zippys

yeauxkneauxit · Post by **yeauxkneauxit** » Thu Sep 22, 2011 5:37 pm

Uhm Ok..So they rock!

Those cheng shins or whatever is stock- Garbage compared to these

dealer put on 100/80 10 rear - later i'll replace the front shoe.

viney266 · Post by **viney266** » Thu Sep 22, 2011 5:58 pm

YUP!. No matter what the scooter or the bike. Its still just 2 small pieces of rubber touching the ground. Tires are everything!

jijifer · Post by **jijifer** » Thu Sep 22, 2011 6:43 pm

viney266 wrote:YUP!. No matter what the scooter or the bike. Its still just 2 small pieces of rubber touching the ground. Tires are everything!

+1 - i never understand why people go cheap on tires.

yeauxkneauxit · Post by **yeauxkneauxit** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 12:01 pm

1st impression

-they give you extra corner rubber is suberb.
-Way smoother ride
-grip the road & feel much more secure. the tires seem to hug the street quite well
-100/80/10 is slightly smaller or should i say a fraction lower to the ground(there was a prior discussion about seat height)

If your considering tires...get these- you will NOT be sorry you dropped the coin, especially if you go from stock to these- you will see immediate changes for the better.

peabody99 · Post by **peabody99** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 2:07 pm

I don't like them on my Buddy. I am on my second set of Zippys on the Vespa though.
I actually liked the stock tires on the Buddy, and recently replaced my rear zippy with a Kenda which is one of the thrifty brands. I did not do it to be cheap, but b/c I liked the stock tire and was told it was a close match. So far so good, but it only has 1000 miles on it.

mrandmrslindholm · Post by **mrandmrslindholm** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 3:10 am

Got my new Zippys on the front and back on Friday. Today, my husband and I went on our first ride with fellow scooterists from the local scooter group. What a difference the tires make! It was a much smoother ride. They absorbed grooves in the road and bumps much better. I am really grateful. This will allow me to work on the areas where I need improvement a lot easier. I have more confidence with the Zippys on there!

peabody99 · Post by **peabody99** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 3:59 am

wow. I just don't get it! Like I said, I like the Zippys on my Vespa, but on the buddy- dislike! I still have a zippy on the front and a Kenda on the rear and I noticed right away the handling was better when I got rid of the Zippy rear. Plus the thing when bald by 4,000 miles.

I am not pumping up Kenda's- rather dissing Zippy. For the heck of it I might try the fancy German tires (Heindau?) next.

Post by **ericalm** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 4:38 am

Some of the stock tires on the Buddys are just fine, IMHO, but they're definitely not all created equal as we've seen in many threads.

jonlink · Post by **jonlink** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 1:19 pm

I'm fine with the stock tires on my 170i at the moment. I've heard great things about Zippys, so I'll definitely go for those once the need arises.

Anyone with a 170i also have Zippys? How do they compare to the stock tires?

yeauxkneauxit · Post by **yeauxkneauxit** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 2:48 pm

if I had a 170, I would feel a lot more secure on the zippys. I will say that the prior posts about having that extra tire space on the edges makes cornering much better. Although, you have to watch out for that center stand. Mine kissed the pavement the other day. So I don't lean in as much now LOL!

jonlink · Post by **jonlink** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 4:34 pm

yeauxkneauxit wrote:Although, you have to watch out for that center stand. Mine kissed the pavement the other day. So I don't lean in as much now LOL!

I still don't understand how folks manage to do this... Maybe the 170 is different, but I think I'd need to be nearly horizontal for the center-stand to come in contact with pavement while riding.

RobY · Post by **RobY** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 4:43 pm

jonlink wrote: I still don't understand how folks manage to do this... Maybe the 170 is different, but I think I'd need to be nearly horizontal for the center-stand to come in contact with pavement while riding.

I've only been on my 170 for a few weeks so I could be wrong, but I swear I hit the center stand the other day turning left. I was leaning hard, but didn't think it was that hard.

-Rob

jijifer · Post by **jijifer** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 4:46 pm

jonlink wrote:
yeauxkneauxit wrote:Although, you have to watch out for that center stand. Mine kissed the pavement the other day. So I don't lean in as much now LOL!
I still don't understand how folks manage to do this... Maybe the 170 is different, but I think I'd need to be nearly horizontal for the center-stand to come in contact with pavement while riding.

I hit more often leaning right, I think, than left. These things can lean super hard and in the mountains and canyons of So Cal, the twists are tight. It scares me every time I scrape but it happens!

AWinn6889 · Post by **AWinn6889** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 4:47 pm

I hit mine too on the 170.
I did notice that the center stand wasn't quite up all the way, it's still brand new though so it's a little stiff. Just gotta remind myself to double check it before I get moving.

