Modern Vespa

I have had 2 people at my work tell me I better get a new tire on my LX150 becuase it looks bald, I have only 3800 miles on my scooter, I know it would help to have a picture, and I will try to post one soon, but has anyone else had this little miles before having to replace the factory tire??

No, I only got 2800 miles on mine.

3800 is pretty good.

some brands wear out pretty quickly - i only got about 2500 miles on my rear pirelli before it needed replacing.

Here is a shot of the rear tire

Front Tire

I seem to remember getting about 3,000 on mine but after riding with my friend and his ET yesterday, he's only got a little over 2,000 and I was scared for him by how bald his tire was!

Just had to change the rear on my 125 gt after 6k, and I did about 2k of them on bald. Not intentionally though Tyre wear aint great on the vespas but then again there is a lot of weight at the back, the steel frame, engine and rider weight. Keep a check on tyre preasures to get maximum wear from the tyres.

dk'

Yes its time. I did this and I suggest you do it too, Take the old tire and cut thru where its bald. It will really surprise you how thin the section really is. I use two rear tires per front tire and 4000 to 5000 miles is about right. Ive been using Michelin sport pilots with pretty good luck

Judging by your pictures I'd say you only actually got 3300 or so miles out of that rear tire and were riding on borrowed time the last 500 or so.

Need to change that out sooner next time, before you have a blow out at 60mph.

When I first got into motorcycles I was dissapointed
to find that the rear tires wear out a lot faster than car tires.
I only got around 8-10K miles out of them
and they were fairly large diameter wheels!

I kind of went through this again when I got involved with
scooters, but I realized that you are dealing with
softer compounds (stickyness) and smaller diameters
(more revolutions/ mile).

To me 3800 seems great in two ways.
1. It lasted long
2. You are still alive

Is this standard for the LX becuse of the 10" tires?
Because I have 2700 miles on a GT 12" rear tire, and it looks good,
hardly any tread wear at all..?

Thanks, it makes me worry a bit now, I rode into work today in the misty rain, I new it was getting bad but It sounds like it will blow at any moment, I will make the call to the shop today.

you also might consider buying one of those harbor freight tire changers. Here in ohio if you take the tire off its $20-25.00 just to unmount and mount a tire. God only knows how much they would charge you to take the wheel off. The tire changer is only $100.00, at the least, it will pay you back in 4 tire changes, or perhaps just one tire change if you let the dealer do it. And besides that, you can set your own schedule.

As others have posted, you actually should have replaced it at around 3300 miles because in it's present condition, you're playing with fire. 2500-3000 miles seems to be the norm for the stock, Sava tires and 4000-5000 for better ones.

Do you have a link for the rear tire changer thing you are talking about.

I am pretty handy, is it hard to change a rear tire on the Vespa?

No but you do need a few tools. Something to lock the clutch from turning and a torque wrench and I believe a 17 mm socket

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=34542

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=42927

You need both items. Also double check the specifications of Item 42927. They make a few variations. One only goes down to a 12 " rim, the other goes down to a 8" Rim. Buy the one that goes down to a 8" Rim

I change my own tires. I've been changing Motorcycle tires for many years.

It is not easy to change scooter tires. The small diameter means plenty of muscle, patience and lube are required. You also should have some way of checking the balance of the wheel. You are more likely to mark and scratch your wheels with a small manual machine.

If you're up for it, by all means get a Harbor Freight Mini Tire Changer and a Marc Parnes balancer (google is your friend) --about $150 for the two. Have at it. I enjoy doing it, but I'm nuts. It is sweaty, hard work.

P.

Take it to the shop
You have to remove exhaust and you can
mess up your rims if you don't know what
you're doing

True but with a bit of practice its not too bad

Don't postpone tire changes! They are the only thing keeping your scoot right side up! I frequently get customers who wait until the rubber is completely worn through. Please don't do this for your own safety. And while I'm on a mini-rant, make sure to check your tire pressure regularly. Ok, I'm done.

In the UK you'd get three points on your licence on the spot for riding on a rear tyre like that. I bet there is less than 1mm of rubber left in the centre.

I've got 4K on my stock rear Sava, and it still seems to have a decent amount of life left in it. It's just starting to square-off a bit. As much as I hate the tread pattern of the Savas, they seem to last a good while.

I got just over 3K on my stock Sava rear. Replaced with Heidenau K61 and just replaced that after close to 6K. Brand does make a difference.

Brand makes a difference and as many suspect, wheel size makes a difference too. Small wheels work harder and have less rubber doing all the work. They naturally work harder.

