Modern Buddy

So I was taking a turn and drifted too close to the side of the road, hit a few potholes, including one with a big loose chunk of pavement. The stuff in my crate bounced out. Stopped, grabbed the stuff off the road, did a quick once over of the scooter to make sure nothing obvious was broken. Rode it home, noticed a burning rubber smell every once and a while and the rear brake seemed to pulse a little, thought maybe a shoe or something came loose in the rear brake. Got home and did a more thorough check, noticed the rear rim was bent. Icing on the cake was when I took it off the center stand to move it into the garage, and the rear wheel caught, and caused me to drop the scooter lightly, a nice ding in the paint on the edge of the floor board, on the kick start and on the bottom of the engine case. Took the wheel off, and the tire had bulged where the bend in the rim was and had been rubbing up against the engine case. One of the oil filter cover studs dug a nice groove in the tire. Nothing else seems wrong, engine runs fine, nothing loose in the headset or fork, seemed to be some liquid on the spare tire and battery but didn't see any cracks in the battery. So new tire and rim at least. Anything else I should look for?

Thinking of taking it in to the dealer to have them look it over and for a new rim. Thinking of having my insurance cover it, but no idea if it will exceed the deductible.

OUCH!
I did a quick search on eBay and a new wheel costs $48 (shipping included). I didn't check for a tire price, and better deals may be available elsewhere. Not worth an insurance claim, in my opinion, if you can do the work yourself. This may be an opportunity to go with tubeless, at least on one wheel.

I can spare a rim. Have a bunch at the club garage and I'm pretty sure We have serviceable ones. Let me know if you want one; I'd been giving the stripped-down ones to a clubmate so she could make clocks out of them.

Wild Handyman wrote:Not worth an insurance claim, in my opinion, if you can do the work yourself.

I meant more for having the dealership do an inspection. Anyone think I could have done more serious damage than just the rim? I've never bent a rim before, on any vehicle, although it isn't a rare occurrence in Minnesota.

az_slynch, how much for a rim?

I'll go down to the garage on Friday and see what I have. If I've got a decent one, I'll send it along with my compliments. I'll PM for a mailing address once I have the rim on-hand.

I know that potholes suck; put a near-catastrophic crack in one of my FA Italia rims once. It got me home, but the rim was junk. I had a friend snap a shock and hole a crankcase on an Elite 80 thanks to a giant pothole too.

I found a decent spare rim. I'll clean it off and chase the threads with a die this weekend. Shoot me a PM with an address when you have an opportunity.

Anyone know of a good replacement tire for the Dunlop Maxi-Life? The Pirelli SC 30 seem to have the closest tread pattern to the Maxi-Life and they're priced well on eBay.

Neurotic-Hapi-Snak wrote:So I was taking a turn and drifted too close to the side of the road, hit a few potholes, including one with a big loose chunk of pavement. The stuff in my crate bounced out. Stopped, grabbed the stuff off the road, did a quick once over of the scooter to make sure nothing obvious was broken. Rode it home, noticed a burning rubber smell every once and a while and the rear brake seemed to pulse a little, thought maybe a shoe or something came loose in the rear brake. Got home and did a more thorough check, noticed the rear rim was bent. Icing on the cake was when I took it off the center stand to move it into the garage, and the rear wheel caught, and caused me to drop the scooter lightly, a nice ding in the paint on the edge of the floor board, on the kick start and on the bottom of the engine case. Took the wheel off, and the tire had bulged where the bend in the rim was and had been rubbing up against the engine case. One of the oil filter cover studs dug a nice groove in the tire. Nothing else seems wrong, engine runs fine, nothing loose in the headset or fork, seemed to be some liquid on the spare tire and battery but didn't see any cracks in the battery. So new tire and rim at least. Anything else I should look for?

Thinking of taking it in to the dealer to have them look it over and for a new rim. Thinking of having my insurance cover it, but no idea if it will exceed the deductible.

Would you mind sharing the location of the rim-eating pothole? I'll make a mental note and avoid that street.

(also, Bearded Lady today?)

Neurotic-Hapi-Snak wrote:Anyone know of a good replacement tire for the Dunlop Maxi-Life? The Pirelli SC 30 seem to have the closest tread pattern to the Maxi-Life and they're priced well on eBay.

I had a set of SC30s on my P series for a bit. The one on the rear only lasted about 3K miles. The sidewall profile (squared off like a car tire) made spirited cornering a bit fiddly. The tires also wore down asymmetrically both front and rear which worsened the handling as the miles built up. The load index is 51 (430 lbs.) and the speed rating is J (62mph)

I have found a preference for the Michelin S83. It has a vintage looking tread pattern as well, but the sidewall profile is more rounded. I've run one on the rear for 4.5K without wearing it out and they wear more evenly. There is a 51J tire, but if you do a bit of looking there's a 59J version; get this one. In addition to the better load index (536 lbs.), this version just has a stronger sidewall and tolerates the loading of "spirited" riding better.

The s83 used to be the scooterist tyre of choice back in the 80s and a lot of people still swear by them (usually if they havnt tried anything else!)but they are a little dated these day.

