I have recently bought a 2020 Vespa Primavera 50 and I find the absence of front luggage hook a serious design flaw. Yes, there is a retractable hook located under the seat, but it is not useful for securing laptop bags or any other non-deformable bags. This is how it looked when I tried to secure the laptop bag on the existing hook (note that the bag covers the entire floor of the scooter, so my feet were hanging off while riding):
As I was not very fond of drilling holes into a new Vespa, I initially solved the issue with tying an nylon rope around the rubber knob. This rope went under the laptop bag handle and was then secured around the ignition key. The leg space issue was successfully resolved. This is how it looked:
The solution worked pretty well, but did not provide sufficient lateral stability for the bag. Therefore (after seeing this thread on the Forum) I came up with another solution, which requires no additional holes in the body. The only thing you "damage" in the process is a rubber knob, which can be easily replaced (Piaggio part 581412, costs around 3 EUR.)
First I ordered a luggage hook (helmet hook, cat zip hook etc.), originally called GANCIO PORTAPORSA COMPLETO, Piaggio part number 575819. It is made of black plastic and has a round design (if you prefer more squared desing, part No. 265093 is also an option).
The hook comes with two "buttons" on the rear side, but Vespa Primavera only has one hole in the body, so I had to remove one of them. I decided to remove the lower one (the one further away from the hinge) and use the top one for securing the hook in place. A hole had to be drilled through the upper button as well, allowing the screw to fit through. Keeping the upper button aligns the hook symmetrically to the body of the scooter and does not interfere with the ignition key. Finally, I have removed the rubber knob out from Vespa's body (the knob has no function on Primavera 50)
The rear plate of the hook is perfectly flat, while the Primavera' s body is curved. Other users from this thread have resolved this with molding clay. I did not have such thing at hand, so I simply took a piece of old leather belt (which has a conical shape) and taped it to the plate with a double-sided tape (use water resistant tape!). This created a wedge, which has leveled the plate of the hook against the Vespa's body. Initial fitting seemed a success.
Next, I have drilled a hole into the rubber knob. I started with a small drill, and the gradually enlarged the hole to the size where the "button" of the hook fitted into the rubber. The key here is to drill the whole just deep and wide enough to tightly fit the "button". Do not drill it too deep or even through the knob, otherwise the screw (which is installed later) will have nothing to grip on.
After that, the double sided tape was applied over the whole back of the hook's plate. The excess tape was trimmed and the white sides of the tape were painted with the black marker (for esthetical purposes only).
A rubber knob was attached back to the hook and the whole set was then put onto the Vespa's body. The knob was inserted into its original hole, whereas the back of the hook's plate was now glued to Vespa's body with a double-sided tape. Finally, a screw was inserted, passing through the hook's plate hole and ending in the rubber knob. This is how the final result looks like:
And this is how the laptop bag now sits on the Vespa:
Finally, there are some remarks (positive and negative) I would like to share with anyone thinking about installing the hook based on my instructions:
* the good thing about this process is, that it is completely reversible. If you do not like the solution, you simply remove the screw, rip off the hook and clean the residue of the tape. If you would like to buy a new rubber knob (this one now has a drilled hole), look for Piaggio part 581412, which costs around 3 EUR.
* the whole installation process took me less than 1 hour.
* I decided to go with this simple solution, because my laptop bag has long handles. The bag itself actually sits on Vespa's floor. In my particular case, the hook does not bear any substantial weight. I have not tested it for heavier loads yet.
* the future project is to find a more suitable interface between the hook and the body (perhaps rubber, 3D-Print, silicone...),leveling the difference between flat hook and rounded Vespa's body.
* a metal or chromed hook would look better on my Primavera. Piaggio does not make them, but they can be found
online pretty cheap.