Scooterotica

Hello everyone,

I was rear-ended two summers ago by a Volvo (no injuries thank God!) which actually gave me the opportunity to refresh my beloved 1988 Vespa PX200. I had it stripped to its basic parts, had the bodywork sandblasted, had the corroded parts fixed and got it repainted. I have ordered a wiring loom from SIP in Germany and I hope to start the reinstallation part of the project soon (replacing many wornout items along the way of course). I already bought Bitubo front and rear shocks to replace the originals which turned to mush many years ago. While looking at the SIP website, I noticed that they have tubeless rims in original and wider sizes. I was wondering if I should go for the widest rims (3.00 X 10)to enable fitment of radials. I also found the rubber engine mounts which (as far as I can understand) is necessary for this undertaking. Here are the links to the rims and the engine mounts:

http://www.sip-scootershop.com/en/produ ... +_81045000
http://www.sip-scootershop.com/en/produ ... +_17474200

There's one catch; I don't want to upgrade to a front disc.

Do you know if there's anything else that I need to order? Should I forget about the 3.00s and go for 2.50 at the most or just order the original size?

What do you guys think?

Thanks!
Arrow

my preference , is a SIP tubeless on the back (at 2.50x10 slightly wider than standard) and a standard width 2.10x10 on the front. I had a wider rim on the front and it steered like a wheelbarrow.

Thanks for the reply! Did you have to do anything to make the wider rear rim fit (engine mounts, etc)? I'm guessing you are against 3.00 in the back, is that correct?

Apart from using a bigger tyre to up the gearing, what advantage would there be to a 3" one on the back?

Wouldn't a taller tyre steepen the steering and make it even more twitchy (unless you took a bit out of the rear ride height at the top of shock)

Modern tyres are pretty good. The argument for a slightly larger postage stamp size contact patch is a bit thin these days.

Thanks for the information guys, this is really good stuff. The reason that I looked into the wider rims was to be able to fit radial tyres, nothing more. I didn't think that I could get radials with the stock size rims. I think I'll just go for the regular size front and back. Just being able to fit tubeless tyres will be advantage enough...

i have the sip tubeless wide set front and back on my t5 classic got extension nut on rear shocker, ive felt the scoot to be very light on the front end ? could this be the problem

ive ran a wider rim (Cosa)on the back for years, and a standard on the front. I got some SIP tubeless rims when I bought the T5, (they are same as Cosa width) so just stuck with what id been running for years, slightly fatter back, standard front. I also run same-ish on me Lammy, AF wide rim on the back, standard front. all the massive tyre conversions you see from ze jermans are just for show in my opinion, and don't do anything for handling .

Is it ok to put a standard 3.50/10 Michelin S1tyre on the wider cosa rim and if so is there any real benefit and does there need to be any modification to the frame/ engine shocks etc.

The 2.50 x 10 rims pus the center of the rim out by 3mm. Not sure about the 2.10 x 10 .
The 3.00 x 10 come with the spacer to enable centralization you need to cut about 10mm from the flywheel side
of you engine mount and put the spacer on the near side !
I have 2.50's front and rear on my T5 with bitubos front and rear. SL26 Pirelli's.
The handeling is unbelievable ! Much more stable and the rollover is smooth giving me a feeling of confidence !
The alu rims are much lighter allowing the shocks to do there job better !
SIP you can pay me later !

goldeneye wrote:ive ran a wider rim (Cosa)on the back for years, and a standard on the front. I got some SIP tubeless rims when I bought the T5, (they are same as Cosa width) so just stuck with what id been running for years, slightly fatter back, standard front. I also run same-ish on me Lammy, AF wide rim on the back, standard front. all the massive tyre conversions you see from ze jermans are just for show in my opinion, and don't do anything for handling .

( all the massive tyre conversions you see from ze jermans are just for show in my opinion, and don't do anything for handling )

I'm not so sure, all super bikes ( Fireblades ) etc have rear wheels that are in some cases 65mm wider than the front. They all handle very very well compaired to scooters or motocycles with matching size wheels and tyres.