SIP Tubeless Rims: 6-Month Review

Almost six months after starting to use a pair of SIP tubeless rims on a daily basis, I can safely say that I've come to a few conclusions. First, there's the convenience of the whole thing or specifically, the lack of it. Everything's all fine when things go to plan but when there are problems (i.e. punctures), nothing beats the old split rims for convenience.

Maybe I'm just a bit old-fashioned but with the standard split rims, once recovered from a puncture, all that one would have to do is to get themselves a new tube and the whole wheel can be re-assembled in the comfort of home. No hassle. With the tubeless combo, unless there's the right equipment at hand (or you're this dude), a puncture would basically mean a visit to your local garage, dealer, bike shop, etc.

Of course, not wanting to give up that easily on my scootering investment, I got myself some Slime Tire Sealant. Slime won't theoretically save a tire if a 6-inch rusty nail decides to get acquainted with it but for the odd shard of glass, thumb tack or other nasty object that might lie in waiting on a road near you, the tire sealant should be just fine. Hopefully, this €15 investment should save me a couple of trips to the scooter dealer.

That's that negative point sorted but there's another issue that I realised on one of my regular online window shopping visits to SIP - the spare wheel. When the question was raised on the site's forum, I initially thought it was quite silly. Surely, if the tubeless rims were meant to fit the Vespa's standard hub, they should also fit on the PX's spare wheel holder under the side panel.

So, do they fit?

Yes and no. The standard split rims are 2.10 wide while the tubeless ones that I have are the 2.50 x 10 variety. The wider profile which is intended to make tubeless tire-fitting a lot easier, has the disadvantage of restricting the rim from being fully inserted into the spare wheel holder's designated studs. I tried to do this on the normal (valve outwards) side and on the reverse side as well but unfortunately, it didn't work on both attempts.

The good thing is, by placing the wheel on the reverse side, the wheel actually sits into place, supported by the Vespa's battery. The wheel still can't be properly secured to the two studs but with the side panel on, it would still be possible to get around with a spare wheel if needed. I tried this myself and spent around half a day going around town in start-stop, city centre traffic without any problems. I was expecting weird sounds from the loose wheel under the side panel but didn't hear a thing. It might be a problem at higher, motorway speeds though. Obviously, not an ideal solution and not to my liking but still, it's good to know anyway.

Thinking about it again, I bought the tubeless rims primarily for two reasons - the added safety it offered and the bling factor (especially with the polished aluminium ones that I bought). On both counts, the rims delivered so, although the issues mentioned above are a bit annoying, I'm viewing them as part of a getting used to process for an all-new way of scootering, for the moment.

Vespa PX: Near Farmleigh

Friday was an absolutely gorgeous day and it was an excuse to take the long (non-potholed) route home. Unfortunately, the day just didn't end too well. On the way home from a friend's place after the now usual weekly game of football, I struggled to control the Vespa and soon enough realised that there was a puncture in the rear tire. Again. Dammit.

Why do punctures and breakdowns normally happen at the worst possible times? In the middle of the night/in the small hours of the morning, on nights with freezing temperatures, in the middle of pouring rain but never, never on a bright, sunny and dry day. Maybe those days are just too good to be ruined by a puncture or a stuffed carb.

Anyway, this is the second time within the space of a few months that a puncture has happened to the same tire. Maybe it's a dodgy tire or maybe it's a dodgy rim. I hope to find out soon enough...

Leather Gloves Time

Yes, it looks like the good weather's back. I noticed it on the weekend when I realised that it was too warm to wear my regular winter gloves. I was heading out to get some regular maintenance done on the Vespa as I starting to get worried about the scooter's handling.

At first, I thought it was just the wet and frosty roads that was affecting the Vespa's ride but with the recent warmer and drier weather, my theory was immediately thrown out the window. Basically on cornering, the rear wheel can only be described as "slippery" even when its been dry for days on end.

The blame then fell on the rear combo of SIP tubeless rim and previously punctured Heidenau K58 tyre. Various worst case scenarios included cracked rim (not surprising with the Road to Baghdad that's Phoenix Park's Chesterfield Avenue these days) and a botched puncture repair on the tyre. I didn't have a tyre pressure gauge handy (left the one I had at the office desk for some reason...) so, I popped out to the nearest garage. The tyre presure was fine and I was stumped.

My next theory would be the rear shock but considering I've no budget to have that changed to some "decent" Bitubo ones these days (bleeding car needing repairs to the tune of over €500 just last week), I'll settle for some unstable cornering or avoid bends and stay on the straight and narrow. Not too bad when the weather's as good as this. Long may it last...

Vespa PX: Through the Kaimal Mark II

Just a random snap that I took while waiting to get my change after paying for the petrol. The picture was taken a few weeks before the difficulties encountered earlier this week so no, the Vespa's not back and running just yet.

I've to get myself a new tube for the designated spare tyre and hopefully, the replacement tyre (for the tubeless rim) that I ordered from the Scooter Center would arrive later today or early next week. Then it's off to Modern and Classic Scooters to get the tyre fitted to the rim but before that, I'd want the guys there to have a closer look at the damaged tyre to figure out what actually happened to it. Hopefully, it wasn't anything too serious but more importantly, I need to assure myself that it won't happen again.

