After work I walked up to my scooter, ready to drive home, and found a super-flat front tire. I wasn't prepared to patch the tube, so I got a tow home. Oh, the indignity! Has anybody else gotten a flat tire on the Italia? Is the tire finished, or just the tube? There's no dealer in my town, so I have to fix this. The wheel bolts are supertight, so I've gotta get the right attachments for my drill to get them off.
In the long term (but getting shorter every minute I think about it) I'm going to make the switch to Zippy 1's. Are they indeed okay either with or without tubes? What's the benefit of either way?
previous post:
They generally don't make tubeless whitewalls for motorbikes. But just to be sure I checked with my Buddy dealer and he confirmed that yes, the whitewall tires on the Italia are tube types....
i feel for you, redcass. i had a blow out on my rear tire a week ago today. i utilized the roadside assistance and since the dealer was closed, the tow company kept my scooter overnight and delivered her to the dealer the next day.
i bought a spare tube for emergencies. i watched the mechanic change the tire and it doesn't look easy. you have to take off the pipe and then get the damned tire back on the rim, of course. so, i'll lay the price on you. for pulling and replacing the tire and tube and buying a spare tube...$67. i told the guy i was sure glad the tow was free.
does anyone know if any tire place could repair a flat if i have a spare tube? i don't need to go to the dealer for this service, do i?
after the shock of the cost wore off, i decided that should i have this situation arise again, it was tubeless for me and save the whitewalls for resale purposes.
$67 is actually a pretty reasonable price for a tire replacement on a scoot. (If it included the new tube, even better!) As you said, there is quite a bit of labor involved; it's not like changing a car tire. I wouldn't go to a car tire place—they'll have no idea how to handle the Buddy's pipe, brakes, cables, etc. Any scooter or motorcycle shop should be able to handle it provided they have the right hardware. Might be worth it to call around and see if other places in your area do this.
I'd strongly advise against changing out a tire yourself if you've not done it before. Someone on MV posted a thread showing just how badly he scratched and dinged up his rims trying this. Also, the tire should be properly balanced once replaced. It's worth $70 to have it done right and not have to worry about wobble or destroying your rims.
Eric // LA Scooter Meetup Group // Stella 4T // Vespa LX // Vespa LXS // Honda Helix // some, uh, projects…
hi, eric. yes, it included the tube (plus an extra). it was quite an involved process and i definitely wouldn't have the required tools, nor would i want to try it on the road.
just as a point of interest, i asked if they would balance the tire and was told they don't balance scooter tires cuz they generally don't go fast enough for wobble. they do, however, balance mc tires. so the tire is not balanced. they weren't before and i've never had any wobble, even up in the 45-55 mph range.
calling around is a good idea. but the same situation will appear with mc shops being closed on sundays and mondays; that's one reason i was wondering about a general tire place/garage being able to do the job.
I can't speak for the tubed whitewalls, but I did have to replace my rear tire after a second flat (hardware embedded in the tire both times, damn construction). I have read that the whitewalls don't perform as well, but can't speak from experience. I don't like the look of them anyway.
I went with a Continental Zippy 1 for my new tire and I am very happy with it so far (about 1000 miles on it since then); I gladly had the dealer install it. I also had the dealer replace the hub and rim on the rear recently after I bent it going over a curb.
I am all for doing the stuff you can reasonably do yourself, I recently did an oil change for example, but for I gladly pay the dealer to handle things that are over my head. My scooter is my daily commuter vehicle and I really don't want to mess with extra downtime because I messed up something important.
I'd love to have a dealer do this, but the nearest dealer is an hour away and my other vehicle is a compact car. I think there's a place in town that works on scooters, hopefully I can get him to do it. I don't particularly love the whitewalls, so I think I'm just going to switch to the Zippy 1s. Is it a good idea to buy an extra to have a spare, or would it degrade too much over time just sitting around?
redcass wrote:I'd love to have a dealer do this, but the nearest dealer is an hour away and my other vehicle is a compact car. I think there's a place in town that works on scooters, hopefully I can get him to do it. I don't particularly love the whitewalls, so I think I'm just going to switch to the Zippy 1s. Is it a good idea to buy an extra to have a spare, or would it degrade too much over time just sitting around?
the tube only cost around $7.50, so big whoop. its worth the investment, imo.
redcass wrote:Is it a good idea to buy an extra to have a spare, or would it degrade too much over time just sitting around?
Depends on how quickly you'd think you might need one. Many shops and some of the online retailers keep these in stock and usually have them. So worst case scenario, you might have to wait a day or two for one.
I don't think an unmounted spare tire would degrade any faster in your garage than in a store room unless you have some weird extreme conditions in there. If you kept is covered and didn't stack cinder blocks on it, I'd guess it'd be fine.
Eric // LA Scooter Meetup Group // Stella 4T // Vespa LX // Vespa LXS // Honda Helix // some, uh, projects…
I spoke with Eric at Scooterworks and he said my rims are tubeless. That seems to contradict some of what I've read here about the whitewalls. I'm confused. Can anybody clear that up?
I decided to order a pair of Zippy's and I found a shop here in town that will switch the tires for me as soon as I get them. And thanks for tips on the spare, at this point I won't get one, so I'll just order a new tire if I need one--crossing my fingers that this doesn't happen again any time soon. Goodness, I only have about 550 mi on my scooter!
You have tubeless style rims. This means if you replace your OEM tires you can use either a tubed or tubeless type tire.
If you use a TUBELESS type tire you will have to also use an appropriate tubeless valve stem.