Anyway, I plan on getting Zippys when it comes time to get new tires. The stock ones aren't horrible, but they aren't great either.

LunaP · Post by **LunaP** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 4:59 pm

RobY wrote:
jonlink wrote: I still don't understand how folks manage to do this... Maybe the 170 is different, but I think I'd need to be nearly horizontal for the center-stand to come in contact with pavement while riding.
I've only been on my 170 for a few weeks so I could be wrong, but I swear I hit the center stand the other day turning left. I was leaning hard, but didn't think it was that hard.

-Rob

I have a 170 and I'm a new rider so I haven't done any hard leans yet- but I did take the bike down once, onto its left side. The only two marks it has? A tiny one on the chromed-plastic headlamp-hood (can't recall if there's a proper term for that) and the kickstand. The kickstand got a good scuffing from it. Boyfriend was riding with me and we thought it was pretty weird 0.o But I was thankful nonetheless that the body didn't take any damage.

Post by **ericalm** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 6:26 pm

LunaP wrote:
RobY wrote:
jonlink wrote: I still don't understand how folks manage to do this... Maybe the 170 is different, but I think I'd need to be nearly horizontal for the center-stand to come in contact with pavement while riding.
I've only been on my 170 for a few weeks so I could be wrong, but I swear I hit the center stand the other day turning left. I was leaning hard, but didn't think it was that hard.

-Rob
I have a 170 and I'm a new rider so I haven't done any hard leans yet- but I did take the bike down once, onto its left side. The only two marks it has? A tiny one on the chromed-plastic headlamp-hood (can't recall if there's a proper term for that) and the kickstand. The kickstand got a good scuffing from it. Boyfriend was riding with me and we thought it was pretty weird 0.o But I was thankful nonetheless that the body didn't take any damage.

The headlamp hood is called the headlight bezel.

You can hit the centerstand leaning hard on a Buddy. This is where you learn the limits. If you hit stand, you're either going too fast or leaning harder than the turn requires. I know riders who do hairpins and switchbacks at pretty good speeds on Buddys without hitting the stand.

It's more likely to happen riding 2-up (with shocks more compressed) so beware! Always good to add 2-4psi to the rear tire when riding 2-up.

Hitting the centerstand can take you down. It can cause the rear wheel to lose contact with the ground or act as a pivot, causing a spin/slide. That doesn't happen often. Usually it's just a surprising scrape. I hit it the first time I was on a Buddy, playing with how far it leans—which is a lot!

See also "Weeble Effect" in the MB Dictionary/Lexicon:
topic4954.html

k1dude · Post by **k1dude** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 7:22 pm

Whenever I know I'm pushing the limits and about to hit the center stand, I'll drop my knee to straighten the bike up a little. Just like the knee draggers do at the races.

Of course I've nailed the stand a bunch of times anyway. Once I lifted the rear tire off the pavement at the apex of the turn and almost did a high side when it made contact again (into a bunch of parked cars). That'll put the fear of God in you. You'll only do that once, believe me.

Give some healthy respect to that center stand. Sometimes I wish it wasn't there so I could push the Buddy even harder, but I realize it's probably saving me from serious injury by not allowing me to do so.

jonlink · Post by **jonlink** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 11:04 pm

You folks all amaze me.

I don't feel like I've ever needed more lean to make a turn, but if I did, I'm not sure I'd have guts to lean that hard.

mharratsc · Post by **mharratsc** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 12:57 am

I bump my stand when going around a tall speedbump where I live. It definitely sticks out a bit..

neotrotsky · Post by **neotrotsky** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 3:08 am

jonlink wrote:You folks all amaze me. I don't feel like I've ever needed more lean to make a turn, but if I did, I'm not sure I'd have guts to lean that hard.

After feeling how just how sturdy the internals on the P were, I took the VERY long way back from class the other night and ended up getting a scrape on my kick starter

I was REALLY pushing it hard and wanted to see just how sturdy the old factory original hardware was, and even in it's loose and rattly state it still held up decent. To be fair, the right hard turn was a gradient that was pretty high over at Papago Park Pass (by the Botanical Gardens) and some of the smaller side roads to the picnic areas have sharp reverse bank turns. But still...

Cheshire · Post by **Cheshire** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 4:16 am

I scraped the center stand on my buddy a number of times on switchbacks and tight turns. As others have said, it can lean pretty far! I've equated scraping stand to scraping pegs on a motorcycle: sure, the tires can take more, but the frame's your leaning limit.
The one that spooked me was a really tight right turn (I had almost missed the entrance to the shop I was going to) that I scraped the pipe where it bends before the exhaust can.

That was a real pucker moment!