Modern Vespa

Glad I caught this: 2 of the 3 tabs in my 2020 license plate bracket totally failed. I came surprisingly close to looking at my rear fender one day and wondering where my license plate went. 👀

Apparently, it's considered a wear part, so it isn't covered by the warranty.

The replacement bracket has slightly smaller holes, and doesn't have nuts built-in to the tabs. Thankfully, the folks at The Scooter Lounge included mounting hardware with my purchase.

curious, is that the standard bracket for US vespas or dealer bracket?

According to the obligatory Robot video, Piaggio changed brackets in 2020 to add a rear reflector. Mine didn't come with a reflector, but is a 2020 and shares tab locations with the one in Robot's video. I'm presuming my dealer removed the reflector to make space for his own dealership frame (which would explain the rusty section on the bottom of my bracker).

I've never known dealers to supply a custom bracket. You may be thinking of the license plate frame, which is a piece of plastic that covers the license plate, and is often an advertisement for the dealer.

I never realized license plate frames were a unique piece of American culture until I made my own.

Looks like Robot is sucking on a cigarette and holding a beer in that preview picture.

My 2019 Supertech in Australia came with https://www.sip-scootershop.com/en/product/plate-piaggio-number-plate-holder_PI584884

Massive square thing. Whereas my plate looks about the same size as in Robot's video. I chopped my bracket with a hacksaw - pretty neat now. Also now don't have to remove the bracket to be able to remove the side skirts

Same with my 2009 gts300

Edit: here's an aussie review of my bike where you can see the holder and plate and reflector of you scroll down https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bikesales.com.au/amp/editorial/details/2020-vespa-gts-hpe-supertech-review-122719/

Edit 2: here's a pic of my actual bike with chopped bracket https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ7qE4LBxXY/?igshid=w1cxr41f1h9l

Nicely done!

Silly that the Asian OEM bracket is so much bigger than your license plates. Looks like your plates are only a quarter inch wider than our 7" x 4" plates. I'm surprised Piaggio doesn't send you American brackets.

The one I bought was only $5 + shipping, but I suspect shipping to Australia might be a bit more than I paid.

fun fact, my bike was made in Vietnam not Italy (engine made in Italy). I wonder if other Asian countries use plates that are like in EU?

if I could buy the bracket you link for US$5 without paying $50 or some such stupid amount in postage, then I would just to see if I could make a neat solution.

speaking of plates, yes mine is a custom number. I saw on the link you gave that I could get it in grey (would match nicely) instead of the white that I currently have (I moved the plate from my previous bike and from the previous bike before that!). But I know they'll charge me crazy amounts to replace the plate with a different colour and still the same number. damn gov depts

State governments have a monopoly on license plates in the US. You get them in the color they come in, without much choice. Some states have retro plates (California's is yellow on black), but there's an annual charge. I take pride in the appearance of my Vespa, but not to the extent that I'll pay California $60 per year to make my ugly government-mandated license plate slightly less ugly.

Have you checked shipping at ScooterWest?

custom numbers here are a one off fee and don't affect annual rego fees

I haven't checked scooterwest recently but I think I did for something else in the past. shipping from the us to aus is *never* worth it in my expereicne.

I sucked it up and paid $50 in shipping from Urban Rider earlier this week, and DHL silently rejected my order for no stated reason. Particularly sucks because the main motivation to order was heated gloves for a ski trip this weekend. 🤦‍♂️

Like so many things, shipping can be both amazing and utterly terrible, particularly when shipping internationally.

I did recently buy new shocks from SIP in Germany that were AU$800 + AU$90 for shipping. I could survive that shipping cost relative to the cost of the shocks but not otherwise.

whereas shipping from China is virtually free, go figure. (probably subsidised by the chinese government).

Are you sure about that?

I think you will find that our Vespas are possibly 100% made of "Made in China" parts and assembled in Vietnam..

Open the engine and have a look...

I was very disappointed myself, when I saw all those "CHINA" printed on bearings and other parts..

I also wonder why you can't find any video of the Piaggio QUASAR engine production line... Italian design, yes for sure.. Made in Italy.. I don't think so, at least not on this part of the world..

mixed response ...

assembled in Viet and I think the body/frame is made there as well.

many parts from many countries? of course.

but the engine (an M45MM) is definitely shipped as a pre-assembled unit from Italy. see shipping records https://www.vietnamtrades.com/vietnam-import-data/motorcycle/hs-code-84073320.html

I see...

Perhaps some of the HPE engine parts are but the QUASAR engine...

https://www.wardsauto.com/italys-piaggio-make-scooters-china

yes, but the point of my post was that my bike has a different story to the bikes in the US hence differences such as different plate holder and different tires and that the Aus bikes got the new wheel design before the US and we have the snorkel on the airbox etc.. Where individual pieces are made ain't relevant to this

Attila, is that a license plate frame?

They're ubiquitous in the US, but I had a hard time finding examples of frames in other countries the last time I looked. I was starting to think they were a unique piece of Americana.

Curious about Australia too. steelbytes' question about dealer brackets made me think they're not Aussie either, but I didn't see any regulations prohibiting them when I was looking into Aussie moto plate dimensions last night. 😝

Maybe 100% unrelated to why your plate bracket failed, but do you live out near ocean beach in SF?

I ask because I used to ride with someone who lived in Outer Sunset, the salt air chewed her GTS up. It was even garaged most of the time.

There seems to be quite a bit of corrosion on the part of the bracket in the lower part of the photo.. this made me think of her issues with the salty Carl air.

But no ... The real Made in Italy is there but you don't take it away for so little (try to buy a Ferrari .. ).
And in any case to have competitive prices you must necessarily enter the globalization market, everyone does it.
That's also why I bought my little Yamaha, I know it's made in Thailand.

In Italy the license plate frames are almost all in plastic (in extreme cases but aftermarket in aluminum or stainless steel), oxidation is high due to the humid climate and the many inhabited areas near the sea (I am 6 km from the sea ) and the winds almost always blow from the sea towards the hinterland.
Salt on the roads is used only from north-central Italy to the north or in mountain areas that are not very inhabited in the south of Italy (they are depopulating) due to the lack of services and geological crumbling also caused by climate change. Sorry, I digressed ...
Scooters and motorcycles have only two holes under the license plate light, generally directly on a designated part of the rear fender; then the plastic license plate holder is riveted on top. Exactly, no bolts are used ... vibrations or thieves can cause the license plate to come off and therefore both the carrier and the license plate are riveted.

I do live in SF, but a few miles from the shore. It spends plenty of time being ridden on the coast or parked near the water, but most of its life is slightly more inland than that.

I bought some ACF50 shortly after buying the Vespa, but the video that sold me on it said you had to clean the Vespa "near an inch of its life" before using it: "get out a toothbrush." That intimidated me, which is silly because it was only a few months old at the time. I'm sure it would have been fine.

I have started to notice a bit of rust between the opposing faces of the luggage rack, and at the joint on the crash bars. Going skiing this weekend, but perhaps I should get out a toothbrush when I get back...