The whitewall tires REQUIRE a tube.
You can use a tube in tubeless tire with no ill effects, in fact this has been a time honored way of repairing a tire with a pretty big hole in the carcass (too big for a plug).
Phil Waters
ClevelandMoto
Pride Of Cleveland Scooters
18636 Detroit Rd.
Lakewood, Ohio 44107
216-227-1964 www.clevelandmoto.com
Ever since reading that discussion I have been thinking that I need to be prepared for the flat tire that I will eventually get and this tread nudged me into action. My Buddy SI has the stock white wall tires so I ordered a spare inner tube from Motorsport Scooters, part number 35010TBM which is the Michelin 300-350x10 tube for $9.95. I could have gotten an inner tube from ScooterWorks for $7.50 but since I was ordering other items from Motorsport Scooters it worked out to be less expensive because I was already paying for shipping. I am not sure if I would attempt to repair the flat myself because it sounds like I could scratch up my rims without the proper tools but at least I will have a spare inner tube just in case the scooter/motorcycle shop that fixes this does not carry the appropriate inner tube.
That was when I thought I'd try to do this repair myself. An attachment like those that convert drills to power-screwdrivers. I heard you could also get "heads" (or whatever they're called) that would fit over bolts.
But now I'm just going to take my scoot to a shop in town.
Word to the wise... make sure they place the valve stem/ tube in the correct direction... I replaced my stock tires for white walls after I had my rims painted... if placed wrong, the valve stem will tap the break calliper and flatten your stem... meaning new tube and new service...
So now I have new Zippy 1 tubeless tires on my Italia. I ordered the tires from Scooterworks, told them about my flat front whitewall (tube) tire. They didn't say I needed new valves -- what do I know about tires ?!? -- but then reading this thread, I thought maybe I needed new valves. I called back, sales told me I did need valves, service told me I didn't. Well, of course I did need new valves and the shop (no dealer in my town) that did the service had to hunt all over town to find the valves. Seriously, can anyone tell me who is actually reliable up at Scooterworks?
Second question, both tires say "Front tire" on them. Does this matter? Should I have one that says "Rear tire"?
Thanks for your help with this folks. How ironic is it that I trust this community more than the dealer that is Genuine's co-company?
redcass wrote:
Second question, both tires say "Front tire" on them. Does this matter? Should I have one that says "Rear tire"?
The front labels indicate the direction that the tire should be facing when installed. If the tire is erroneously installed facing in the wrong direction then you will end up with a scooter that will only travel in reverse.
Here is a better answer. Some scooters have different front and rear tires. My fantasy scooter, the Vespa GTS 250, has different front and rear tires. Continental makes a Zippy 1 front tire for the Vespa GTS 250 and a different Zippy 1 rear tire for the Vespa GTS 250. Different front and rear tires are not an issue for the Buddy because the Buddy has the same size tire on both the front and rear. I am not familiar with the Zippy 1 tires but it seems like as long as the size of your Zippy 1 tires is 3.5 x 10 you should be just fine.
hcstrider wrote:
The front labels indicate the direction that the tire should be facing when installed. If the tire is erroneously installed facing in the wrong direction then you will end up with a scooter that will only travel in reverse.
hcstrider wrote:
Here is a better answer. Some scooters have different front and rear tires. My fantasy scooter, the Vespa GTS 250, has different front and rear tires. Continental makes a Zippy 1 front tire for the Vespa GTS 250 and a different Zippy 1 rear tire for the Vespa GTS 250. Different front and rear tires are not an issue for the Buddy because the Buddy has the same size tire on both the front and rear. I am not familiar with the Zippy 1 tires but it seems like as long as the size of your Zippy 1 tires is 3.5 x 10 you should be just fine.
Thanks a lot for that, it helps put my mind at ease!
I had my first flat on my SI this weekend. Luckily it was a small nail and a slow leak, so I am trying Slime instead of replacing the tube. But the discussion of tubes, blow outs, etc. has me thinking about switching to Zippys as well.
So, how do people like the Zippys now that they have had them on for a while? Are you glad you changed your tires? Do you notice any difference? Any comments?
I do like the feel, although it is definitely more 'sporty' feeling than the original tires. We had a misty day all day here in nashville on Friday and my buddy has never felt more sure of himself on wet pavement than he did that day.
I made the change because my back tire was looking and feeling pretty shabby and the Maxxis came out just in time.
PasadenaSue wrote:I had my first flat on my SI this weekend. Luckily it was a small nail and a slow leak, so I am trying Slime instead of replacing the tube.
Sorry to hear you had a flat, Sue! How is the Slime working out?
I still love my Zippy 1s -- much better than the stock whitewalls. It doesn't matter to me whether I have whitewalls or not, though I understand some folks prefer them.
The slime is holding out this morning, which is great since I ride my Scoot to work, and I won't have a chance to change the tube until next weekend.
I run heavy duty tubes and slime on my Dual Sport (Honda XL600), so I would think that it if can handle the stress of riding dirt roads it can handle my commuting on surface streets to work.
While I love the look of white walls, I have read lots of good things about the Zippys. I'll probably wait until the Maxxis have more reports to decide which tubeless tire to go with.
Oh, the indignity! Has anybody else gotten a flat tire on the Italia? Is the tire finished, or just the tube? There's no dealer in my town, so I have to fix this. The wheel bolts are supertight, so I've gotta get the right attachments for my drill to get them off.
Seriously, can anyone tell me who is actually reliable up at Scooterworks? 
