Buddy Tire Change - Myself

sotied · Post by **sotied** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 9:25 pm

A guy in town is a complete scooter nut and has a garage full of equipment for working on his three Vespas and various motorcycles (has Triumphs and Indians, etc.).

The other day, I stopped by on Scootle and mentioned I was getting near 5000 miles and might be thinking of new tires. I wanted his thoughts on new meats for the scoot. Well, he gave me much more to think about.

He said he had a tire machine that I could use if I wanted to buy my tires online and then just bring them over and we could mount them.

What's your take? The guy knows what he's doing, but I'm uneasy because I SO DON'T know what I'm doing.

How easy is it to remove the wheels and then put them back on?

Is replacing tires pretty easy with the mounting machine?

Will I need new stems?

Other thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

ScooterNews · Post by **ScooterNews** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 9:42 pm

Changing 10" tires with a tire lever is no fun. A machine should make the process fairly simple. If he invested all the money in the changer I would image he knows how to use it. At worst you'll just pop a tube. Buy a couple of extra tubes just-in-case and go for it!

sotied · Post by **sotied** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 9:48 pm

Would be changing the tires on my Buddy. I believe they're tubeless.

My biggest fear is getting them on and off the scoot safely. Tire mounting I'll probably leave up to him.

Do I need to know torques and stuff to make sure my wheels don't fall off?

A_Hunter · Post by **A_Hunter** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 9:56 pm

The machine will make it real easy. As far as the actual removel of the tires goes, the front is easy. The rear on the other hand could get trick. depends on the clearance between the wheel and the exhast. And then there the tranny? behind the tire. I can't quite remember what my mechanic said about that. I just remember that I was quit abit of work.
I also see you are asking about valve stems. I it were me I would just replace them. But if there are no visible cracks and the rubber still fills soft then you mcould in theary reuse them. but like I said, just replace them. Losing a valve stem at speed is very dangerous even for very experainced riders.
Go ahead and do it, you will have help.

jasondavis48108 · Post by **jasondavis48108** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 12:23 am

taking off the front tire is super easy and quick. For the rear you will have to remove the exhuast first so this is a bit of a pain but not bad. and YES you definitly need to look up the torqe settings I beilve they were betwen 24-28 ftlbs but I cannot remember off the top of my head. You can find them in the service manual in the new member section

cadillaczac · Post by **cadillaczac** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 12:28 am

Changing tires with a machine is not at all hard, the hardest (most time consuming) is the removal of the exhaust and the actual rim and tire itself. When I changed my tire I used a couple of pry bars and it took me about 30 minuts to figure out and get the rear tire off. I was kinda embarrassed because I can remove, mount and balance four car tires in less time than that.

Leeroy Jenkins · Post by **Leeroy Jenkins** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 3:52 pm

mine needs new rubbers, why don't i post a how to vidja. Would it be useful to yall?

~Lee

iwabj · Post by **iwabj** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 4:29 pm

dsmith65 · Post by **dsmith65** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 4:47 pm

Leeroy Jenkins wrote:Would it be useful to yall?

Yes it would, I'm getting close to replacing the rear myself after plugging it twice. I'm thinking the tools I'd need to buy would be close to the dealer charge of $70 to do the rear tire.

Skootz Kabootz · Post by **Skootz Kabootz** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 4:49 pm

Leeroy Jenkins wrote:mine needs new rubbers, why don't i post a how to vidja. Would it be useful to yall?..

iwabj wrote:...The above message contributes very little if at all to the OP...

Seems to me that a well made "How To" tire changing video would be a great contribution; helpful to both the OP and MB as a whole...

iwabj · Post by **iwabj** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 4:54 pm

Skootz Kabootz · Post by **Skootz Kabootz** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 5:15 pm

iwabj wrote:
Skootz Kabootz wrote:
Leeroy Jenkins wrote:mine needs new rubbers, why don't i post a how to vidja. Would it be useful to yall?..

iwabj wrote:...The above message contributes very little if at all to the OP...
Seems to me that a well made "How To" tire changing video would be a great contribution; helpful to both the OP and MB as a whole...
NO NO NO. "The above message..." I was referring to MY above message. The previous paragraph statement, that is. Sorry to confuse.

Yes, a video would be great Leeroy. I just read about a new site about how to do stuff. You can contribute your videos here on how to do almost anything. Yes, the most mundane. Like how to open a beer with a lighter. I dont smoke anymore so now I use the door latch catch on my Chevy when I'm stranded.

Oops! My confusion

Leeroy Jenkins · Post by **Leeroy Jenkins** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:21 pm

If I have my camera handy I will show you the leeroy cheapo tire change method.

KRUSTYburger · Post by **KRUSTYburger** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:28 pm

I'd like to see. Me and a friend changed my rear tire a while back with one of those lever thingies
and it was a huge pain in the butt and we marred the rim a bit... So I had my front one done at a
motorsports place and not only did it cost me 30 bucks, they STILL scratched the rim all up!

I don't know what else to do, my rims are rusty from all the paint gone and they don't make after-
market alloys for Buddy that know of.

Penguinboy · Post by **Penguinboy** » Fri Jul 31, 2009 4:35 pm

Waiting with baited breath for the Leroy tire change video! Got my microwave popcorn and my big mug of sodie pop!

Definitely post that video! Looking forward to it...

mojobuddy70cc · Post by **mojobuddy70cc** » Fri Jul 31, 2009 11:57 pm

online and taking them to the local tire dude i know. i`m gonna study the rear tire config, i`ve done my vespa there are a couple tricks, some
patience is one,, but if your friend is a cycle geeks he probably knows most of the tricks and is confident to do it. experimentson your main ride can cost more than you save,, i wanna know how it goes 1`m @ 3,200 mi,, skins will be in order soon. brakes too

lobsterman · Post by **lobsterman** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 4:41 pm

Changing them yourself isn't really easy even with the machine, at least not the first time you do it, in my experience. It also isn't really, really hard.

The guy that did the bulk of the labor (it's his machine) had done several other scooters but not a Buddy. He whacked himself in the head with a tire iron twice during the process. I mostly assisted. I would say it was more difficult for him than me. Your experience may vary.

We went to two different locally convenient tire stores to put air in the newly mounted tires, one for the each tire. Just walk in and ask nicely if they can get it started for you, and they'll probably be happy to fill it.

In the end we got it done, and it wasn't overwhelmingly difficult.

I'd say if you have access to the machine and an impact wrench you can get it done without wishing you'd gone to the dealer.

Modern Buddy

Buddy Tire Change - Myself

Buddy Tire Change - Myself

i`m buying mine