Modern Vespa

Hey all - long-time lurker, first posting

You all have done some wild, cool things to your scoots - thank you for documenting!

In that spirit - I have read / seen many of the cool mods you've recommended and have several planned for my rebuild of a 1961 VBA. One of the upgrades I've been looking into is turn signals and a switch that doesn't ruin the looks or require permanent modifications.

I followed the path of very cheap LED bar end from amazon, but got the switch & relay from Motogadget. SIP sells the 3 button & I know Pheasant Plucker has used it to quite good effect but the 2 button gave me old school muscle car / billet goodies vibe so I couldn't resist.

Routing all of this was a bear! I couldn't even see the routing holes without some serious lighting. It also took a minute to understand how the tube holes aligned.

Here's how it finished with all the button press options

https://youtu.be/fH2zyYpHkMU

The multi-click options are very trick - definitely recommend and won't have the issue of the blinkers staying on for miles. Job took about 2 hours - 80% of that was wire routing which would have been easier with a bigger hole (5/16" minimum).

Steps to get there (and many learnings on the way):

Tip for VBA owners with the small hole in the headset - "indicator lights" come in a 8mm size with a 10-12mm face and fit perfectly and a 5 pack costs less than the replacement lens.

The plan is to wire this up inline with the signals so that it blinks when you have either side activated.

That's awesome, I love how low profile they look installed. And the switch looks great too. Great job! I've ordered the exact same setup for my bike (but the switch is on back order I guess because I haven't seen it yet...I even email them (in German!) to inquire about it and got nothin'...). Did you use their "mo.relay+"? And also how do you feel about the signals rotating with the shifter/throttle? Is there enough wire so that thing's won't bind up?

Thanks! Agree on the look - the size and style are hard to match!

I was able to get the switch from Revzilla separately with about a week wait. I am using the mo.relay+ and it is cool as heck. I added to my last SIP order and it is worth the $$.

Endless debate (in my head) about the rotation issue. In practice the switch stays in a relative position to my hand so it ends up being less noticeable. I ordered the circular bar end lights so that I wouldn't notice them rotating

The wiring cutout on the inner tube has quite a bit of travel. It might bind & wear over time, not sure but I will definitely keep an eye on it. If I were redoing it, I'd probably use a lighter gauge wire (I used 20, would go with 22 or even 24g) to minimize spacing issues.

That's a great first posting! I see a SIP LED headlight and digital speedo in the background. Your headset will be super trick once everything is all assembled. I think the only thing i would do different is to weld an extension on the end of the shift tube so that i wouldn't have to cut down the handgrip. My hands are a bit larger than a petite Italian woman (actually my hands are fairly normal sized). It's just that cut down hand grips are a pet peeve of mine (especially on dirtbikes).

I'm currently wiring up my Allstate (VNA) with a new SIP DC Vape conversation...that conveniently has all the wires that are needed for turn signals. I bought the harness a while ago, but for the past few months i've been toying with the idea of spending the extra $$$ for wiring in some turn signals. If i do, i will probably break the bank with the Motogadget lights? I'm guessing it would be around $400+ for all the motogadget bits and pieces. It's a little rich for my blood at the moment though.

Thanks! Definitely looking to make it trick and modern with all the sexy vintage curves

I'm actually building this for my wife - she's wanted a vespa for a while and I managed to convince her I could build something vintage that is user-friendly.

Dang - very cool project - ultimate modern / retro! I am just starting on your epic thread now - so much to catch up on!

I definitely recommend the switch & relay, very high quality products! I'm pretty happy with my $10 leds, they actually have 2 led bulbs (white & amber) and both light up when powered so I'm planning on making the white bulb a running light. I won't be sad if they fail sooner and replacing them should be fairly easy since the wires are already run. Hard to justify the $160+ for the high-quality versions