Modern Vespa

Hi folks,


Bad news today. I went down to my lx125 in the car park to find it 30 feet away from where I park. I instantly knew it wasn't good news and sure enough, the ignition/barrel has been smashed in, the front horn cover pulled off and most frustratingly, the steering lock has been snapped so that the handle bars are about 40 degrees out of line with the wheel. CCTV shows the idiots(7 in total) trying to start her up but because I haven't ridden her in a few months over winter she wouldn't fire.


Absolutely gutted as the MOT was due today and the weather was just on the turn.

My insurance excess means I'd get about £250 as a payout for the bike, my options seem to be sell it as it is, spares and repair, or fix it myself.

If I were to fix it, the horn cover and key surround is easy enough, but what parts do I need for the steering lock? I've never got that deeply into that part of the bike before.

Thanks.

How awful!

Awful just awful. I HATE thieves. Can you put some pics of the damages so we can see the damages? That payout seems low. Others will chime in about the fix. At least they didn't get it. You should be able to fix it on the cheap.

Sorry to hear about that! I honestly don't know how those aholes sleep at night.

Grrrr they make me so mad, bad luck mate.

Is yours the black one on eBay which sounds exactly like yours?

I'm in the process of restoring a prior stolen bike here, as well. There are some good pics on the forums here, use the Search function!!. More confusing is the key and tumblers. Since they didn't change ecus and you have the key, it's a matter of getting tumblers to match the key you have. Not sure how to do that... I'm new here!

So sorry to hear this, but it seems to be coming more and more common here in the UK. These lowlife scum have no respect for peoples property or fear of the law.

My stomach just turned in knots reading this! So horrible!

Bleah. Sucks enough dealing with the damage, but knowing others did it on purpose is a mighty dark place.

Horrible. It seems only a matter of time before this happens.

Seriously WTH is going on there? Seems to me this is just a symptom and you have a bigger problem over there. I had some moron tip my bike over and not leave a note but in typical Canadian fashion had the decency to pick it back up. 650 pd BMW so took some work. OK, maybe they just didn't want me to notice right away...

Still even as an Irish Catholic (via Australia) I feel bad for you Brits. Used to be those of us left in Ireland were your biggest problem. Actually my family is protestant but that comes down to the Catholic Churches rules about divorces...

Again I do feel bad for all of you over there, the authorities really need to step up their game on this. Is it just Vespas that are really targeted or is everything open game?

Oh damn, feels awful. I don't know you personally but I can say this makes me feel violated and Im sorry that this has happened.
I would say with the support of MV members who some of them are experts , some videos and your great attitude, think you will get this working again and enjoy it this summer.

dont bother fixing the steering lock. just use a disc lock on the front at all times. the steering lock is useless anyway as it is easily broken with a bit of force.
remove the headlight cover, straighten the steering and tighten up the bolt, put a new key barrel in it and replace the front horn cover.

Scum from Liverpool?

Some scum tried to steal my LX150. They just wrenched the handlebars 40 degrees off straight ahead. Steering lock did not break. I was able to loosen the top clamp and straitened the bars back in line. No other damage. My theory is that the clamp gave before the lock did so no leverage able to be applied. I tightened the clamp again sufficient to hold but not so tight that it would not give with brute force.

Also bought a andlebar brake clamp lock. No further issues

You do know them brake locks that go on grips are known to break easy with the correct tool

I stick to using a heavy chain and us disc lock in the back wheel on mine makes it more harder for them to try break the disc lock as it be to hard for them to remove

Bad luck man. You should be able to straighten up those bars quite easily. Someone clearly tried to bust my steering lock the other week and ended up just twisting the bars out of whack. I just twisted them back.

Yes straightening ok. Back on the road.

The handlebar brake clamp just acts as a further deterrent. There is no way you can stop the scum if the scum really want your scoot.

Yes that's exactly how it is designed and you are quite right in not overtightening it.

What type of locks did you have on the bike or was it just the steering lock and ignition?

Just the standard stuff including immobiliser