire on my MP-3 so I'm not sure how far the tread extends to the center but if it is smooth with no center groove it could easily fool someone who wasn't expecting such short tire life. As Jill44 noted earlier, these tires can go from looking ok to blown out in as short as 40 miles (my case) so it's best to check them frequently once they hit 1800 miles (I used to use 2000 as my tipping point to really stop and look over the tire more than usual). Best tire I've found for the rear is the Vredestein Tornante, it didn't give that much more life but it was a great tire that kept a good profile all the way to the end unlike the pirellie's that squared off pretty quick. I have the Heidnau K61 on now and it is about to go after 2300ish miles, I liked the Vredestein better.

I owned a 250 for almost a year and racked up 12,500 miles. I went through 4 rear tyres, and not once came close to the limit.

I now own a 500, and the same applies, I take care of it. It behaves well because of this.

Please stop making ASSumptions about me dear chap, you are doing it all wrong.

Again - let me re-iterate: To base the validity of my post based on my (lack of) internet presence is the most stupid this you have said all day, and for that, I thank you.

And what is this: We're arguing here, not comparing our vocabularies.

I haven't noticed the squirllyness yet on my 130 with about 1500 miles...did you notice it new or after time? Any other differences you noted between the 2?...may have to try a 140 next.

The center groove causes squirllyness on certain surfaces such as bridges or grooved pavement. The worst experience was a wet day on a road that had random lines of tar patch on it. On good dry pavement, no problem. I road it until it was gone but did not like the ride on the wrong surface. The 140 without the center groove was a much better ride.

Thanks Fuzzy.

I've removed a couple of posts. I don't like doing that - so please will all posters to this thread refrain from attacking the person rather than arguing with the message. The MPS has tread right across the centre and wear-bars in the centre. These had obviously long since gone. They won't blow from 'looking ok' (centre wear-bars visible) in 40 miles unless there's some other problem than tread wear.

http://www.michelin.co.uk/michelinuk/en/motorcycle/details/20090202121657.html

I was trying to check my break pads the other day and I was having a hard time figuring out where to look at the pads from much less what I should be seeing. could someone post a picture of your pads to help me see if I'm looking at the right thing.

I pulled into a parking lot once and stood up on the floorboards to see if there was any good parking up front. As I went to sit back down BAM BAM right dead center over a tombstone.

So tell me this...why couldn't you have just said exactly this the first time to mccaid? This would've made a much better impact.

[quote="Please stop making ASSumptions about me dear chap, you are doing it all wrong.

Again - let me re-iterate: To base the validity of my post based on my (lack of) internet presence is the most stupid this you have said all day, and for that, I thank you.[/quote]

Sure. I assume ALL ppl who post on subjects of my bike with 7 posts and no pics are EXPERTS in the field. When you find time, can you tell me how to rebuild my engine to higher performance? I swear I'll start pulling it apart tonight IF YOU SAY SO...cause it must be the truth!

And what is this: We're arguing here, not comparing our vocabularies.[/quote]

Well...if its in your vocabulary, how bout using more of it?

Will bear that in mind and be more careful in the future.

While we are on the topic of deleting posts made with personal attacks, I think you may have missed one or two. We can't have people thinking that their forum buddies are being out manouvered by a 14 year old non motorcycle riding girl, now, can we?

Luthor, Luthor, Luthor... Are you still banging that same silly drum? Do you have any valid points to make?

I haven't once said I'm an expert in all things motorcycle/scooter. I think the fairly basic practice of having a wee look at my tyre to see if it is still roadworthy is a little different to fettling an engine.

Your latest post fails on so many levels and frankly worries me. Do you really need a post here that tells you how to check if your tyre is legal and safe? If you do, then there is no hope for you. Please refer back to your owners manual, give it a thoroughly bloody good read, and get back to me if anything confuses you - I'll be happy to make recommendations. It doesn't matter how few posts I have made, I can still negotiate the perilous and tricky task that is inspecting my tyres visually. Hell, I could probably train my fish to do the same job satisfactorily.

My post was made simply to highlight how it should be utterly inconceivable to ever let your tyres explode. You are comparing apples and oranges (admittedly, not even doing that very well) when you state that I should perhaps enlighten you how to rebuild your engine. Oh, but the overuse of emoticons makes that ok, right? It's all in jest...

As for compassion, I reserve absolutely none for riders who disregard the rules. What he did was illegal, plain and simple. Illegal for a reason, and that is because poor tyres kill people. I'd reserve that same hard line for speeders, dui's, and other LAW breakers that unfortunately seem to be so prolific these days. If your bike aint roadworthy, get it recovered. If you don't know if your bike is roadworthy or not, dont ride it and seek advice. Plain and simple. To continue and take it to the point of tyre explosion is one of the most irresponsible things I've read for a good long time.

Lets look at this as the proverbial straw that broke the camels back. Stop taking this as your personal opportunity to shoot down someone with a vastly inferior post count to yourself - quite frankly, you've not really displayed much experience or maturity yourself with your responses, and neither have I.

So, that hug I offered out earlier, I think we should take the opportunity here to kiss and make up. This is getting stupid, its going nowhere.

It's only an Internet Forum folks. I bet all the people who have posted here would have a convivial time if they all met up in person rather than 'seeing' everything through the written word.

macaid - your OP and subsequent posts have been a good reminder I hope to those who *don't* check their tyres daily and who think *everything* gets sorted out by magicians at routine services.

steveo - I suspect you've been on many other 'forums' (UKRM? ) and you are used to a more 'robust' approach. Not necessary here - but the odd expletive does wonders for the soul, at least they are allowed.

luthorhuss - your 'defense' of macaid is admirable - but he has shown he's quite capable of being open about his mistake, and it will have been a lesson cheaply (thank goodness) learned, and now (thank-you to all who contributed) hopefully taken on board by others. So let him stand up on his own, we should all be on the same side here, shiny side up, rubber side down.

Akrimonious, best to start a new thread on checking brake pads.

This one is now locked.