LX rear tires last about 2-3k miles
GTS rear tires last about 4-6k miles
BV rear tires last about 10k miles

The fronts last longer than that. Your mileage may vary.

Don't mess with sorry tires. Park it or replace them.

Please please please, don't ride on that tire. There are "wear" indicators on all tires that let you know when they are ready to go. Ignore them at your own risk.

Any oil/water/etc, that you roll over has no place to go, as all the grooves are gone. So you're tire can hydroplane over the top of it, spilling you and your nice scoot on the ground.

Intersections/stoplights and the like are the worst, as cars stop-and-go there all the time, and all those slippery things collect there.

----

Remember, motorcycle tires are asked to do a lot more than a car tire...a scooter's tire also happens to be a lot smaller to boot, so it spins more times over a mile than it's larger cousins.

In fact, most everything about your scooter needs a bit more maintenance and care than modern cars. We change the oil more often, the tires, brake pads, etc. We have to pay to play.

Not fixing something worn in like riding without a helmet. You may think your getting away with something for a bit, until something bad happens, then you'll pray to god, asking "why didn't I just fix/wear it?"

I let mine go to 6000 miles & it was a baaad idea. Change it & get a Michelin City Pilot.

I think I need to change mine too. I'm waiting for pay-day so I can have it done... So far it's got me about 4300 km's (about 2700 miles, I think?) I was hoping it had a longer life. I don't remember the brand but it's the stock tire.

Ive noticed a lot of pics of tyres worn down the middle on MV.My tyres seem to wear more evenly, think this may be due to riding on the more windy roads we have in Ireland so we have to lean scoot more? where as in USA road tend to be straighter ? just a thought hence the "chicken strips " heading, the meaning of which can be found on wikipedia

Just called the shop and $100 for a tire change,
$70 for the tire and only $30 for the labor, not bad right??
I think its a Perelli tire.

Sounds about right to me.

Who takes the tire off the bike?

they do!

they said they can do the job while I wait.

They suggested the Michilian City Pilot or something like that.

If my dealer would only charge $30 to take off/replace tire/put back on, I would have never bought my own tire changing equipment. That's a very good price.

I had to replace my stock rear tire on my LX150 at it's first 3K check up. I had tread, but there was definite wear in the middle. Mostly what had happened was I had cracks along the sidewall, so it wouldn't hold air.
I must have really worn it on that Amerivespa rally weekend. lol. Was so worth it.

I agree,

30 bucks to take the wheel off and change the tire is reasonable. I don't know what it's like on a LX, but on a GTS it is way more hassle to get the rear wheel off than it should be.

Tires are one thing you should never be cheap about. If you're even asking the question, "Is this tire done?" then the answer is probably yes.

(Oh, and if you're wondering about this advice in relation to my sig picture, the scooter shop was my next stop after the burnout. )

Absolutely right. Don't go religiously by the wear markers either - sometimes the very centre of a tyre has eff-all rubber left while the wear markers still suggest there may be a little left. Particularly true of the Diablos on the GP800.

If the tyre raises a question mark in your mind - change it.

Reasonable? Heck, that's less than half what most places would charge around here to change the rear tire. I mean, I know they'll do a good job and all, but damn... my boyfriend can get all 4 tires changed and wheels balanced on his SUV for darn near the same price as it will cost me to change both tires on the GTV. No, I have no clue exactly how much work is involved, but it seems a bit high-priced to me.

My tire only lasted a little over 2K. $30 to mount and change the tire is excellent. My dealer charges $30 just for mounting. If due, it is much easier to change the hub oil when the tire is off.

Ouch $70 for the tire.. I just priced one for my LX150 and A&S PowerSports just quoted me $43.00 for a Michelin Pilot, and $59.00 for the Perelli SL38. That is for the ones they have on the shelf, so I will be picking one of them up today, then order a set of Heidenau K61's or K58's to have on hand for the next change (1 front, 3 rear)

I do have the Mini Tire changer bolted to my work table.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=34552
And I use the Marc Parnes Static Wheel Balancer.
http://www.marcparnes.com/Vespa_Scooter_Wheel_Balancer.htm
I worked with him to figure out a set of Centering cones that will work with the LX150 Rims, as the stock cones for the 12inch wheels do not work with the LX150 rims. He now has the measurements and can give you the right cones for the LX.
I want to get a MojoLeaver , but at $99 I have not justified it yet.
http://home.comcast.net/~prestondrake/mojoweb.htm
I really want to figure out how to make a nylon tip for the tire rod that came with the mini changer. Maybe I should get the Mojoleaver and charge $15, $20 to change scoot tires.. That would pay off the price of the thing pretty quick, and keep me in Tires for my scoots.