Modern Vespa

My center stand came undone recently while taking a long ride. So, I decided to take my BV 350 to the family's house on Thanksgiving Day. Rode back and forth no problem, about an hour there, and an hour back.

When I arrived home I tried to put the scooter on the center stand and it immediately started to fall over, so I grabbed it quickly back up. Tried to put the scooter off the stand and back up on it again. Again, it started to fall, so I used the side stand no problem.

I looked underneath and saw that some bolt, holding a pin in place to hold the center stand in place, had some how come off. Maybe it was shaken off by the long ride? Either way, this could have been a real disaster. If that center stand had come off while I was riding on the highway (doing 60-70mph,) it would have immediately flipped me over.

Hard lesson here, always check your scooter thoroughly and often, especially on long rides, where high speed is involved, whew! I had my first 600 mi maintenance last week, and had the dealership fix the center stand at no cost, it was under warranty.

Glad no great harm was done. Another of those little lessons learned. No matter what bike you ride - give it a careful check every so often for loose fasteners. Every once in a while you will find one.

keither, I too am glad that it didn't cause a mishap. If you could take a photo of the bolt in question I'm sure other BV350 owner's would appreciate the visual reference. Thanks for sharing the information!

The end of my centre stand bolt sheared off. The bolt had seized and penetrating fluid and heat didn't help. Eventually my dealer cut the stand off and replaced it with a new one.

I was there when that happened.

Mine has been well and truly lubricated so it doesn't seize.

Bill X

Insert joke here

Feed line/Gag Line.

Bill XX

I'm very surprised to hear of your misfortune Keither, The centre-stand bolt is pretty big, at least M12, with a fair bit of extra threaded length. The nut is "nyloc" and shouldn't spin loose. Also the recommended tightening torque is around 30 ft.lbs. This thing shouldn't come apart!

John W.

On both my gts300 & Beverly I plan to remove that bolt and coat with copper grease and replace before they seize up , Worked well on all my past piaggio scooters

Wow, glad it wasn't damaged. If your roads are anything like ours,you really need to make sure everything is tight. Had a SS screw come loose and i wondered what the noise was. Bungeed it up for the remainder of the ride home. Also had all of my air box screws come out and i wondered what that noise was. Good thing i was headed to our workshop and they has some extra screws. Good luck

I own 2013 Bv 350 the same thing happen to me with the center stand only I was traveling 55 mph. I didn't know what had happened until I got off the highway. I was shocked to see the center stand down. Both retaining springs where gone and the place where the spring attaches to the center had sheared off. Needless to say I got a big fright. I secured the stand with a bungy cord. I couldn't agree more about checking these regularity. I've owned several other bikes(Hondas) and never had an issue with the stands

Jeez I've never heard that happening to anyone before. Now I've got vespa this worries me a bit. Piaggio built quality

howdy, that happened to me as well only it was the weld that held the tube the bolt goes through had separated . the bolt was still through the tube but one side of the stand itself came loose at the weld. the mechanic thinks it was a factory weld defect and fixed it no charge. I suspect from this thread that there is a factory problem with the center stand.

ken

My centre stand doesn't spring back on its own any more. I have to push it into position. I hear a rattle as it drags on the ground after pushing the bike back onto the wheels.

I've lubricated the obvious joints but it hasn't helped.

You might need new springs then.

Here ya go, read this.

BV350 center stand

I'll be doing this again this month when I change the oil 8)

Yes, I can now see the problem. No wonder a squirt of WD40 didn't have any effect.

That's a job for my dealer. I'm not as 'handy' as you obviously are.