Modern Vespa

Well, I got the Vespa rear guards installed. But it took all day. Everything was going fine until I discovered that the bracket for the left side was about 1/32 inch too short. I could fit the bolt in by itself, but when loaded with the washers and guard, the bolt was at too much of an angle. I enlarged the hole in the plastic. I ran a tap through to clean it up. I struggled with it endlessly. Finally I went to the hardware store and got a longer bolt. The extra length allowed me to angle the bolt in to mate it with the threads in the bracket. It went right together. Then on the right side I ran in to another obstacle. For some reason there is a protuberance on the inside face of the plastic that isn't there on the left side. The protuberance accommodates the self threading screw used by Vespa to hold the plastic in place. But they use the same screw on the left side with no protuberance. Go figure! Anyway, it prevented the bracket from fitting right. So I had to saw it off and rasp it down flat. Then the bracket fitted properly. Again I had to drill out the holes in the plastic, but this time I had the longer bolt on hand, and it went right in. Finally, I discovered that they had shorted me on the hardware, and I had to substitute a nut and bolt from my garage stock. It's together and looks good. But all the struggling on the left side resulted in some paint damage on the floorboard under the bolt hole. Now I need to get some touch up paint.

Don't you think for the money they could send parts that fit and all the hardware? Their stupidity pretty much ruined the nice day I had planned. The trouble is that no one is held accountable, and the customer just has to suffer.

Which bars, exactly, did you use?

My Vespa bars required "fitting" too. One end was actually not perfectly round enough to fit inside the other, and we had to go at it with a belt sander before it would fit.

It was these bars: http://www.scooterwest.com/items/?_pageCCS=t#page=/item_details/Vespa-Premium-Chrome-Rear-Bars-/845

It was the front brackets that caused the trouble. The rear brackets worked OK.

Interestingly, I've heard many people have no issues at all installing their rear bars. Then others, like us, had to freaking modify them.

They're worth the effort though, once they're finally on there. Mine have already paid for themselves.

I feel for you Mr. Klutz's

Seems whenever I have purchased aftermarket accessories for my cycles I have always had to do some modifications to say nothing of the cursing from getting some knuckles busted in the process. Sounds like you got it to work so congratulations on a job well done.

Post some pic's, I'd like to see how great they look installed.

Sorry you had trouble.

Here's a tip to those installing crash bars (rear bars) on the Vespa scoots:

You will probably notice some lack of symmetry in the left and right bars, due to poor shaping tolerances by the manufacturer. So:

1. Assemble the crash bars first. Put the entire chrome cage together, front and rear, and place it on a blanket, carpet, or cardboard, to avoid scratching chrome. Then, look for symmetry at all viewing angles. If the bars don't meet together straight on. put some weight on the assembled cage to straighten that out. If the tabs for body bolts don't align to the same height, straighten them out, too.

2. Unscrew the front and rear screws on the cage, and attempt attaching to the scooter. You are then assured that the cages are symmetric. If the tabs for the body bolts are misaligned, at least it will be the same on both sides.

3. If adjustments to the cage must be made, re-assemble it away from the scooter on a blanket, etc., and slowly apply pressure to bend the bars for better alignment to the scooter. Do both left and right sides the same. Check for symmetry, etc. Check for symmetry. Then attach to scooter.

Those are harder and tighter fit then these

I had similar problems with the same bars. For me the front brackets were almost but not quite long enough. I had to cut out the screw holes to the end of the bracket and replace the bolts with longer bolts with washers and nuts. Now they fit fine.

Be careful and observe any rubbing between the crash bars and the body. I have one little spot where constant rubbing has worn paint off. There was a gap when installed that disapeared.

Crash bars have saved my scooter from greater damage. Once someone opened a door and dinged the crash bar, but not the cowl. Just a smudge from that. About 5 weeks ago somebody sideswiped my scooter at work in the parking lot. They rubbed my right hand bar end, legshiedl trim, crash bar, and a pice of the right cowl trim. Nothing too bad and merely cosmetic but it could have been much worse. Damaged areas can be replaced myself. The crashbar saved my scooter's cowl/metal body from major damage. Already they have paid for themselves.

Glad you managed it. Even the Vespa bars can often take some "persuading".

As the Scooterwest listing says, those bars are not OEM. They are made by Logo Scooter in Germany.

As OhioBuckeye says:

Vespa Original rear bars for GTS/GTV: (Costs about 60% more)
http://www.scooterwest.com/items/?_pageCCS=t#page=/item_details/GTS-GTV-Super-Original-Vespa-Rear-Bars/2297

Logo Scooter - Made in Germany rear bars for GTS/GTV:
http://www.scooterwest.com/items/?_pageCCS=t#page=/item_details/Vespa-Premium-Chrome-Rear-Bars-/845

Exactly the same problem I encountered. So close, but no cigar! Foolish me, I spent a good two hours trying to make it work before realizing that it would never fit without longer bolts.