Tech Torque: Reinventing the Wheel
The quest to get Stan’s PX ready for the new season continues. This month it gets a fresh set of BGMboots.
It's a double instalment this month in the quest to get Stan's PX ready for the new season, as his steed also gets a fresh set of BGM boots.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of my association with this particular PX200. In that time we've shared plenty of adventures and had the usual ups and downs that are part of owning a classic scooter. The scooter was refurbished from the ground up and built with long-distance touring in mind. Frankly it's more of a mongrel than it appears. Because I took time to plan the build, it's performed almost consistently as expected, but there's an exception to every rule and in this scooter's case it's tyres.
In search of perfection
Looking back over the past decade I've lost count of the number of tyres that have been fitted in the search for my perfect match. The latest rubber to reach its rims is a set of BGM Sports which is something of a departure for me as I tend to ride classic treads. With regard to their German manufactured tyres, BGM claim that: “All recent innovations in tyre technology have been incorporated into these tyres. The specially mixed compound has a high silica content that ensures excellent grip in both wet and dry conditions, while the extremely stable carcass ensures both perfect straightline stability and excellent control during rapid cornering. Tyres are usually moulded from one layer of rubber but the BGM tyres are much more complex to produce. Their construction comprises several different layers to create a tyre that both meets the highest requirements and also has the highest speed rating on the market.” It's the latter point that will appeal to many British scooterists as the past decade has seen a huge leap in engine tuning, creating top speeds that Innocenti and Piaggio could never have foreseen. This is something that tyre technology, specifically in the 350x10 size, hasn't kept pace with. With a speed rating of 180km/h (111mph) in their sports tyre and 150km/h (93mph) in their classic, BGM has exceeded the requirements of every road-going scooterist and indeed the majority of sports riders.
Rim renewal
My new set of rubber also comes with new rims, again from the BGM stable. Again this is a departure for me as, while my quest for circular perfection has seen a multitude of tyres, my choice of rim has been very consistent, namely split rim Pinascos. Ever since my PX blew an inner tube on a motorway slip road I've never used anything other than tubeless rims. They won't stop a puncture but when the inevitable does happen the deflation is slower, meaning there's a better chance of keeping control and staying upright. Had my inner tube blown a couple of minutes earlier I'd have been spread all over the M1, with potential consequences that still make me shudder. I was drawn to Pinasco's split rim system because of the ability to change tyres without involving the services of a tyre fitter.
Having used SIP's non-split rims on my GP for a few years I've come to realise that's not the inconvenience I'd feared. I've also found that in comparison to one-piece rims, my split tubeless do have a tendency to leak air. To be clear, I've covered thousands of miles on my Pinasco rims without incident and the second generation, with 15 securing points, are much better at holding pressure than their predecessors. However, when using them on long trips, checking tyre pressures became a ‘must do' rather than a ‘should do' part of my daily routine. Unlike their split rim competition, the BGM rims have a very stock appearance and because they've an ‘open' design it's also possible to slide a chain link, or Abus wheel lock, between them and the hub. My set are in silver but there's an option of polished alloy or black. On first sight the coating looks good, but Britain's salty road network will no doubt deliver the ultimate verdict on the alloy rim's longevity. One final point of note, the securing nuts are 12 not 13mm, so the on-board toolkit needs to be adjusted accordingly.
Test pilot
In normal times a classic tread with its U-shaped profile is much better suited to my requirements. However as I suspect this year's riding will involve more local country lanes than pan-European adventures, it could be that 2021 is the perfect time to broaden the horizons of my search for the perfect tyre. I'll keep you posted.