Vespa Cross Country: Cross Country Day 15 - Jackson, Wyoming - Idaho Falls, Idaho

Took off from Jackson early so we could make our scheduled appointment at Vespa Idaho Falls for the GTS rear tire replacement. We checked air pressure before taking off and rode very carefully – never exceeding 45 miles/hour, which was sometimes a challenge on route 26, which was quite busy. We got accustomed to pulling over to let cars pass so we could continue at our speed. We were just 20 miles away from Idaho Falls and had pulled over for a bathroom break at a rest stop when a guy in a town truck (who had been following us for a couple miles) came up to me and informed me that there was a minimum speed on the road. I apologized and told him that we were unable to ride faster due to the back tire on the GTS – and pointed to it to show him, explaining that we were on our way to get it replaced. I wasn’t sure if the guy was trying to sincerely help me or show a “tourist” how things are done in Idaho.

Got to Vespa Idaho Falls, aka Spinners around noon and waited around for the mechanic to get back from lunch. Spinners is a nice store – they have a good number of Vespa, Aprillia and Motto Guzzi. I drooled a bit at a few of the Moto Guzzi motorcycles…someday. Head mechanic finally arrived and took the GTS. Since the GTS tire was being changed, I figured I might as well rotate my PX tires as well – the rear had been on since Cleveland and was showing more wear than the front, which still looked new.

The GTS tire change would take a couple hours, so we headed down to Sears to buy a ratchet set (which I have been meaning to buy anyway), and setup shop in the corner of the mall parking lot. Getting the front tire off was pretty easy, but the back tire proved to be more difficult. First off, the rear jack that I used to lift the rear of the scooter seemed to be too short – it didn’t raise the back of the scooter enough to get the tire out. Second, the Zippy tire barely fits into the wheel well - removing/replacing it took some maneuvering and some brute force. To overcome both of these issues, we had to lift the back of the scooter ever so slightly so the stand didn’t contract and collapse, and used some maneuvering and brute force for both removal and replacement of the rear tire.

All in all, it took us about 30 minutes to complete the job. Should we have to do it again, I think we could cut it down to 10-15 minutes. While I’m thankful there were two of us, this experience made me wonder if I could do a rear tire change by myself. The jack that I used (pictured below, made for Stella and picked up at POC Scooters) doesn’t seem to provide enough clearance to remove/replace the rear tire – am I using this wrong? Do I need to put something under the jack to increase clearance?

Returned to Spinners about 2 hours later to find my GTS fitted with a new Michelin Pilot rear tire – what a nice sight to see. Completed the paperwork and took off on Interstate 15 South toward Brigham City, Utah – 160 miles away. We normally prefer to avoid highways, but it was getting late and we wanted to stay on schedule. Everything seemed great for the next couple hours – the GTS ran great and we passed into Utah without problems. About 5 miles away from Brigham City, the GTS exhaust suddenly becomes ridiculously loud (think Harley) so we pull over and I immediately wonder if there is a problem with the exhaust gasket that has plagued so many 2007 GTS scooters. I look under the scooter but can’t see anything of concern, and since we’re only 5 miles away from our destination, decide to keep going so I can look at it at the hotel. WRONG decision – 2 miles down the road, the rear brake ceases to function and resembles the clutch lever on the PX. We pull over again and I look underneath to find the brake line is melted. This confirms my suspicion – this has got to be an exhaust gasket problem. It’s about 9 pm so we decide to just ride carefully the remaining miles to our hotel. Tomorrow, we make a bee-line for Vespa Salt Lake City to see if we can get this resolved. While I’m confident they can fix the exhaust gasket issue (and the sound), I’m more worried about the breakline, which will need to be replaced. Do Vespa dealers usually have pare GTS brake lines lying around? I’m guessing not…and if they have to special order it, it could take days…

Total Miles Day 15: 250 Miles