Changing your Electric scooter Flat/Punctured Tire

While it is possible to try to avoid getting a flat tire in your electric scooter by:[1]

• Taking care of the maintenance of your electric scooter regularly
• Checking the inflation pressures in the tires, preferably before taking out your electric scooter every time
• Using high quality inner tubes and tire liners
• Switching to solid tires electric scooter

But taking these precautions does not mean you will never need to change the tires of your electric scooter. Eventually, your tire will wear out or the inner tube will get punctured from a sharp debris lying on the road. Therefore, you must be familiar with the meticulous and complicated task of changing your flat electric scooter tire. Our guide will help to make this complicated task easier for you, so you can do it yourself at your home.

Assessing The Type of Your Tire

When the need to change your flat tire arises, the first thing that you should take note of is the type of tires installed on your electric scooter. Generally, there are two different types of tires:[2]

1. Pneumatic tires
2. Solid tires

Pneumatic tires contain inner tube and consists of three parts i.e., the outer hard rubber tire, inner tube filled with air and the rim. It is generally the inner tube that deflates causing the flat tire. Changing pneumatic tire requires hard work and attention as the whole wheel needs to be removed and set open piece by piece and reassembled.

Solid tires, on the other hand, are solid rubber with no inner tube and air. The advantage of the solid tire is the no flats! However, wear can make the solid tire useless. But changing a solid tire is easy as it involves changing the outer rubber part and replacing it with new tire on the rim.

Required Tools

Following tools should be at hand:[3]

1. Allen Key/ Hex Driver (for size refer to the manual of your electric scooter or match with the screws)
2. Wrench
3. Tire Levers
4. Lubricant (soap wash or any available one)
5. Replacement tire or repair kit (if you want to patch your punctured tire)
6. Air pump to inflate your pneumatic tire

Precautions and Tips

Before removing your flat tire, some necessary precautions should be taken to make your work a lot easier and effective:[1]

1. Remember which part goes where before disassembling the wheel. Try to remember every screw, every small component and its place and how it is attached. Even better, take a picture from different angles to help you remember minute details.
2. Take care of the parts that you disassemble especially small components like screws and nuts. Place them carefully because displacing anyone of them can make your work a lot more difficult.
3. Make sure the tires are warm. This increases the pliability of rubber and can make work a lot easier.

Procedure

Removing The Flat tire[4], [5]

1. First deflate your inner tube using the Allen key to press the stem and apply force to deflate it as much possible.
2. Then remove any plastic covers attached to your wheel to uncover the screws and nuts holding the wheel. Take care as to not break the plastic cover. Then using the Allen key, remove the screws to unhinge the plastic frame.       

 

Refitting the repaired tire[4], [5]

1. Now depending upon your requirement, you can either repair the old puncture or replace it with a new one.
2. The first step in reassembling the tire is to put the inner tube onto rim. To make work easier, put the pressure valve through the hole first.
3. Now, the tire should be placed on the rim and inner tube. Make sure not to pinch the tube while putting the outer tire. This can puncture your tube. Carefully rotate the tire onto the rim and adjust it. This can be done easily with hands if you ovalize the tire beforehand. Do not forget to place the tire as indicated by the direction arrows.       

 

1. Fix the tire on one side first and ensure that the tube is fixed in the rim and is not stuck on the lip of the rim. Similarly, place on the other side.
2. Now the wheel is ready to be bolted back. Place the bolts and screws back as you removed them. Inflate the tire to its optimum pressure using the air pump.   

                                                                                                           

Congratulations, you have replaced your flat tire with a new one and are ready to ride your electric scooter again.

 

References

[1] “Electric scooter Flat tire Guide (How To Fix + 8 Tips To Prevent It) - EScooterNerds.” https://escooternerds.com/electric-scooter-flat-tire/ (accessed Sep. 10, 2021).

[2] “How do I change my electric folding scooter tire?” https://ezbikes.ie/blogs/news/how-do-i-change-my-electric-folding-scooter-tire (accessed Sep. 10, 2021).

[3] “How to Replace Change to Solid Tire in Xiaomi M365 Electric scooter Wh - Electric scooters London.” https://www.electricscooterslondon.com/blogs/electric-scooter-maintenance-and-repairs/how-to-replace-change-to-solid-tire-in-xiaomi-m365-electric-scooter-wheels (accessed Sep. 10, 2021).

[4] “Inner tube and tyre replacement : Fixing punctures on your M365 Electr – Electric scooters Direct.” https://www.scootersdirect.co.uk/blogs/news/innertube-and-tyre-replacement-m365-electric-scooter (accessed Sep. 10, 2021).

[5] “How to fix a puncture or change a tyre on the M365 Mi Electric scooter.” https://www.rcgeeks.co.uk/blogs/news/how-to-fix-a-puncture-or-change-a-tyre-on-the-m365-mi-electric-scooter (accessed Sep. 10, 2021).