Modern Vespa

Hi "Vespistas"

I was having coffee with the importers of Vespa into South Africa this morning, when the question of white walled tyres came up. Why don't they stock them?

There appears to be a few questions regarding quality. How much life do you get out of them (average usage)? What are they like in the wet? Why do Pirelli or Michellin (the most popular tyre choice here) not seem to make them in 12" for the modern Vespa?

Could anybody that has had some personal experience with them please let me know what their thoughts are on the matter. I would also like to know what a set would likely cost me.

Many thanks,

Paulo

There have been a few posts in the last little while about whitewall tires. Here's the most recent. White Walled Tyres and White walls for the LX models.

Paulo

I doubt if there is anything about white walls themselves that effect tire performance. Rather, it's how the manufacturer makes the rest of the tire that matters. I had a long chat with the director of European sales for Sava Tires, and the reason that many sizes are not available in White Walls is simply that there is no demand from the manufacturers or the after market for them in those sizes. Typically, it takes a white wall being original equipment for a given size to be produced in white. Occasionally, a manufacturer may take a chance and introduce a white wall in a size that has never bee white on the stock vehicle.

So, white walls will vary based upon manufacturer and tread design, but not simply because they have white walls.

My wife's Yesterday came with white walls. Yesterdays were never sold in Greece. We have to wait for the next full shipment of Sava scooter tires to the main distributor in Greece to get her replacement tires! Sava makes a huge shipment every 5 or 6 months. Or, we can order them from a retailer in the UK at 45% higher price after shipping charges!

Al

We just put ours on sale down to $79 for the pair. It's a great price. It would cost about $70 in shipping to get them to you. We've not had a single problem with these, but you might want to hear that from someone else that's not trying to sell them.

http://www.scooterwest.com/items/?_pageCCS=t#page=/item_details/GTS-Whitewall-Tire-Pair/1861

I had the blackwall version of this exact tire on my Zuma 125. Very good tire for the $