With the rise in gas prices, many people are looking to scooters as an easy way to get around town. While scooters do get great gas mileage and are generally better for the environment, scooter owners will at some point or another need to repair their tires. The smaller tires and wheel base make them more prone to damage, but it’s easy to fix a damaged tire even if you don’t have a lot of experience with repairs. Read on to learn how to repair scooter tires.
Locate the hole in your tire or find the spot with the most damage. If the hole is fairly small, around the size of your finger then you can fix it yourself. For more serious damage and larger holes, you’ll need to replace the tire completely.
Place a tire reamer tool inside the hole and move it back and forth to clean out the tool. You’ll find it helpful to rotate the reamer several times. This clears out any debris that might have gotten inside the hole and makes it easier to patch and repair.
Push a plug stick inside the hole and keep pushing it until the stick is inside the hole and beneath the edge of the tire. You want to basically push the plug inside the hole until it starts to disappear and is no longer flush with the surface of the tire.
Cover the hole with glue or rubber cement, depending on what you have on hand. As long as the adhesive is water soluble and strong, you should be OK. Make sure you get the glue or rubber cement down into the hole so it adheres to the patch. Place your tire patch directly on top of the glue and hold it down with one hand until it dries completely.
Fill the tire with air from your local gas station or gas compressor. Alternatively you can use a can of mini tire inflater to fill up your tire. These cans of compressed air are made primarily of CO2, which is perfect for scooter tires. This will repair your scooter tire for the long-term and you can keep driving it.