Never owned a Vespa but possibly thinking that way now & I'm likely to easily ride it(or what I do buy) beyond the tire life long before I'm home. In view of the rear tires being used up in the vicinity of 4,000 miles, I just watched a YouTube video showing a guy changing one out & it looks to me( I've been a wrench in my past & do all my own work on MC's & cars) like it mostly a matter of toting a tire on back & a few extra wrenches that would be good to have along anyway. How long is the typical use range for the fronts on scoots that size? Is there much else to say here?
Mike, If you don't get an answer fairly quick on ADV I know you'll have people responding right away on MV. Tech support is one of the things they like to get into best and there are lots of experts. I know there's a fair amount of NSR [non-scooter-related] topics over there but that's due in part to the minimal amount of maintenance issues. I'm not suggesting Vespas don't need service, they do, but I'm guessing there's a lot more non-Vespa scooter riders here. I've not ridden scooters as many miles as my bikes and probably never will but they're tons of fun and you may end up liking them just as much. If you happen to get a chance to ride an MP3 series do so, you'll be amazed at how well they handle and some of their unique features are really cool. The 500 I have is super on the freeways plus it's a hoot to ride on back roads. I had a custom saddle made with a back rest and now it's the most comfortable of all my rides. [ Had to mention that in case you're back acts up like mine does.] I've also got a GTS 250 and it's fun in its own way, not quite as fast or sure-footed as the MP3 on gravel but acts more like a conventional scooter. Like the MP3 it's also a hoot to ride and for me it's really comfortable even with the stock saddle. The new 300 series looks like a nice machine so if that's what you're thinking about I'd bet you'll like it. Ain't it grand all the ways we've figured out how to spend money? LL75
Tire life varies greatly depending on the tire and how you ride.....just like on motorcycles. I wore out a 15" rear tire on my Aprilia 250 in 2600 miles. On the other hand, the 14" front tire on my Kymco has 10,800 miles on it and looks like it will go another 10,000 miles. I have worn out rear motorcyle tires in as little as 750 miles and had them last up to 16,000 miles. This may not be of much help but I have found that mileage claims from other riders aren't all that useful. I have seen claims of 8,000 miles for a tire/bike combination I wore out in 1,700. From my experience and what I have read, it seems that front tires last at least twice as long as rear tires on most scooters. I think that having all that unsprung weight on the rear tire makes it wear much faster. I have also replaced tires with identical tires and gotten much higher or lower mileage out of the second one.
On Modern Vespa 2 guys said the German tires last longer and long enough to make me think I can sneak in a real long tour before a change.
I think I changed the rear tire around 4,000. It likely could have gone another 500-1,000 miles but I've found in general if I'm ever going to pick up a nail or whatnot, it tends to happen when the tread is thinner. 2 to 1 rear to front is about right as well from what I've seen.
I replaced the rear tire on my GTS300 at 4000 mi, and it needed it. The front looks good and I figure two rears to one front. The stock tires are Pirellis and I like them quite a lot so I replaced the rear with the same GTS24. The YouTube video done by the Modern Vespa guy is overly complicated for the GTS300. No body panels need to come of, no rubber cover at step through needs be removed, the seat doesn't even need to be lifted, and no LAMBDA sensor wire issue. Simply loosen the one 17mm exhaust clamp nut and three size 40 Torx screws and remove muffler, remove the lower shock mount nut, 24mm nut at axle and two allen bolts for the swingarm plate, then remove wheel. It is easier then a conventional chain drive bike as there is no chain (and adjustment) to mess with and the brake stays put on the other side. Piece of cake. The specter of trying to replace that heavy-carcassed tire on a 12" rim (without garfing the hell out of it), added to the fact that I had no way of static balancing a wheel without an axle, drove me to a local bike shop. They had a cone adapter for hub mounted wheels, for balancing. $22. and fifteen minutes later I was ready to bolt up the wheel and not a scratch on it. Hardly worth considering doing it myself, IMO.
You watched a different video than me. The one I watched was what you said & thats all that's in the way of the wheel anyway. Easy wheel change with right tools. I have read on MV that the tires are stiff little fellas to mount & even those that do their own MC tires do them on a machine as very hard to lever them on , so not a roadside operation. Please no bead thread here but I see no reason why I wouldn't use them on a scoot tire? They work great for me on my MC's.
