So today I had a flat to fix on the vespa. Apparently I ran over 3 very small needle bearings like you would find in a ujoint cap. So I dropped a floor jack under the back fender and got to work. Actually found it much easier to lay the vespa on the motor side in the grass, but I had just filled the tank full of gas and figured that was a bad idea. Remove the 5 nuts that hold the rim to the hub. (14mm). Now there are 5 more nuts holding the rim together. Remove these and begin to split the two halves. Usually this is the easy part, but they may be rusted together a bit. Spray some pb blast or wd-40 in the middle of the rims and let penetrate if stuck. Carefully pry with a long screwdriver if you must, just don’t bend it all up.
Now the part that gives most people trouble is the bead on the rim to the tire, so here is my trick for that! Once you have the rim split, take a small deep socket and place it over one of the studs and on the other side of the rim.
(ignore the fact I took the picture after I broke the bead, didn’t think of blogging this until after I did it)
Sometimes you may need 2 sockets, one on each opposing sides, but just one here and then step up onto the tire and BAM.
That’s it! Now just pull the inner tube, replace or repair and reverse the steps.
Tips:
1) if replacing the tube, make sure to use a tube with the proper bend for the valve stem. I made the mistake of buying from the local yamaha shop and got a straight valve stem. It will not work if it’s to long as it will hit the hub when you go to mount the tire. This sucks!
2) make sure to pay attention to what side and direction your rim comes off. Vespa rims are inset to one side to help the center up
3). Pay attention to tire tread and direction. Some tires are designed to only roll one direction. Also check for dry cracks and balding spots. Sure tale signs to replace the tires.
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