Replacing tires

Sometimes the dang tire grabs on to your rim halves for dear life. You tried bead Dawn Soap along the tire and the rim, let it sit, and usually it works, but not this time... A little bit of heat from a heat gun will do the trick and make your job so much easier. Remember, I said, "a little."

Tires

I ride Michelin S3s, which are the sport Michelin tires. I like them, because they give good road performance and they can put on a lot of miles.

My wife's white walls are Sava Kran touring tires. I have been warned about using these tires many times because of the poor quality. I had them installed on my Bajaj Chetak and will say they did not last many miles the tread was gone. Secondly, the rubber has begun to harder on my wife's second pair of Sava Kran white walls. This will result in cracks and hardened rubber looses traction on the concrete, which could result in a crash. My wife also had a rear tire blow out with her Sava Kran and the tires little blew out and has a big hole in it. I will no longer buy Sava Krans or white walls in general, because they have the reputation of rubber that hardens quickly. The stock tires on the Bajaj are not the best choice for riding either.

My wife prefers touring tires as they are better in rain and they provide a more stable ride -- plus they look stock and true to the era of scoots.

My wife's scoot is getting a tune-up as we are about to ride on a 125 mile ride at a rally next month (HTTH8 Rally) in the San Francisco / East Bay area and our mechanic told us her tires and tubes are not in good shape, which we weren't surprised to hear. I knew I would not have time to go to a local shop and then drive them to my mechanic for over a week because my life is too busy; therefore I opted to order online and ship to my mechanic, which was a good financial choice as the tires cost $45 each with tax locally, and I paid $31 each and got free shipping online with Motorcycle Super Store.

The scoot won't look the same without the white walls, but my wife doesn't care. She just wants tires she can count on!

Purchasing tires

I just visited Clauss Studios to investigate if he may already have molds for the rubber for the floor rails for my wife's 1967 Vespa SS180 restoration. While I visited Clauss Studios I found that he sells Shinko brand tires (formerly Yokohama) for cheap! We bought white wall'd Sava Kran Touring tires for $19.99 on clearance "as-is" from Motor Sport Scooter. A good deal on a mid-grade tire, but there are some small defects with the white walls. Sava Krans seem to loose thread fast and not last long; therefore it's a much better deal with Clauss.

http://www.claussstudios.com

I am riding Michelin sport tires on my Bajaj Chetak right now and I am very happy with them. I bought them through a local motorcycle shop that sells scooters and paid $28 per tire I think. A great price.

Purchasing retro tires

I just visited Clauss Studios to investigate if he may already have molds for the rubber for the floor rails on an SS. I understand that the width of replacement floor rail rubber is not wide enough for the original floor rails on the SS; therefore if my original rail can be reused I will not be able to replace the rubber.

While I visited Clauss Studios I found that he sells Shinko brand tires (formerly Yokohama) for cheap! We bought white wall'd Sava Kran Touring tires for $19.99 on clearance "as-is" from Motor Sport Scooter. A good deal on a mid-grade tire, but there are some small defects with the white walls.

It's a much better deal with Clauss.

http://www.claussstudios.com