Modern Vespa

The battery for my Rally has always been held in by the original long metal strap, which was then bodged up with a piece of wire to the frame. The wire broke today. I can come up with another hack, but what's the "right" way? I see that scooterwest sells a replacement strap for $60 And I've seen rubber straps that look like they stretch over the battery, but I have a feeling they won't work here. Any other ideas?

Auto - here is the strap from SM - http://www.scootermercato.com/Scooter-Parts/Battery-Straps/90854

$6.40. Also, I think it may help if you had the factory battery top? It is a metal cap that fits over the top of the battery. This one is from my Rally, but I am no longer running a battery. Piccy-

How about a simple L-shaped angle bracket?

no, that isn't a rally battery strap.

the Rally/GS 160/SS with the tall square battery use a two piece metal setup, and you're missing the top piece.

this is the setup you need. it's from Pascoli, witch is Italian for 'expensive'. $35, but worth considering.

http://www.hodgespeed.com/23077400/dp/24710

My mistake, but it looks like the strap Rob posted a picture of would work with the cap I have. Auto, if you are needing this cap, it's yours for the price of the ride.

Thanks Rob, just ordered

Hey, never seen one of these but it is listed in my parts book, so I'm interested. Can I PayPal you? PM me.

Update: got the strap from Rob, the vertical piece it came with is too short for my battery by a couple of inches, but the horizontal piece is correct. The battery cap I got from Tierney is just a little too small for the (brand new) battery I have now. I ended up making the old and new strap parts work together by putting a wood shim on top of the battery. No problem until I was riding today and heard a clank. I trusted my instincts and stopped to check things. The strap bits had fallen off

Luckily I just walked back and found them in the road, and I was close to home so I went back and attached them again, but I'm not convinced they won't just fall off again.

Anyone have any other clever tips for this, or does everyone else just not run a battery (or still have all their original pieces)?

An option worth considering is converting to 12V and/or fabricating your own bracket. That's what I did, using aluminum stock from the hardware store.

can you shoot me a picture of how you have it installed?

Nice work!

Hello Autojack. I have an extra one of those parts for the top if you need one. Also, that battery cover should have a rubber insert in it, that is why it might not be sitting on there correctly. Did you get that part also? It might short out otherwise.

Yep. One shows the new strap which is too short. I added the zip tie so at least if this pops off again I won't lose the vertical piece.

Yes, the one I got from Tierney (see earlier in this thread) looks like that, and includes the rubber piece. The dimensions of the battery I have are just a little too big for the cover.

There should be rubber spacers beneath your battery. It would be tall enough then.

They look like this:

http://scootersoriginali.com/collections/vespa-rubber/products/vespa-buffer-battery-tray-large

You need three of them.

yes, you need to remove the wood and install the rubber buffers the battery sits on. without those, there's no 'give' to tension the strap against.

I have the buffers. They're hard to see in my other pictures. Here's a shot of the underside of my battery tray. They're about 1/4" thick under the battery. The battery is about 6.5" tall. Maybe others are taller?