Modern Vespa

CHECK YOUR TIRE PRESSURE before every ride! I was just going out for a "short" ride tonite after work so I figured "f-it" as I looked a my tire gauge sitting on my bench next to my beautiful GT200, and decided to blow off a basic fundelmental safety issue for the sake of getting on my scoot and getting on with the ride. That was stupid. 5 minutes into my ride I was wobbeling and swaying all over the road only going 20mph or so, I felt like I was going to go down at any time. long story short, when I hit a filling station to check the tire pressure, I was 3 or 4pds psi under regulation on both tires. As soon as I got them both filled up, bam, it was like riding on air! I will never do that again! Just thought i'd share!

Cheers, ride safely

Ever heard the acronym "T-CLOCS"?

Tires & Wheels
Controls
Lights
Oil
Chassis
Stands

Check 'em.

Or POWDER

Petrol
Oil
Water
Damage
Electrics
Rubber

Both apply just fine.

yes I have, and that's why I posted that! I knew better!!

Pardon the newby question, but if I'm checking my tire pressure each time, aren't I losing a bit of pressure each time I check?

My partner is a life long motorcycle owner and he only checks his 4 times a year (when the seasons change). What is different about scooter pressure?

I do mine about once a month, and certainly everytime I wash the bike (so far more frequent in winter). If more than 0.2 bar (3psi) has disappeared I investigate further...

Installing Ultraseal or Slime will hugely reduce the leakage of oxygen molecules through the rubber.

Some say you should check before every ride. Frankly, riding many times a day, every day, that's nonsense.

Perhaps, but then you probably don't have the best angle on the valve stem if you're losing a measurable amount of air when checking pressures. I don't check mine *every* single time I ride (i.e., once before I leave my house, and once again before I leave the grocery store, then again before I go out on a ride that evening, etc.) - that's overkill to everybody but the most O.C.D. of us. Weekly is probably not a bad idea if you ride regularly. If your scooter only leaves the garage once per month, then you should absolutely check every time before you go for a ride.

As for your partner checking only 4 times per year -- shoulder shrug. Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks, I suppose. On the smaller tires our scooters run, a 1-2lb drop makes more of a significant difference than a 1lb drop on a Harley rear tire. Know what I mean?

PS - "checking" tires doesn't necessarily mean you HAVE to check the pressure. Having a look before leaving the house to ensure that the tires are not in fact completely flat, cracked, or damaged is probably just as valuable in terms of piece of mind as knowing the pressure down to the exact p.s.i.

Wait a minute, I thought you said that was what rain was for.

It is, certainly in summer!

But to be fair to any one who has to work on one of my bikes whenever, I clean it before taking it to the workshop if I have time. It also helps their perception of the unseen customer.

It is quite shocking what a measurable difference a couple of pounds can make.

As a daily commuter I don't check them every time I raid or every day. I do check them quite frequently though.

I check mine maybe twice a month... Whenever it feels like it's been too long, I guess. I'm not religious about it. That said, I will often squeeze or press or kick the tires, just to get a ballpark feel.

I do the 'kick' every day. Makes me feel good, means diddley-squat!.

I use the HRTPOMVTRYTCYTALTAM acronym.

Hey
Remember
The
Post
On
Modern
Vespa
That
Reminds
You
To
Check
Your
Tires
At
Least
Twice
A
Month

Epic.

Why am I the only one who is going to ask the question:
WTF is a mooncalf...?

Google is your friend, ask him, he'll tell you right away.

He's a turd, I hate him. He keeps a history of my searches, and which links I click on. And then serves me ads for The SCOOTER Store, which is wrong wrong wrong.

If he dont' know me by now, he will never ever ever know me.

Oooo. oooo, ooo ooo.

Doesn't mooncalf mean stupid man?

I don't see how you could notice two or three pounds. I check mine before going on a long trip. while checking the rest of the bike over otherwise, never, I give the rear a boot to make sure there is air in it on my way by with a visual and the front will talk to me as soon as it is off the stand or let me know in the first hundred yards. I challenge anybody to get someone to set the air in your tires two, three, four even five pounds either side of 30 on different days and see if you can tell where you are. I doubt you will notice much difference in normal riding unless you really start pushing it hard or weigh a ton. Even if they are say 10% low(3 pounds cold)that soon becomes 6% as they warm up, maybe less, has anyone of you pressure testers ever checked what pressures your tires get to once warmed up. How fast that happens on different brands etc..I would be interested in knowing.I bet SAVA MC20 warm up faster the Heidenaus

Are there any downsides to doing this? I get a very slow leakage of air in my rear tyre - needs a little pump once a month - but I always forget until I'm out riding and then note that the rear end is a bit squeamish. Do the tyre changers complain of having to deal with the gunk in the tyre?

here comes a stupid question !

what water is their to check on a gts 250? I have never done this and now im worried !

