Modern Vespa

Anyone do it themselves?

Trying to get the old ones off at the moment and having a right nightmare losing the plot with it.

Any tips. Maybe I am just not strong enough

plenty of people here do it but i think nearly all of them have a tyre changer. i can imagine it being a total pain in the arse trying to do it by hand

yeah it is a right pain, tyre changers were about £500 last time i looked though!

Think it might be easier with another pair of hands, if not the garage beckons

i know you can get cheap tyre changers in the US, not so sure about here tho. unless you're doing it often it's probably not worth the price of a decent piece of equipment.

that was my thinking i have 2 bikes , 1 motorbike 1 scooter so i chop and change which one i use so only probably change the tyres on each once a year no way its worth it.

I am assuming you have a tubeless. You are likely having issues with breaking the bead. You can use a jack place it close to your rim on the tire and jack your car up or something heavy. Then do it again on the other side. This should beak the beads then work your tire off with a couple of tire irons. Make sure your rim is well protected by placing it on a blanket at all times or you will scratch it. You can do it without the jack, it's a little harder just keep trying to get the irons in between the tire and the rim and slowly you can work it down, Use soapy water to get it off and on again. Make sure you put it on in the right direction. It is doable but not easy, you will likely scratch your rim the first time from poor technic but you will get it.( often the pros scratch it too.) Good luck

Got tube in them.

The rims are already scratched so im not too worried about that. I think ill go and invest in some tyre levers, a couple of hammers a piece of wood and some screw drivers is not working.

Is it the rims on the Cosa.

Stupid question alert

Have you unbolted the rims?

The Cosa rims unbolt in 2 parts.

http://www.scooterhelp.com/genmaintain/tire.change.html

As far as breaking the bead on a tubeless tire there is a really simple method that requires nothing more than a couple of 2X4s. Place the tire on the ground near your car or truck. Put a 2X4 about 5 or 6 feet long under the car bumper or frame horizontally (somewhere where it won't mark the paint). Place a shorter 2X4 (I'm guessing 6 to 12 inches or so) vertically on the tire bead next to the edge of the rim up to the original horizontal 2X4. Pulling down on the horizontal 2X4 will give you a very powerful lever. It works great. You may want to keep a foot on the tire opposite the vertical board just to stabilize it. After you try this once you can modify the length of the vertical board for optimal performance in the future. I hope this is helpful.

I have around $225 invested in tire changing equipment: (1) A Harbor Freight Tire Changer (the big one plus their motorcycle tire adapter accessory). It has a built in bead breaker on the frame of the changer that works well. (2) I also bought a No-Mar tire bar. This sucker makes easy work of removing or reinstalling a tire. We have three scooters and at $40 a pop when paying the dealer to change a tire after I take it off/drive it down to his shop (25 minutes away) and then re-install it, the equipment will for itself quickly. I have a large extra garage in the rear of my property with another room on the rear. I bolted the tire machine to the concrete floor. I can change a tire as quickly as the dealer without scratching the rims. I haven't bought any equipment to balance the wheels since I haven't found it to be necessary. I've replaced several tires without balancing and I can't feel any difference or see any difference in tire wear. I bought my BV500 used with only 700 miles and it had the original Michelin Gold Star tires and no weights had been installed at the factory. By buying the larger tire changer from Harbor Freight, I can also change an Auto Tire if I had to but I primarily bought this setup because it sits much higher off the floor than the mini changer that works well for scooter tires. I also wanted the larger setup in case I ever decided to buy another motorcycle again (which I probably won't do)
The decision to buy your own equipment is really dependent on how much you will use it over a period of time and whether or not you enjoy doing your own mechanical work. I have changed tires with large, tire spoons and they will do an adequate job if you will also buy some rim protectors so that you don't scratch up your wheels.

yeah its the cosa ive managed to get the rims apart enough and got the tubes out but i need to get the tyres off thats whats causing me the difficulty

Been there I know the pain.
Probably stuck to the rust on the rim.

Spray some wd40 stuff into the bead on both sides then try and work a sturdy screw driver/claw hammer between the bead and the rim to break the seal. Put some wooden blocks between the 2 halves of the rim to keep them apart.

I usually stand on the tyre and use a mini crowbar as a lever.

When your putting the new tyre back on some washing up liquid around the bead. Makes it easier to refit.


ps: you might be better posting in the not so modern section.

The Cosa´s a post-modernist reiteration of the P200

finally managed to get one of the rims out.

Need a break for half hour before i attempt the other one

the not-so-mods are timid creatures and rarely venture over to the Modern side of the board .... so i'm moving this to the NSM section so they can share their wit and wisdom ....

i've also taken the liberty of editing your title a bit for clarity.

Cosa = split rims.
I doubt if any tyre guys would bother touching them. They're a piss to do yoursen

Don't you mean the "not-at-all-mods"

i wish i could agree, got one of the split rims off but the other wont budge. think ill have another go tomorrow, im fucked now and got a 12 hour night shift starting in 2 hours.

bloody rusty is everywhere!!! even inside the rims
to avoid this thing ever happen again try to change ur rims with a alloy aluminium rims its rustyproof i wear that and i dont get rusty or pain in changeing tyre

Mate if they're that stuck (rusted) you may be better off getting a new set of rims.

If you slap LOADS of washing up liquid on the inside of the rim thats stuck and lever the bastard off with a decent sized screwdriver, gradually working around the rim between it and the tyre it should eventually come off (you may have a heart attack or hernia before this happens though )

when you stick a new tyre (the old one could now be knackered) on your new rims smear the inside of the rim with more washing up liquid this helps lube the rim and the tyre will go on as sweet as a nut.

The old tyre is now illegal anyway its bald, in fact i could just cut it off couldnt i.

In that case let me suggest this....

http://www.dewalt.com/us/products/tool_detail.asp?productID=14920

Will take that tire right off (will also cut reebar, cake and your friend's car in half if you want to)

Big long flat blade screwdriver between the rim and tire. Slowly work your way all the way around the tire pushing the rubber part down (off the rim). Have a beer as you work. Sit on the floor.

Around and around and around. Move the screwdriver about an inch each time you move it. Move, push down, move an inch, push down, move an inch, push down.

Works every time. People just don't have the patience and want to beat them off, cut them off, jump on them, squeeze them, etc.

If its that badly rusted inside they'll never sit right again. Also I'm sure they just tear the tubes up.

Here you go ........ http://bgm-scooterparts.com/catalog/default.php?cPath=76&language=en ................safety for under 20 euros

Id look a bit more but I'm knackered

take a razorblade to those mutherfuckers.

wire wheel the rust off, hit it with a bunch of spray paint. let dry.

antisieze the next set of tires you got on the rims.

done.