Enclosed is a step-by-step walk thru outlining the fabrication and process for installation of a spare tire on a Vespa GTS 250ie. Note that the Vespa GTS rims are interchangeable. It is OEM recommended that the rear tire (130-70/12) be slightly larger than the front tire (12070-12), but a rear wheel/tire combo can be installed on the front hub without issue. Therefore, if you are to carry a spare wheel tire it is recommended to carry the rear tire size on the spare. The thread will be separated into 5 parts: 1. Spare tire placement options 2. Attach bracket Mock-up and proof of concept 3. Bracket fabrication 4. Wheel installation 5. Horn relocation. Guess where the wheel will be mounted? 6. Review and observations wheel placement option 1, in wheel well...loose quite abit of storage and foot placement wheel placement option 2, on rear rack, loose aft storage wheel placement option 3, upright on rear rack, not ascetically pleasing, would need to fabricate a bracket to mount wheel placement option 4, on scooter side---like a pannier this would occupy the space of a pannier as pannier space is more valuable and would make the bike asymmetric. wheel placement option 5, front faring mount. This location provides a few challenges. The challenges include: 1. clearance with front wheel faring 2. wheel attachment to scooter 3. Horn relocation 4. loss of front load carrying capability 5. headlight visability headlight is partially blocked, I'll need to "rake" the wheel as to limit headlight beam blockage will mount on OEM front rack disassemble rack, won't need these parts re-install rack quick wheel fit check, wheel contacts post trim post, need to tuck wheel as close as possible to scooter make bracket from aluminum rectangle bar stock fit about here drill oversized hole matching the front bracket trim attach flanges light deburr all mounting holes rough machined bracket, repeat process break edges with deburr tool add loop adhesive velcro to the bracket to front rack contact/touch points as to spare the finish of the front rack mount check wheel base-plate out of wood first, then metal trim with band saw wheel check attach base-mount to bracket interface to front rack attach to scooter mount wheel to baseplate scooter fit check no front fender contact still some headlight blockage, need to rake the wheel and will try another mount approach vespa GTS front wheel hub ($30 from e-bay) opposite side of hub, these hole attach to your front brake disc need to trim off small tabs to make a flush surface, easy-peasy as hub is aluminum trimmed hub trim down the large disc to accept the hub remove front decorative trim as the tire will tuck to a lower position, plug holes with fastener aluminum sheet stock, 6061-T4 .125 inch gage outline transfer from wood to metal blend corners at 1.5 inch radii cut on band saw deburr mount on bracket mount assembly on rack prime (2x coats) + paint (2x coats) the wheel hub mount assembly on scooter front view, notice the assembly blocks the horn and running light countersink fasteners attach hub with course thread M6 fastener, use blue loctite paste fit check, no tire contact with scooter or bracket, only hub front fender check, no issues view from top remove stebel horn from cavity. Stable horn install can be found here: [topic114292] will mount the horn here need additional hose and elbow hose couplers bond straight coupler into stebel nozzle mount with fastener here straight connecter bonded in horn hole thread nozzle hole thru bracket horn as attached horn/hose backside view assembly on scooter assembly front view need to thread horn hose thru plastic trim, no real other option connect horn hose with hose elbow connector, easy to disconnect if assembly needs to be removed horn mounted wheel clearance to top of front fender front 1/4 view, closer tucked wheel, no headlight blockage outside front view side view front 1/4 view horn mount side view horn front view headlight view from ground Mod review and observations: 1. Additional piece of mind if need to conduct fix a flat where plug is insufficient 2. Certainly will mount for any long distance riding 3. No additional noise at hi-way speeds 4. Stebel horn is perceived to be ~30% louder, from re-location 5. assembly weight ~ 20 lbs, this will have benefit in cross wind conditions 6. some increase in front impact crash worthiness 7. benefit to other vespa riders if touring with GTS scooters Enjoy! Keithm
Outstanding!! This would have been great to have on my last Vespa. Once I added a top case in the rear the scoot developed a front tire wobble - I'm guessing due to the weight being so far back. This weight in the front might have cancelled out the wobble. In any event, an absolute fantastic job and terrific step by step instructions!
As usual Keith very well done farkle. I'd make 2 suggestions: 1) Protective "clear bra" circles on the paint, under the rubber cups 2) Your voltage regulator's already minimal airflow has just been reduced even further...they get plenty hot in normal use with just the small amount of airflow the horncast allows in. On my GTS, I drilled several air holes in the plastic shroud the VR mounts above, on the throttle side radiator. Can't hurt and did I mention that VR gets hot as hell?
Good comments, I'll take alook at directing some flow to the cavity, unaware the cavity usage was for VR cooling. I'll also need to add aux front turn signals as the tire/wheel blocks view from head on. Keithm
The VR lives on top of the black plastic right-side radiator shroud and gets very little cooling air. I'm certain you know how much electonics like heat...and Im not saying the VR wouldnt fail otherwise, but on the Vespas they are buried so uncharacteristically deep when compared to most other PTW's I dont see a down side to adding some cooling. Anyway...great mod (I mounted my Rotopax up front in a similar fashion) and very well executed and documented. thanks for sharing.
Add'l benefit: The add'l weight up front from my gas or your spare actually improves the ride and handling/braking IMO.
Thats a very clever and well thought out piece of work. From my own experience with a GTS removing the rear wheel is unnecessarily complicated and difficult- dealing with the exhaust and the fragile bushing (I used the Moto Amore bushing which I'm told also crumbles after a while) and the impossible to move bearing in the support plate for the wheel. I loved riding the GTS but the original vespa concept of simplicity seemed to have got left behind on these four stroke machines.
Excellent fabricating skills and a clever solution. Changing a rear tire on the side of the road on a Vespa GTS is impossible without pliers, a breaker bar, multiple sockets, hex bit socket, torx bit socket, a socket wrench, extensions, and a torque wrench. Who carries all that? Then there is the matter of that fragile graphite bearing... Vespaman video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUNXDSvpN7I Alternate method requiring even more tools http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSvFcNRFEuM
Good point, I'd suspect it would be desirable to carry these tools while in touring mode. I'm in the process of fabricating a lockable metal pannier for storage. Here are a couple of shots of concept: pannier rack rack + metal ammo can left side of scooter, not yet fabricated rack to can mount.... I plan on carrying the tool list listed within the pannier. Keithm