Blow Out on Blue Monday

I write this while waiting for my wife to come to my rescue after a puncture in my rear tyre nearly caused me to take a swim in the River Liffey - scooter, rider and all. Thankfully, traffic on the Quays that evening was quite a distance behind me when it happened and with what little skill I had, I managed to slow the Vespa down just enough for me to control it towards the footpath by the river. Phewww...

Exhibit A: Looks like a normal flat

I shouldn't have needed to wait as long as I waited but in all my wisdom, I took the tool kit that was sitting pretty in my Vespa's glovebox and stashed it in the boot of my wife's car. Why? I don't know but I guess I'm one of those people who just loves learning things the hard way.

Exhibit B: That doesn't look normal at all. I could do with a new rear shock too.

Anyway, after about an hour or so of enjoying the night time scenery, I eventually got the tools I needed from my wife via a helpful old friend who lives closeby. Another hour passed by and having removed the damaged wheel, I replaced it with the spare wheel. A handy feature of the older Vespa, not seen on most other scooters. Handy of course if the spare itself wasn't utterly useless!

Yes, to my horror, the spare tyre was no where close to being useable. There was something wrong with the valve on the tube. The valve on the tube just wouldn't keep the air in the tyre. I must've looked miserable and been in such a sorry state at that stage that even a fire engine stopped in the middle of the road as it was passing by to see whether I was OK. I clearly wasn't but it was a nice gesture from the two firemen anyway.


Having ran out of options, I gave up and did the sensible thing. The recovery van got the scooter and I home at around 11 that night, almost 5 hours after I had left work that depressing Monday evening.

SIP Tubeless Rims: A Week On

After getting the Vespa back about a week ago, I went back to Modern and Classic Scooters to the get the front wheel sorted. Now, a week on from that, I can say that I have a better idea of how it feels to roll on tubeless rims.

Before and After

OK, to the untrained eye, the pic above might not mean much but to the scooter enthusiast, the tubeless rim is gigantic leap forward for scooter safety. I don't plan to have a blow-out any time soon but as I'm on my scooter on a daily basis, it's good to know that should I ever be unfortunate enough to have a six-inch rusty nail in my Vespa's tyre at 50 mph, the results won't be too dramatic.


Safety aspects aside, one thing I did notice when switching over from standard split rims to the tubeless rims was the handling of the Vespa. It was nothing too severe but on corners, the feeling could only be described as shifty. At first, I was going to lay the blame on the new Heidenau tires that still needed to be run-in but then again, I've had the same tires before and even out of the box, they didn't  have this strange effect on my Vespa's handling.

Look no splits: The lack of exposed nuts and bolts (on the other side) indicate that these rims are of a one piece construction

The only logical explanation for this would be the wider profile of the tubeless rims -  2.50x10 on the SIP ones against 2.10x10 of the standard Vespa split rims (and 2.15x10 on ScootRS' tubeless rims). The wider design makes it easier to fit tires on to the rims but I wonder whether handling would've been sacrificed for this convenience. Curious, I raised the matter with other scooterists that I know. The general feeling was that like any modification, I needed to learn to get used to the slight changes first. In a way, I needed to find my Vespa's sweet spot once again...

The Green Vespa: Back and Better

After enjoying a day or so on my Vespa (which had been gone for almost 3 weeks before that), I've now managed to get some pics of some of the minor improvements that I've made since it was stuck at Carl's. I won't go into the details of what was wrong with the scooter in the first place. The list of things that needed done was as long as my arm!

A Sito Plus exhaust is now bolted on to the old thing to replace the rusted original PX exhaust which was on its last legs. I still haven't given the exhaust a proper chance to show me its abilities yet as I was mindful that my rear tyre was brand new and needed some time to run-in. Something to do with a special coating on the tyre that's there for storage reasons. I'll give it another few miles and then...


Here's the new tyre on the bling-bling new SIP tubeless rim. Personally, on top of the polished aluminium of the rim, I think the rounded (acorn-type?) nuts that come standard with the rims (rather than the standard M8 ones) just complete the whole look. Anyway, sorry about the daft pic but I couldn't be bothered with removing the spare wheel for a better view of the thing. I'll get a better pic as soon as I get the tyre on to the front rim.

Speaking of the front rim, it's obvious that one needs a bit of patience to get tires on to these rims, even with the right equipment at hand. The one I had for the front had its tubeless beading broken so, I've had to order a replacement for that one. Hopefully, I'd have that sorted out by the end of the week.

Every Cloud Has a Sito Lining

My Vespa's breakdown couldn't have happened at a worse time. The mechanic I normally send my Vespa to, couldn't have been busier. There were paint jobs to finish off, some insurance claim cases and a long queue of scooters awaiting some much needed TLC. So, a little delay was quite acceptable.

What wasn't acceptable was the state of the Green Vespa's rear tyre. I sort of knew it needed to be replaced some time soon but if I didn't have any problems with the Vespa, I  wouldn't have bothered looking closely at it until it was probably too late. There was basically no thread left on the tyre at all. Of course, I grabbed this opportunity and got myself the replacement Heidenau K58s. This time, in tubeless form to go with my all-new SIP tubeless rims. I can't wait when I finally get those rims on the Vespa...

