FITTING - MB Tyres - Tubeless

MB work closely with SIP Scooters, people ask us if we fit tubeless tyres to tubeless rims so they can buy a complete wheel?

I've been meaning to do this for years, last week I thought now's as good a time as any, I've had long enough to think about it so I trotted off into the workshop to see what I could cobble up.

The hard part of doing a tubeless Lambretta tyre is holding the rims solid, we've had a Sealy tyre changer which has been crap for holding 10'' rims and marked the rims. It needed a jig to fit into this tyre changer, so I looked at a massive chunk of 4ft x 8'' x 10mm steel plate and thought if I cut a piece then another and weld them together I can cut it into a big circular diameter, add 4 posts to bolt to a rim, then clamp this jig into our tyre holder! So I did but the welded steel blunt my big jig saw blade so had to angle grind with cutting discs the shape and finish it of to perfect round. It was then a case of machine four posts which are bolted to the plate and are adjustable to tweak to different rims.

Here it is, it took a bit of time, I played with a few cold tyres and levers, then pre heated the tyres and found in the end I could fit tubeless tyres to tubeless rims with no tyre levers. I showed Phil how to do one tyre and he did the next one, what a simple idea, it worked and Phil had never fitted a tubeless tyre before and not a tyre lever in sight!

Having had a weekend to think about it, I've modified the holding plate to either bolt to the floor, a bench or in a vice.

It's such a simple idea we now produce it to sell.

Complete home workshop fitting tool MRB0792

Or if your tight you can make one from an old rim half which needs screwing down somewhere tight and we sell the mounting studs which you will need MRB0795 4 for a Lambretta and 5 for a Vespa
 

New MB Tubeless holding plate, this is the Vespa set up with 5 studs, it also has 4 holes for Lambrettas and 4 mounting holes to mount to a work bench


Simple fit a rim on it and hand tighten the screws


Paint soap around the areas where the tyre will go


Pre heat the tyre to make it soft, get the tyre in the right position for the direction of rotation and pop the first tyre wall over the rim into the tyre well then push the tyre futher on to the rim


First side is fitted

Push the second tyre wall into position


And one final push over, at this point a tyre lever may help


Tyre fitted


Remove the wheel, bash it a few times on the floor to get the tyre in place

Remove the tyre valve, quick pump with a compressor to 40-50 psi, listen for a pop/bang and the tyre goes on to the tyre bead

Let air out add the valve


Re add air to the desired pressure for front or rear


Then check for leaks. Not a tyre lever or scratch insight

You can read more about tyres here

• Tyres - Whats right
• Tyres - FAQ's
• Tyres - Types and styles
• Tyres - Tubless rims
• Tyres - Split rims