My First MP3 Tire Change

With a new Michelin Pilot from MotorCycle Superstore online all I needed to do was swap it out. I could have sent the bike to the shop to do this, but I figured I could save some bucks doing it myself. Besides, these kinds of projects are hardly intimidating. I had the following rendering from the Piaggio Catalogue of Spare Parts. Looks simple enough.

Notes:

• All tools required are metric


• Have a safe place ready to hold the various nuts, bolts, and pins. The one thing you don't want to happen is to lose any of them. They may be difficult or impossible to replace during the weekend or after hours.


• I didn't use the bike stand until after loosening the wheel bolt.

Step 1. Use a (17mm) socket or wrench to loosen the collar fastening the exhaust manifold to the muffler. Once the collar is loosened you should be able to move the collar off the muffler and onto the exhaust manifold. No need to remove the collar completely.

Step 2. There are three bolts which fasten the muffler to the bike. One of the top bolts (pictured) also fastens the parking break cable support. Remove the bolts and put them aside in a safe place.

Step 3. Remove the screw attaching the (black plastic molding) to the aluminum (rear wheel assembly) just above the rear brake (pictured).

Step 4. Examine the wheel nut assembly. The nut is secured by a metal cover held in place by a cotter pin. Notice that if you turn the wheel, the cotter pin turns with it. Turn the wheel until the loop of the pin is oriented with the depression (at about the 4:00 position). This positiion gives the pin more room, making it easier to remove. Straighten the ends of the pin, then pull it out. With the pin removed, the nut cap can be removed by hand, exposing the nut underneath.
The snap ring around the wheel shaft (pictured below) does not need to be removed unless you need to replace the wheel bearing.

Step 5. Use a torque wrench or breaker bar with a 22mm deep-socket 6-point torque socket to loosen the wheel nut. You'll need a deep socket in order to clear the wheel shaft. I do not recommend using a 12 point socket--the force required may damage the nut. Directly under the nut is a bushing you can remove it by hand. With the wheel nut loosened, apply the bike stand.

Step 6. Remove the two allen socket bolts holding the rear wheel support assembly to the crankcase. These bolts are really tight. When they break loose you'll hear it. Keep a mental note of how tight they were, you'll need to tighten them again when it comes time to put things back together.

The first bolt is on top near the water pump. The second bolt is on the bottom near the exhaust manifold.

Step 7. There are five small allen socket bolts holding the brake disc in place. I discovered that it's easiest loosen and remove them one by one by turning the wheel so that they are in the lowest position (pictured below). Once you have removed four of the five bolts, turn the wheel to position the last bolt for removal. However, before loosening and removing this last bolt, put on the parking brake. This will clamp the parking brake calipers to the disc, so that when you remove the bolt, the disc will stay in place. Don't worry if the disc moves or gets out of position. You're just using the brake as another set of hands to keep the disc from getting in the way until you get the wheel off.

Step 8. There's one attachment remaining connecting the support assembly to the bike--the right rear shock absorber. I removed the bolt attaching the shock absorber to the bike just under the trunk, but I suppose you could just as easily remove the bottom bolt if you prefer. Use a 13 mm wrench and put the bolt aside.

Step 9. With all the attachments removed (except for the brake lines), you should be able to carefully remove the support assembly (along with the brake disc) as one piece. You won't be able to go far with it, though, because the parking brake cable and the rear brake line are still attached.

Step 10. The wheel should slide off the driveshaft, and the disc brake should remain clamped by the parking break, still attached to the wheel support assembly. Having a dachsund around to lend a hand always makes things go smoother :)

Here's an inventory of the nuts, bolts and screws removed.

At this point, I had the old tire still on the wheel, and the new tire ready to go on the wheel. Fortunately, my friend Jason has a tire changing tool, and said I could come over and he would help me use it. I forgot to bring the camera with me, but maybe that was a good thing. I'm sure we looked like two clowns trying to put the new tire on.

Getting the old tire off went well enough, but it wasn't easy. If taking the old tire off wasn't bad enough, putting the new tire on proved to be almost more than the two of us could handle. Jason races motorcycles, and said that every Michelin tire he's ever had to put on was stiff. We had to leave it out in the sun to heat up before we could even attempt to get it on. And to make matters worse, once we got the tire halfway on I noticed the direction of the tire got turned around (which must have happened when we set it down to warm up in the sun). So we ended up having to take it off and try again. A trick Jason showed me was to use strips from a cut up plastic milk jug to protect the aluminum wheel while leveraging the wheel on.

