Replacement Tires

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astar
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Replacement Tires

I just put on a Michelin Bopper front tire on my Z20b, and the handling is much better. Gives me more confidence to ride the scooter. It's a 120/90L-10 bought from here. I also bought a Michelin S1 for the rear, size 100/90J-10, but have not installed it yet. $79 including shipping for both. These are the ones previously recommemded by usatracy. The front has about 10% larger diameter, which partially corrects for the speedometer error. My top indicated speed dropped from 50 mph to 45 mph.

I bought some motorcycle tire irons to try and install myself and felt like I was banging my head against the wall. Could not even get the tire iron under the bead. I ended up taking it to an auto tire dealer, and they did it for me for $5.

Any other tires anyone has tried? Results?

PJD
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Re: Replacement Tires

Any other tires anyone has tried? Results?

I've generally been happy with Pirelli SL-26 tires on my e-max's. Much improved ride. They are reinforced tire with a higher max inflation pressure of 47 psi, I inflate them to 50 psi for lower rolling resistance.

As far as getting tire irons under the bead, did you break the bead first? With the valve core removed, and the rim lying flay on the floor a stomp on the tire with your heel usually works.

Use plenty of soapy water on the bead when prying it off the rim and avoid too much force to prevent rim damage.

astar
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Re: Replacement Tires

Thanks. Do you feel that the higher pressure contributes significantly to range? If so, by how much? The Bopper is only 25 psi.

ZEV 7100 Alpine
Fort Collins, CO

astar
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Re: Replacement Tires

The odometer error with the new tire installed is about 7%. The speedo is probably now off by the same 7%, vs. 17% for the OEM tire.

ZEV 7100 Alpine
Fort Collins, CO

Brock
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Re: Replacement Tires

Are the original tires tubeless?

What is the largest size tire that can go on the front and rear?

It looks like stock is 3.5x10 I am looking at the Pirelli SL-26 120/90 J-10 for the front and 100/90 J-10 for the rear. I like the idea of a larger tire to help fix the odo problem and would like a larger tire on the rear as well, but it doesn't look like there is much room to go any larger.

I did look at the boppers, but like the idea of the higher pressure on the Pirelli's

Any other tires I should look at?

astar
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Re: Replacement Tires

Yes, the original tires are tubeless. As far as I know the sizes you mention are the largest possible. The rear is about the same as stock. I'm still happy with my choices, although I still have not installed the rear. Let us know how it goes.

ZEV 7100 Alpine
Fort Collins, CO

Brock
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Re: Replacement Tires

Ok, I got the tires today, how the heck do you get the back tire off? I was thinking of leaving it "on" and passing the tires on the left side past the attachment point so I wouldn't have to remove the right side, if I even could. The front looks a lot more straight forward.

Scotty
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Re: Replacement Tires

I'm curious if you noticed any difference in performance? The bigger tire might act like a higher gear and give you a little slower acceleration.

Also, I'm new to scooters, so I wasn't sure, but do these tires also use inner tubes? I was assuming they did, but again, wasn't sure.

Thanks!

Brock
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Re: Replacement Tires

The rear tire is the same size, just a better tire, so there really isn't a "gear" change. The front tire I bought is about two sizes up, so besides the improved handling the slightly larger diameter partially corrects the speedometer.

Hopefully this weekend I will try to pull it apart and see if I can change them.

astar
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Re: Replacement Tires

To remove the rear wheel, you will need to disconnect the hub motor wires at the terminal block and clip the tie wraps on the swing arm. After that, it's just a matter of losening the bolts and pulling off the wheel. It may be more challenging to remove the rear tire from the wheel since those wires will be coming out from one side and you don't want to damage them; I'd try the front tire first.

ZEV 7100 Alpine
Fort Collins, CO

Brock
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Re: Replacement Tires

Wow talk about a pain in the rear … tire...

I figured it out and to get the wires off for the rear wheel, you have to remove the ENTIRE body of the bike. Since the shell is layered from the front back you have to start at the front taking every piece off. I figured that our when wiring up my individual battery charging leads. But what a pain!

So I got the rear wheel off and I started to try to get the tire off myself. Then I noticed the air valve is gone, it looks to be broken off, and the tire is likely not blown although at this point I am going to change it anyway. I have taken the wheel to three shops and none of them will repair it since the hub motor is in the wheel and they are unfamiliar with them. One of them showed me his mounting device and it has to grab the center of the wheel somehow and he couldn’t do it with the hub motor mounted in there.

So I am in the process of calling around to see of anyone remotely close to me can swap this out. Maybe I am going to have to ship it to someone? At this point I am not sure how much more I want to sink in to the bike. I mean it is great when it is running and works out well, but at what point do I stop sinking money in to it?

Brock
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Re: Replacement Tires

Ok, almost 4 weeks later I finally got the old tire off. No one around here could get it off or would try because they didn't want to chance damaging the hub motor. I ended up taking the tire off myself. I put it in a vice and squeezed it until it popped off the rim then used a wonder bar to pry it off. Today I took the wheel to a local tire guy who put the new tire on it with relative ease and replaced the stem with a ½ inch one. I hope it doesn’t hit the brake shoe.

Tonight when I get home I will try to re-assemble the bike. I hope I remember where all the parts go...

FrankenstienEV
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Re: Replacement Tires

I was going to mention but Brock beat me to it. If you ever have to take off one of your tires for whatever reason, change the bent valve stem to a 1/2 inch straight stem. The valve stems that come with the Z's are trash. The brass tube is only pushed into the rubber part about 1/4 inch so you have to be real careful when airing up your tires not to push sideways too hard on the valve stem otherwise you will break the bond between the brass and the rubber and you will get a flat in about five minutes (like I did). Nobody around my home had any short valve stems so I ordered a box of 100 from MSC industrial supply www.mscdirect.com Made in USA so needless to say I have more than I need. I'm willing to give away most of them so if any of you want a set of two or four if you have two bikes let me know. You may have to chamfer the hole in the rim a little to pull it in as they are a real tight fit! The Ohm Depot

Sparhawk2k
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Re: Replacement Tires

Ok, as usual I'm confused by all these numbers... My R-20 lists 3.50-10 or something like that on the rear tire I need to replace.

It looks like the equivalent of that would be the 3.50J-10 but I also see people talking about 100/90 J-10. What is the difference there? Why should I go with one over the other?

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