Scooterotica

Well, a question about it, at least.

Is it at all feasible to swap the push in rubber valves for bolt in (Bridgeport) valves with the tyre still on the rim? I've tried to compress the tyre as best I can but I'm thinking this is going to be mission impossible. Any special tools or techniques?

Happy to cut the tyres off if absolutely necessary, but they probbly only have 1,000kms on them so would be disappointed to do so.

Cheers,

Dan

i managed to do it bloody tight though, i just knelt on the tyre near the valve to push it down far enough to get a spanner on valve
steve

Just take the rim to a tyre fitter and get them to compress the tyre (inwards) off the bead, all the way around. Might need a block of wood as car tyres are obviously wider than lammy rims. Once this is done it's easy. I just did two of mine with bridgeport valves this way.
The easiest way to fit bridgeport valves is to chop out enough of the centre section,the part of the rim that bolts to the hub.The valve then doesn't touch anything.
If you need some pictures, let me know and I'll put some up.

I'm v.interested in this conversion to the scootrs tubeless with the bridgeport valves so any info,on how you did this, photos or help greatly appreciated, Hicksy.

Ihateyoubutler wrote:Just take the rim to a tyre fitter and get them to compress the tyre (inwards) off the bead, all the way around. Might need a block of wood as car tyres are obviously wider than lammy rims. Once this is done it's easy. I just did two of mine with bridgeport valves this way.
The easiest way to fit bridgeport valves is to chop out enough of the centre section,the part of the rim that bolts to the hub.The valve then doesn't touch anything.
If you need some pictures, let me know and I'll put some up.

Thanks for that. I've seen other pics on the forum (Sticky's) but just wanted to see if I could leave the rubber on the rims. Would be great to see your pics, too.

Cheers,

Dan

smoore-gt225 wrote:i managed to do it bloody tight though, i just knelt on the tyre near the valve to push it down far enough to get a spanner on valve
steve

Tried this - using the Yoko's that were fitted to the rims when purchased. Despite what some people say, the sidewalls feel pretty damn thick - kneeling ain't gonna do it!

Only just managed to stop myself from putting the tyre in a vice...

Well,

Finally got around to doing the conversion - tanks to ihateyoubutler and others for advice.

Firstly, if you're keeping your tyres on the rim, get a tyre shop to push them off the bead for you - you will go insane trying to do it yourself. It is then pretty simple to kneel down on the side wall to do the nut up from underneath. With the valves installed, get the same shop to inflate them or you will need to compress the outer circumference of the tyre to get the inner tyre edge to 'jump' the bead when inflating. You can use rope for this (see Youtube).

Secondly, the original pull-in/rubber boot valves (as supplied by ScootRS) seemed perfect . Out of interest, before I removed them, I tried to push the valves over as far as I could in various directions to get them to release air - but none came out. In fact, they were incredibly flexible and resilient - I couldn't get them to tear by trying to force/twist/pull them, so I cut through them with a blade. I know there are varying degrees of quality with these valves but it's difficult to imagine them failing as others obviously have (mainly in the UK?).

Thirdly, the Bridgeport valves did not seal properly when I first installed them (as per Sticky's previous comments from his test installation). The curve of the rim just didn't allow them to sit flatly, so they were practically gushing air at first. I eventually filed a very shallow almost-flat section into the rim around the valve hole which allowed them to seat nicely. Sounds scary, but very little material was removed.

Went for a test ride today and all seems well, and am really happy with the set up. Just thought I'd post my views for others thinking of doing the same thing, especially as I'm sure there lots of people thinking of 'upgrading' from these to the SIP / AF rim.

Dan

Ihateyoubutler wrote:Just take the rim to a tyre fitter and get them to compress the tyre (inwards) off the bead, all the way around. Might need a block of wood as car tyres are obviously wider than lammy rims. Once this is done it's easy. I just did two of mine with bridgeport valves this way.
The easiest way to fit bridgeport valves is to chop out enough of the centre section,the part of the rim that bolts to the hub.The valve then doesn't touch anything.
If you need some pictures, let me know and I'll put some up.

If you could post some pics, that would be great.

There's a picture in a post about them a couple of pages back.

Frank,

See below:

http://scooterotica.org/forum/viewtopic ... 2&start=10

http://scooterotica.org/forum/viewtopic ... 9&start=20