Once the tire was on with the correct orientation, we also had a tough time setting the bead--even with his 50 gallon air compressor. He showed me another trick for setting the bead which is to stand the tire up and slam it against the ground repeatedly. Eventually, the tire caught enough air, and... "pop!"... "pop!" The bead was set. We balanced it as best we could (his balancing tool didn't quite work as well as with larger wheels).

After hauling the tire home, it was a simple matter of reversing the process to put the wheel back on. I lubricated the driveshaft with lithium grease before replacing the wheel, although I'm not certain that is required.

I think next time I'm going to just bring the wheel someplace to have someone swap out the old tire. It was a serious pain in the ass.

My Piaggio MP3

I am now the proud owner of a Piaggio MP3. At the time of this writing, I've had my MP3 for three weeks now, and I've clocked over 900 miles on it.

It was November 2006 when one of my coworkers piqued my interest in the Piaggio MP3. He owns a 200cc Vespa scooter, and with gas prices on the climb I started asking questions. One morning he pulled up a web site to "show me something cool." As you've probably already guessed it was a 3 wheeled scooter--the Piaggio MP3! As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have one. I printed a picture and stuck it to my bulletin board at home. I had no idea they were coming to the states, but I just loved to look at it and imagine having one. I even picked out a place in the garage that could be it's home.

Piaggio announced the MP3 open house starting April 19th. As soon as the announcement was made, I went looking for dealers in the area. The BMW dealer sent a double sided brochure with technical specs. This I stuck to my cube in my office.

I actually visited the dealer three times to look at the scooter in the showroom, dragging any and every friend I could coerce to go to look at it with me. The dealer had two MP3's at the time, one graphite and the other silver. Of the two, the graphite was the more attractive of the two, but neither was particularly colorful. What I really wanted was the red scooter I had seen on the web and in the brochure. I asked about getting a red one. The dealer wasn't sure when one might come in, but he'd let me know.

On the way home the thought occurred to me that there must be another dealer somewhere with a red MP3 I could get a look at. A quick Google search revealed a dealer in Aberdeen, NC: Steve Jones Motorsports. After a quick call, I made arrangements to haul a friend with me to Aberdeen to go look at their red scooter the following Saturday.

Steve Jones Motorsports

As soon as I walked into the Steve Jones dealership in Aberdeen, I liked it. The showroom was bright and inviting, and everyone greeted me with a warm welcoming smile.

Tamilla introduced me to David, the manager of the dealership, and brought me out back to see the red MP3 they had just finished putting together. As soon as I saw it, I grimaced. This was not even close to the shade of red shown in the brochure or shown on the Kneeslider web article.

The actual color is really more of a burgundy with some purple in it. My friend agreed, this was not an attractive color. What were those Italians thinking? I considered getting one of these red scooters anyway and painting it later to a better shade, but I just couldn't get over the fact that I would have to ride around on a scooter that hideous red color until I could get it painted.

Oddly enough, one of the candy blue Suzuki SV1000's in the showroom caught my eye. David, the manager, told me the color was called "Plasma Blue." This color really appealed to me, and now the idea of getting the graphite scooter and painting it candy blue was starting to blossom. I'd seen photos of MP3s that were blue and if this had been an available color, I would have gone with it:



David had one graphite scooter, and it was still in the box. The dealer in Raleigh also had a graphite scooter that was already put together, but it already had 250 miles on it. I decided that if I was going to drop seven grand on a scooter, I wanted a new one. The following weekend my coworker drove me down to Aberdeen with his trailer to help me haul the scooter back to Cary.

I have to say that the entire Steve Jones Motorsports staff (Tamila, David, Janet, and their head mechanic Jay) all made this purchase experience very pleasant. They make a great team, and as much as this is going to sound like a plug, I really like these people and recommend this dealership to anyone who is considering buying an MP3. Even though I live an hour away, they always make me feel at home. I really like these guys. You will too.

I got most of my gear (including my Shoei RT-1000 helmet, and FieldSheer jacket, pants and gloves) from Triangle Cycles in Durham. If you need outfitting, Michael in the parts department is your man.

I've had my MP3 for three weeks now, and having gotten to know the bike a little better, I have some observations to offer.

