The rear tire came off last but I’m showing it first because it’s a better picture. Not a whisper in me wants to employ the Harbor Freight Tire Changer to swap these tires. I’ll drop them off at the neighborhood service station to be mounted and balanced. My rims are so beat up that I have no fear of what might happen on those big hydraulic changing machines.
The new tire is a Kenda K413. Inexpensive, wears well, and performs well for me. I’ll pull the front tire on another evening.
The exhaust comes off first. One bolt to loosen on the header pipe and three bolts holding the muffler to the scooter. In slightly less than five minutes I’ve wiggled the muffler free and determined the filthy beast has a few appointments with a wire brush.
Wish I had a sandblaster. Am grateful for a little progress…
Wow! I can’t believe the rust that forms on the muffler from the salt on the road. And this is from only one winter? Didn’t you have to work on the muffler last year too?
Sandblasters can be relatively cheap, Steve, as little as $35 for a portable kit.
It’s the air compressor to run them that can get a little spendy. I spent about $250 some years ago on a Sears brand air compressor and it’s proven to be one of the most useful tool investments I’ve made not only for running a low buck blaster but filling tires, running a sprayer, or just blowing dust out of the stuff like the vacuum cleaner filter.
Hi Steve ,
Tyres , muffler slow down mate….I remember what you did to your lx150 ….only joking mate…good luck let us all know how you get on with the cleaning of the muffler.
Kindest regards
Len
Wow that is one corroded muffler….bead blasting may be required!
I envy you the availability of a neighborhood service station that will change scooter/moto tires…..they don’t around here.
Time. So many wonderful things going on. Difficult to keep up let alone leave a comment, but I’m here.
The solutions they spray here are horribly corrosive. The price for not leaving it in the garage. Like someone else mentioned, didn’t you work on this last year, too? Is this becoming a seasonal chore?
Steve I admire your wrenching abilities. I also admire your determination to keep that muffler looking young-ish. By all means, carry on.
I hope you are saving the winter tire. It looks like it has life left in it.
RichardM: I usually repaint the muffler once or twice a year. It’s been suggested that I have it coated coated ceramically. That makes too much sense.
Doug: I had it sandblasted once but it rusted just as fast. If I had one, and I can kick myself for not taking the compressor my dad offered me once upon a time, I would do that. But now I just turn the radio on, sit in a chair and work on it with a wirebrush and Naval Jelly — a sort of restorative meditation in rust dust and fumes.
Charlie6: Having a nearby service station that can change tires, do the Pennsylvania Safety Inspection, and other tasks if desired, is nice. I still take the Vespa to Kissell Motorsports for the real mechanical work though. They always get it right.
Keith: This is absolutely a seasonal chore save for cleaning up the rust in the front of the scooter. I’m contemplating turning the Vespa into a rat scooter.
David Masse: I so wish I could just have someone else do all this stuff. Or get a new scooter. It’s the childish irresponsible part of my personality speaking…
Len: Don’t fear — I’ll stay away from anything like the chore that led to the death of the LX150. This stuff is like washing dishes…
michael adams: Definitely saving the winter tires. They have a season or two left in them.
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I am fascinated that your local service station will not only mount your scooter tires, but balance them as well. Try asking for that at any place that provides such services for car tires where I live and the reaction will be something akin to your scooter tires being radioactive. Not with a 10-foot pole would they touch them, citing some obscure lawsuit.
However, these days I’m thinking my next scooter will be some kind of Stella, which of course rocks the split rims that make mounting/dismounting tires so easy.
Go with the ceramic coating, definitely.
__Orin
Scootin’ Old Skool