Modern Vespa

Heading out with two scoots from Denver to Carlsbad, CA. Will be stopping in Green River, Utah on the way, to scoot and hike in Arches National Park.

Then we will stay in Carlsbad and scoot up and down the coast for several days.

Trailer is the "Trailer In A Bag Dual". I've added a jack wheel, drilled holes to carry the ramp with pins, and attached the wiring with velcro straps.

Do you woory about the flags flapping and rubbing against the finish?

Have a GREAT time. Sounds like a great trip.

Best
Miguel

I think the flags should flap towards the rear and away from the scoots. But, good comment. I will check that out.

Im with Miguel.
But I'd ditch the flags. Noise, wind resitance and possible paint damage. What's the point?
Have a great trip.

Flags are gone. Enough chrome to attract attention already, I think.

Chrome=beautiful. Flags....not so much.

Good call, travel safely.

gorgeous bikes and trailer!

Holler when you get here. I'm sure some of us locals would be happy to put together a ride and show you some of the sights.

Nice setup. 8) Have a safe and fun filled adventure.

I like how you stored the ramp. I will have to do that with mine.

Thanks for the kind comments, all.

On the way!

Safe trip!

Enjoy your trip and let me know when you get back so we can figure out a date for a Mt. Evans ride.

Did the Arches. 120 miles round trip each scoot from Green River, Utah. 108 degrees, but sharpchick was still hotter.

Less than a day after Arches National Park near Moab, we were riding in Carlsbad.

Visited Max at Vespa Motorsports (ScooterWest.com) to change out a lockset.

Got treated to a couple shots of espresso, a tour, and a wonderful walk through the showroom. Riding the coast today.

I'm on the cusp of buying a TIB (single). Please let us know how it performed.
Safe travels! BJ

I've been extremely happy with our TIB (double but we've used it as a single more than as a double).

EDIT: Don't do this one. Bulbs shatter with vibration -sharpcolorado

On the way back to Denver. This trailer is wonderful.

Modifications to my Trailer In A Bag (Dual):

1 - Ramp inverted and pinned to rail (see original post) $3.50

2 - Velcro straps for electric harness. Leave on trailer parts even after disassembly. $8.99 wide roll.

3 - LED plug and play replacements for light bulbs $53.00 (less likely to fail from vibration ) - see pic.

I've never been to Arches National Park. Neat pictures. I was blown away from the scale of the rock formation you and your wife stood under. That is huge!

Looks like a wonderful trip. Your granddaughter is so cute.

The trip was wonderful, but I made a few mistakes and learned some things:

MISTAKES:

1) Remove mats. I don't have floor mats, but the LX / LXV does have a stock center rubber mat, which I lost somewhere in Arizona to the wind. It seems that the wind might be just right to peel up that rubber, and take it away. Replaced with chrome, which I'm happy with, and won't ever have this problem due to very stout tabs.

2) If you have done a seat-tilt mod, make sure it is tight. Apparently vibrations and/or wind effects can start wiggling those seat bolts out. You won't lose the seat, but you may have to tighten properly.

3) Latch your seat. During a stop on the way back to Colorado, I unlatched the GTV seat to get something out, then closed it, but not hard enough for it to latch. About an hour later on the road, I noticed in my truck's rear view mirror that the seat was straight up in the open position. You would think that wind would have kept it closed. Not so. Wind comes up from under the scooter, through the engine, and lifts the seat compartment (pet warmer / pet carrier) straight up. I lost the seat compartment, tools, and safety vest to that upward wind, which also keeps the seat propped up. I felt like an idiot, but the gorgeous, patient, and amazing sharpchick waited for me to order a replacement before we continued.

LEARNINGS:

4. On the rear, I used ratchet straps attached to the rear rack behind the seat, right next to the spring assembly, not the grab rail. This avoids any risk of straps rubbing the beautiful body of the scooter, and moves the tie point to to the rear, where the TIAB can most efficiently stabilize the scooter.

5. Removed the flags before the trip based upon feedback from others here. Thanks for that.

6. The tires were great. The trip I took was at speeds of up to 80 MPH and the outside temperature was 109 degrees F. So I stopped several times to go back and feel the temperature of the hub, rim, tires, and even the TIAB rear beam. All were reasonably "cool". By the way, a diagnostic effect of excessive heat is that lug nuts start loosening from the expansion/compression of heating and cooling. So I checked those nuts, and all remained tight through the entire round trip. This is precisely what the TIAB manufacturers claimed would be my experience. They were right.

7. Not having trailer suspension was not an issue. That is because the bikes have shocks. Sock down the ties until you start to see the scooter suspension compress. At that point, the scooter is in tension, and road bumps are smoothed out, just as if the scooter was riding the road on its own tires. Don't make the mistake of socking down all the way, or too much, because shocks will lose pressure, and the scoot will take punishment.

8. Use WD-40 on the connections the first time you assemble the TIAB. Makes it easier to slip steel onto steel.

9. I keep a backpack dedicated to my TIAB with these things always in it: 2 pair leather work gloves, folding lug wrench, hammer, multi-screwdriver, all straps, pack of 2 spare bulbs, WD-40, hand wipes, roll of paper towels, glass cleaner (spray with cap so no leaking), scissors, and a roll of velcro strap. The glass cleaner is because I noticed that no bugs or debris got on the scooters, but the top few inches of my windshields seemed to get some bug splatter. Keep that clean so that you see clearly right through the scooters to traffic behind you.

10. Good habit: Always place hinge pins in holes immediately after assembling each piece, or dis-assembling each piece. Don't "batch" assemble, because you will likely forget or lose a part.

11. The LED lamps did not last. They could not take the vibration, and fell apart. So I placed the original 1157 incandescent bulbs back in. I guess new technology has some catching up to do. A different LED manufacturer may have a better product, though.

12. The scooters made it through the round trip without bug splatter or any other evidence of damage or threat of damage from debris. Bugs were only along the very top edge of both windshields. Of course, your trailering configuration and vehicle will vary, so also will your results.

Love the TIAB.

LXV mat replacement: $45 (SIP)
GTV seat compartment replacement: $47 (Scooterwest)
Lost tools, bungees, vest: $50

Nice chrome mods there...

Nice write-up and glad you made it safely! Re the lamps, I went through a few incandescents before buying replacement assemblies:

http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/trailer-tail-brake-turn/square-trailer-light-set-tls-rhp17/612/1856/



I've had OK luck with screw-in LED lamps but these are much brighter and I haven't hand any issues so far. They were a snap to install and took less than 30 minutes.

Nice report on mistakes and learnings. I wish you had seen my posts on the floormats. I've lost 2 of them that way. I finally wised up and removed mine for the trip to and from Amerivespa San Diego.
Sounds like you had a great time despite a few minor things.

I was aware about removing floor mats. I was also long aware about how [ahem] floor mats are not good for the floors.
So I did not travel with floor mats. But I forgot that the LX / LXV had that pretty little stock center mat!

Side note: This also happened on the trip:
Big Bikers Borrow - More Than A Wave

Yes, I was referring to the center mat. Turns out I lost three before I learned my lesson.

https://modernvespa.com/forum/post766317#766317

Trailering to Amerivespa - Lessons Learned

https://modernvespa.com/forum/post1063919#1063919

Thanks for the info. All valuable. Notes made here.

Well not noticing the details of your experience is just another mistake I made on this trip.
But a great trip, it was. Trailering up soon for another trip soon. This one for a weekend.