I found they were a bit crapy in the rain especially when braking.

If you are looking for a traditional looking tyre with a block tread you cant go wrong with a Heidenau K38. They are made of a more modern compound that grips in both the wet and the dry and from what I have heard from other scooterists they will out last the s83s.

http://www.sip-scootershop.com/en/produ ... +_89960000

What the hell, is the world trying to kill my scooter? I hit a raccoon tonight. I saw him waddling along the side of the road, so I moved towards the center of the road as a came up on him, but he suddenly b-lined right into my front tire. It bounced off, and cased me to go into a nice 100 ft rear tire squealing fishtail before I regained control and turned off on to the side of the road. Lucky I didn't dump the scooter. Stopped under, luckily, the only street light for a mile on the road. Didn't notice any serious damage and the scooter handled fine, so I turned around to examine the poor little guy. The hit hadn't killed him and he was laying in the middle of the road, amazingly no blood but a puddle of urine. Seemed like he couldn't move but I was afraid if I tried to move him to the side of the road, he might attack me. Figured the wasn't anything I could do, so I left. Got home and did a more thorough examination. No dents or blood on the legshield or floorboard, no blood on the front fork or suspension link, couple spots of moisture, probably blood, on the front tire, no bent rim , two small blood splatters on the edge of the fender, but no dents. So I'm pretty sure he just hit the front tire and bounced off without doing any damage.

I'm sure that the raccoon had massive internal injuries and a few broken bones. He probably crawled back into the weed somewhere and died.to bed for him, & a huge scare for you

It's best you left the (suicidal?) raccoon alone and didn't touch it. They are notorious for rabies and other diseases. I remember being chased by one on my university campus but got to the music room and shut the door before he got to me....

Drum Pro wrote:I remember being chased by one on my university campus but got to the music room and shut the door before he got to me....

The attack of the giant, man-eating raccoon!

Dooglas wrote:

Drum Pro wrote:I remember being chased by one on my university campus but got to the music room and shut the door before he got to me....

The attack of the giant, man-eating raccoon!

I wish I could say that that episode in my life was just a dream but it really did happen....

Tipper wrote:The s83 used to be the scooterist tyre of choice back in the 80s and a lot of people still swear by them (usually if they havnt tried anything else!)but they are a little dated these day.

I found they were a bit crapy in the rain especially when braking.

If you are looking for a traditional looking tyre with a block tread you cant go wrong with a Heidenau K38. They are made of a more modern compound that grips in both the wet and the dry and from what I have heard from other scooterists they will out last the s83s.

http://www.sip-scootershop.com/en/produ ... +_89960000

Any word on the Continental Classics? The only 'vintage' tread tire I've seen that's above a J speed rating, but it seems they're only sold in Europe.
http://www.sip-scootershop.com/en/produ ... +_80402000
Maybe I should just swap out all the tires. The Maxi-lifes are great on dirt and gravel, but only okay on smooth pavement. Seem to have great tread life, though.

ravenlore wrote: Would you mind sharing the location of the rim-eating pothole? I'll make a mental note and avoid that street.

I doubt you'll ever be on the road, it's a residential road in Ham Lake.

ravenlore wrote:(also, Bearded Lady today?)

?

Neurotic-Hapi-Snak wrote:

ravenlore wrote:(also, Bearded Lady today?)

?

I believe that the lady means this:

http://www.beardedladymotorcycleshow.com/

az, I didn't even think of it, but the half of the rim with the studs didn't bend. You said you had stripped rims, so I assume you meant the studs are stripped. I could have just used a replacement half of a rim.

Neurotic-Hapi-Snak wrote:

Tipper wrote:The s83 used to be the scooterist tyre of choice back in the 80s and a lot of people still swear by them (usually if they havnt tried anything else!)but they are a little dated these day.

I found they were a bit crapy in the rain especially when braking.

If you are looking for a traditional looking tyre with a block tread you cant go wrong with a Heidenau K38. They are made of a more modern compound that grips in both the wet and the dry and from what I have heard from other scooterists they will out last the s83s.

http://www.sip-scootershop.com/en/produ ... +_89960000

Any word on the Continental Classics? The only 'vintage' tread tire I've seen that's above a J speed rating, but it seems they're only sold in Europe.
http://www.sip-scootershop.com/en/produ ... +_80402000
Maybe I should just swap out all the tires. The Maxi-lifes are great on dirt and gravel, but only okay on smooth pavement. Seem to have great tread life, though.

ravenlore wrote: Would you mind sharing the location of the rim-eating pothole? I'll make a mental note and avoid that street.

I doubt you'll ever be on the road, it's a residential road in Ham Lake.

ravenlore wrote:(also, Bearded Lady today?)

?

Ah. Yep, i'm not often that far north.

And yeah, i was wondering if you were going to the Bearded Lady Motorcycle Freak Show in Northeast Minneapolis last Saturday. Sorry, I should have been way more clear.

Anybody try the Vee Rubber VRM-054 or VRM-144? The VRM-054 seems to be a close copy of the Michelin S83, at least treadwise.

I nominate for best thread title of the month!