They mean coolant level. All in the user manual - I don't recall an air-cooled GTS but I could be wrong...

It is inder the right "knee pad" Brown or black panel just above the glove box. one screw and there it is your very own radiator cap.!

3-4 lbs down on pressure shouldn't make that drastic of a difference that you would be wobbling all over the road. ?

I used the run my sportbike tires 4-5lbs low for stuntific reasons and they weren't that bad to ride on.

Another good reason to check your tire pressure is this: when I was down there doing my weekly pressure check I found a nail in my back tire. One of those nails with the tiny head. Just a glint of metal caught my eye, but I knew it didn't belong in my tire! From now on, it's a weekly pressure check and tire surface check.

while you're down there check the valve stems too. i had a blowout on the motorway - the valve stem failed and the tyre lost pressure in a hurry. it was pretty exciting.

Oh, thanks! Another thing to worry about

no need to worry, just be aware. in my case the problem was a compound one - overly long and old valve stems, plus blingee valve caps (added by me ). the extra weight of the aluminium valve caps caused the extra-long and knackered valve stem to stretch, contact the body of the scooter, and basically get torn out of the rim. when the tyre was replaced i insisted on short stubby brand new valve stems, and i've got a set of very light alloy valve caps on there now (or you could just stick with the original plastic ones)

that's a very, um, *cough* interesting picture Genie! hahaha.

i'm a bit surprised at the flippant answers to this thread. I didn't realize I was in the wrong for stressing the importance of checking the tire pressure every time you go out for a ride. for those who have said that 3 or 4 pds low on the psi shouldn't matter, I say "bullocks mate." it does matter to me, I noticed the difference right away, and i'm pretty sure I know the way my vespa handles. anyway, no big deal. you ride the way you do and i'll ride the way I choose.

I agree with you, senator, that a few pounds does make a difference. Recently, I was wondering why my front shock was bottoming out when I went over a certain bump in the road every day...checked my pressures and found the front tire to be low. Added air and now the shock doesn't bottom out anymore! Duh. It DOES matter. Thanks for stressing the importance. Sometimes it's the little things...

I don't check my tires with a tire gauge each time, but about once a week I reach down and push on the tires with my hand and my thumb to see if they seem firm enough to satisfy me. If they seemed soft at all, I'd get out the air compressor and blow them up. However, the best policy is prolly to do a "pre-flight" check every time like pilots do.

Having rode over a huge R clip the other day that made a 3mm hole in the rear tyre and caused it to go flat rather quickly, I had been limping around a self vulcanising tyre repair plug.

Anyhoo, I got to the air pump to check it up, put the Vespa on the side stand because someone was using the vacuum and I needed to wait, and performed a visual inspection.

I looked at the rear tyre from the left hand side, and nearly had a heart attack when I saw how 'flat' it was. A few moments later and I twigged that the scooter was lying down on the left side of the tyre as it was on the centre stand, and it wasn't actually losing a load of air

I've still had the tyre changed though (it only had 4k km on it ) and went for the tippest toppest tyre they make, which seems to be more grippy, so I'm pleased.

I was thinking yesterday, as I went out for a ride without checking my actual pressures (I had just done it 2 days prior, afterall), that EVERYone should at the very least check their lights each and every time - headlight, brake light, signals front and rear.

We all worry about being run into, but it'd be a pretty sorry day if it happened AND was our own fault for not realizing we had a bad brake light bulb.

If you BING for it you'll find it

Speaking of checking tire pressures, are you all just using the "mechanical" pressure gauges? I'm using a digital gauge from Radio Shack that has seen better days. Time for a new one. Any suggestions?

On the Vespa, I keep one that looks like this in the topcase. I find it really helps if ever checking rear tire pressure while the exhaust is hot. Hell, even when it's cold, it helps because it keeps the gauge where you can see it.

For UK - i use this pressure gauge, its really small so can easily fit in my scoot and lives there so i can check whenever i want. Works really well and easy to use. Battery has lasted me 4 months so far with a weekly check.



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