There's a lot of discussion on Modern Buddy on the topic of tires for these bikes. While there is some unusual suggestion and experiences going with larger tires than stock, that seemed out of hand for my goals as a rider and the desire to keep the bike highly marketable. With the stock 3.5-10 (100/90-10) size. A few options were obvious: stock Cheng Shen GTs, Michelin S1, Continental Zippy 1 & 2 , and Heidenhau K58 or K61. The stock tires were entirely adequate, except on wet smooth asphalt where slight skittering could be felt during acceleration, which led to all kinds of uncertainty when cornering and stopping under the same conditions. Between the others, the Heidenhaus looked great, but the price was pretty prohibitive, when I saw the Zippy 1 on sale for $30, I took the plunge.
Getting the tire off was pretty easy. The exhaust needs to be removed via an exhaust flange under the scooter and then two bolts holding the muffler to the swing arm.
Once the exhaust is removed, the tire can be removed either using the 5 acorn nuts or the large center bolt. I went with the acorns.
I originally planned to replace the tire myself, however, after watching a few youtube videos of other people sweating and cussing, I called around and found a shop that was willing to take the job for a reasonable fee ($20, with disposal of the old tire). From what I can tell, the shop used tire irons and it took them about 20 minutes, so in the future I may do it myself. I'd get a big pair of tire irons to do it though.
The tire went back on as easily as it came off. I took the opportunity to work on the rusty muffler before putting it all back together.
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