Modern Vespa

Last night I locked out of my 4pm to Midnight work shift, threw my huge purse and a six-pack of beer in the trunk of my LX150 and drove home. When I got home my key turned freely in my seat latch and didn't open. Snapped cable. At 12:30 at night. With my purse locked inside, fumes in my gas tank, and the only scooter shop in town 30+ miles (an $80 tow) away.

I tried everything I could think of in a panic to no avail.

So I googled something along the lines of "Lx150 seat lock" and saw many links to these forums. HOORAY I thought, but was grossly mistaken. I clicked on a handful for MV links only to see droves of desperate Vespa owners treated as thieves and turned away. Quite disheartening to see ever, especially at midnight in a panic. I've been riding for years, have almost 30k on my 2 year old LX, etc. and have never seen such elitism and lack of camaraderie in the Vespa community. To accuse people of being sketchy and not help them out because their FIRST POST was asking how to solve a broken seat latch?!!?!?!?! They all did what I had done. Googled for an answer and were brought to the forum. Only to be treated so rudely.

IF A THEIF WANTED TO BREAK INTO YOUR VESPA SEAT THEY WOULD DO JUST THAT, BREAK INTO IT. NOT POST ON A FORUM ASKING FOR ASSITANCE IN OPENING THE SEAT! Plus what valuables would even be in that compartment for you guys to be so worked up over? Also you keep saying in your responses to these desperate Vespa owners, that even if they are telling the truth you don't want to post the answer to make it easier for the thieves out there. Well even with the answers it took me over 2 hours of attempting with a hanger last night before giving up and a good 20+ minutes ad 3 different tries at plastic jimmy making (out of a cookie tub) this morning to get it open.

So all in all, THANK YOU to the moon and back Jimh and Deano for having posted actual responses to people in the past, and shame on the mods of this forum and any others who have refused to do so.

Erm, welcome to MV.

Glad you got your problem sorted.

I would suggest that your introduction to the forum be a bit less harsh on the members. "Elitism and lack of camaraderie" seems like a pretty serious charge. Yes, IMO there has been excessive (and illogical) paranoia on the subject in the past, but that's been worked through....and if so, it's been an attempt to protect someone from theft, not to be elitist and unwelcoming. On the other side of the coin, coming in as a newbie and demanding satisfaction could be considered boorish.

Just my two cents.

I'm sorry if it seems that way, but that is how truly upset I was at reading all of the many refusals to help in these threads. My Vespa is my ONLY vehicle and I was desperate for help between midnight and 2 am only to come across these responses....and even when I found the answers posted by Jim and Deano, I see that Jim had then been blasted in a PM about posting the answers for people. I don't plan on being an overly active member on this forum as I happen to live in a city with one of the best shops around (in my humble opinion) who would help me in a heartbeat and not accuse. I just wanted to post this thread to show how upsetting it is to a stranded Vespa owner to be treated as such while desperately asking a Vespa forum for help...and for any other unfortunate google users to hopefully stumble upon this thread for help opening their locked seats (as the cable snapping is quite a common occurance).

I understand exactly why you were upset - which is why the moderators, ages ago, stamped on those who kept crying "don't let the secret out!" - which as you observe, is rather silly, as any thief would either have worked it out themselves or just used a crowbar.

I thank you for posting the sensible solution in the first post of an appropriately titled topic. Hopefully the next person in your predicament will come on it first, without stumbling over the bleatings.

Deano's solution has been posted many, many times over the last few years.
https://modernvespa.com/forum/topic80295#1126792

Any LX owner who doesn't carry one of these in their glove compartment is probably an optimist.

I understand the stress and desperation of the crisis. And I agree that people in your situation haven't always been dealt with in the most charitable manner.

This forum, however, does have a high percentage of awesome members that I think are exceptionally good to each other and beyond. I know none of them personally but consider them friends regardless. I don't think we all think of ourselves as "special" for being MVers, but we are a community and whether real or virtual, the usual social dynamics apply.

So sorry you had to go thru that. From the start i sided with JimH and said we should post it. Some thief isn't going to look up how to get in there on a forum. Their just going to take a crowbar or something else and pop it open. Also a warm aloha and welcome to the forum from Hawaii. A friend has your exact colr scooter over here. Ride safe.