I was going to get the tyres at my default dealer of choice, SIP Scootershop but as they couldn't be bothered with stocking the tubeless version of the Heidenaus I wanted, I decided to give their competitors in Cologne a try. Scooter Center have been gaining a good reputation within the scootering community in these parts, as a viable alternative to SIP especially since some quality issues (both service and goods) have started to creep in the Bavarian company's business of late. Hopefully, the competition would give SIP a good kick in the behind and they'd start to buck-up soon.

In addition to the long-needed tyres, I also managed to convince myself that I desperately needed a Sito Plus as a replacement for my old, rusty, bog-standard exhaust. Theoretically, the Sito Plus should give me that extra bit of power to drag me over a steep-ish hill and also allow me to safely compete with what seems like an ever-growing number of 50cc mopeds at traffic lights. Theoretically.

Seven days (and counting) being Vespa-less is quite bad and is testing my patience with Dublin's traffic but at least now, I've got a couple of things to look forward to.

SIP Tubeless Rims

I caved in. I just couldn't take it anymore and somehow, in my head, I justified to myself why I needed to have the rims even though there were already a perfectly decent pair of ScootRS tubeless ones lying in my living room.

Having copped that the rims were back in stock after a long, long wait, I quickly grabbed my credit card and quickly punched in my details. I have to give it to SIP though. That single green bar with what seemed like a warning of sorts (This article will soon be sold out) when you hover it, did the trick for me. I was so frightened that I would miss my one gleaming chance to get my hands on these rims, I ditched everything else and placed my order. (Note: A week on and it still says the same though).

Polished aluminium. Mmmmm....

SIP valve caps. A nice touch

That was late last week and when Monday came along, DHL were at my door with my rims (along with some other freebies that the good guys at the company decided to throw in the box). It never ceases to amaze me how companies like SIP shift their stuff to customers so quickly but what didn't amaze me this time around was the missing hexagonal and dome-type nuts that were meant to be included with the rims. In fairness, one of the rims had them in its box but the other one clearly didn't.

I immediately went online and popped a complaint to the company. I wasn't expecting much but by Wednesday morning I had received a text message telling me that the nuts had been delivered. I checked my email and there was an email reply from the company saying that the missing nuts were on their way, all within 24 hours after I put in my complaint. Now that's what I call customer service. German efficiency is definitely a well-earned reputation.

Engineered in Bavaria. Made in the People's Republic of China. Or maybe Taiwan?

Now, all I need are some good tubeless tyres to get me going on these rims...

Tubeless Rims Update

As mentioned in my previous post on the tubeless rims, I dropped the folks at ScootRS a quick message to see what I could get off them.

The next morning, I received an email from the company's Customer Service people.

We can send you 2, is this correct still?

A short reply. The exact one I was looking for. No excuses no legal mumbo-jumbo. Just straight to the point, here you go, here's your replacment parts.

If I was being a bit picky, I would've expected the valves to be in the post as soon as they figured out that they had a problem with them. But, to be fair to the company, at least they didn't give me the cold shoulder (which they could have easily done from a few thousand miles away)so again, thanks guys.

While on the topic of valves and tubeless rims, it seems the whole problem isn't actually limited to innovative Vietnamese products. In their latest issue, Scootering magazine reported some minor problems with the valves that SIP supply for their own tubeless rims.

Seemingly, SIP are actively trying to source more suitable valves for their rims.

On different note, I had in my hands this morning, my all-new Liverpool jersey! I could've had it a day earlier if only my wife had made it home a tad bit earlier after dropping my daughter to school yesterday. I'll post something up on this as soon as possible.

The New 2010/2012 Liverpool Jersey: The Final Countdown

So, there I was at my desk at work. A normal Monday morning. And, like any Monday morning, I'd check my emails, work ones first of course and then the personal ones followed by the really personal ones on webmail. Already in a happy enough mood from Liverpool's win over Burnley on Sunday, I was even more pleasantly surprised that morning when I received the following mail.

A nice little note to say that my all-new Liverpool jersey had been sent! Strange, considering that the official release date was meant to be around May 8th. Maybe, DHL were under some instruction to hold delivery until then or maybe the club were just worried that Eyjafjallajokul would cause havoc again. Either way, I'm just glad that I'd be able to get my hands on the jersey sooner rather than later.


Back in the world of scootering, from the other side of the world came a different type of email.

It looks like the folks at ScootRS have had some reports of some dodgy valves on a batch of their tubeless rims and have decided to recommend that they get changed ASAP. Not quite like Toyota's HomygodIcantstopthisthing! moment but close enough it would seem.

Personally, I've had the rims in question for a while now but have yet to use them. Even so, I was a little bit concerned as I do plan to use them when I eventually get myself a pair of decent tubeless tyres.


It doesn't seem too clear from the email or the website but, it certainly would make good PR sense to send out replacement valves for free to those effected by this product recall. I might pop Randall and his crew a quick message to see whether I can get some more information on this.