Some Things I've Noticed About the MP3

1. At slow speeds (at 5 to 10 mph) you don't counter steer--you just steer; however, as you speed up (anything over about 20 mph) counter steering kicks in.


2. Cornering is a breeze (and a lot of fun). You can slow corner at speeds and radii that would drop an ordinary scooter.


3. My fuel consumption is right at 63 mpg.


4. After doing some controlled tests to get a feel for the brakes, I really laid into both the front and rear brakes a time or two. This thing REALLY stops.


5. Under the seat is enough storage for my backpack, my extra shield, and a few other items. In addition to that there's a trunk (yes, a trunk :) big enough to store my helmet.


6. On the highway I can generally keep up with traffic without any problems (much to the surprise of some automobiles).


7. Maybe I just need to get used to it, but the seat becomes a little uncomfortable on rides longer than an hour.


8. The speedometer registers about 8% higher than the actual speed. I've had it confirmed by multiple sources that this is typical for most motorcycles. For example, when the speedometer registers 75 mph, you are actually going 69 mph.

Some Things I've Noticed About Scootering in General

1. When the outside temp drops below 80 degrees Fahrenheit, I need the jacket liner to stay warm.


2. Jeans do not offer a lot in the way of of insulation. I always wear protective pants.


3. It's hard to hear myself think at 60 mph without earplugs (even with my Shoei RT 1000 helmet).


4. A bug hit my hand at 65 mph while I was wearing gloves. I can only imagine what it would have felt like without them.


5. I like the reflective shield on my Shoei RT 1000 helmet. Looks like some kind of alien riding a bike :)


6. My throttle hand cramps during long rides.

My First Road Trip

The first service for the MP3 is at 620 miles. Getting back to Steve Jones Motorsports was to be my first "long" trip on the scooter. The itinerary included visiting my parents in South Carolina. While there I planned to stop by Junior Freeman's shop (Chesterfield Auto Body and Paint) to get an estimate for a candy blue paint job on the MP3 and do some work with Dad in his shop.

I started out at 6pm Friday from Cary. I filled up a camel pack with water, partially frozen, it so I could stay hydrated on the road. I distinctly remember stopping at the side of the road just prior to taking the entrance ramp to Hwy 1, gathering up some courage and saying to myself, "Well, here we go..."

The trip down was really very nice. For Memorial Day weekend, I was surprised that the traffic was no worse than any other weekend. I do remember having to shift in my seat a few times to while trying to find a comfortable sitting position, and also the cramping in my right hand while holding the throttle open. I vowed that I would never do another trip like this without a cruise control. Once in Aberdeen (my half-way point), I traded my iridium shaded shield (now full of bugs) for the clear one, took a bio break, and put on my jacket liner. The rest of the trip was in darkness and I loved it.

The next morning, I woke at my parent's house and found a note written on a paper towel from my dad: "Robert, I'm down at the shop. Like the bike. Dad."

Dad and I did some work in the shop, and then I headed over to Junior Freeman to see about getting the MP3 painted. Junior showed me some of the Kosmic Kandy colors, and I found a blue that resembled the Suzuki. He said he could even add some extra flake to make it really stand out in the sun. He painted his son's Mustang candy apple red and silver and it was beautiful. He said that if I could get all the pieces removed for him to paint, he could do the job for 350 to 400 dollars, but add 75 for the Kosmic Kandy paint.

By noon, I had made it back to Aberdeen for the first service. More cramping on the throttle hand, so I asked about adding a cruise control. Jay looked at the throttle and concluded that the cheaper 40 dollar unit couldn't be made to work. The more expensive device could be installed but he would need to fabricate a part to get it to work. I told him to go for it. When it was all done, Jay said it was the first cruise control he'd ever put on a scooter :)

The remaining trip home was so much nicer! The throttle still needs adjustments to account for speed variations due to varying inclinations, but all I have to do now is adjust the throttle a few clicks one way or the other, and there it stays.

This afternoon I took the scooter to the car wash to knock off the bulk of the bugs and debris. At home I put the finishing touches with a good wax, Armor All, and tire black. It cleans up nicely :)

I've decided that I'm going to continue riding the heck out of the scooter during the summer months, and then dismantle the shrouding to get painted when it's too cold to ride in the Winter.

In closing, I just have some advice for Piaggio:

Gli Americani hanno bisogno dei colori bellissimi.

Ciao,
Roberto