Modern Vespa

I have to fix a stripped mirror mount on my left side mirror. I need the wrench size for the adjustment bolt for fine tuning. Does anyone know the size as well as the stem size that sits in the mount?
Thanks. I don't have many places to take my scoot to get it worked on, but I am a pretty handy gal!

A 17 mm does the job for me. Guessing you don't have one yet. A great investment. You don't usually need a long one....

Are you talking about the bell-shaped nut on the mirror stem which applies tension to hold the mirror in place? If so I've always just used an adjustable crescent wrench (I know, oh the shame) which is useful in low torque or fragile instances. Don't apply much force here or you will strip the threads.

Oh, by the way, the left hand mirror is sometimes fitted with left hand threads (and sometimes not). Don't apply too much torque on the threads until you are sure what you have.

The threads are already stripped which is why I need a wrench for my repair attempt. Thanks for the heads up tho.

You may want to check out this post:

Stripped mirror socket

So I am a fairly short gal...how hard is it to make sure you are drilling straight (perpendicular) to the mount?
I saw a video on YouTube where they used JB Weld to recreate the threads. Has anyone done it like that? Did it work? And for how long?
Thanks!

JB Weld is very good stuff for a lot of interesting repairs, but it is not a reliable thread replacement if you're just slathering it on, or in, the threads, screwing the old piece back in, and hoping it holds as an adhesive. It will not be adjustable in any way and it will give up after sustained vibration or minor shock.

It would probably work if you overdrilled the hole by a few mm, cut some grooves in the edges of the new hole, filled it with JB Weld, let it cure, and retapped the hole for the mirror threads....but that's crazy. The helicoil gets you to the same point much, much faster with a nice metal sleeve instead of an epoxy sleeve.

You drill a perpendicular hole by using some kind of perpendicular item against which to position the drill bit. I wouldn't get compulsive about this. The original hole is mostly drilled already, and being off a fraction of a degree won't matter anyway.

I understand. So I am going to just go for it then. I already purchased the kit the only thing it didn't have was the drill bit, but I have some so that should not be an issue. This is completely new to me and I am a bit nervous I must say.

just so we're clear is this on the LH side (rear brake) or on the RH side (front brake, where it mounts to the master cylinder)?

if the LH side, maybe drilling it might get you there. but new/used mounts are cheap and easy. if the RH side, I would attempt drilling but ready myself for a less than stellar repair and then source a used master with good threads for the mount.

It is for the LHS, rear brake side.

if it's not repairable here ya go:

https://scooterpartsco.com/lx-150-handlebars-and-controls-c-3637_3646_3874/left-brake-lever-perch-and-mirror-mount-for-lx-s-fly-p-1336.html

Make sure you use the exact right size drill bit for the helicoil route.

But I agree with Greasy that for a $20 part and 100% certainty of an effective repair I would put the helicoil kit back on the shelf for the next situation.

Unless you're looking for a helicoil project just to say you did one. Which you may be. They're pretty cool. Stronger than the original.

I was sure I was going to need to do one on the triple tree of my Beo and bought a robust kit, but ended up not needing to. The only thing better than a helicoil repair is managing not to need a helicoil repair after all!

Success! The helicoil wasn't that hard.

Way to go! You are right, the hellicoil is pretty easy to do, even the first time.

Awesome!

Thanks guys for all the advice. I love this site!

Well done! Hey everybody, it looks like Sacramento just got another "Wrencher!"

Here is a question…is a rear folding luggage rack a "standard option" on a 2011 lx150? I am still fighting with my insurance company. They say the rack is a standard option and adds no value to the scooter. Isn't "standard option" an oxymoron? Something is either standard or an option but it can't be both. So because they sent me a certified letter stating this I am supposed to just say, oh okay?! Insurance companies are nothing but lying thieves.

anything but the grab rail was an add on accessory.

Vespa did make both versions-- one fold down rack that screwed into the grab rail, and one that replaced the entire rail with an integral rail and fold down. these were OEM accessories available at an additional cost.

so tell them to cough up for a new rack.

Was there a "touring" version that year?

I have these two brochures that don't show a rack on them at all.

https://www.mbike.com/vespa/lx150-touring/2011

interesting, I didn't know there was a special touring edition. I've never seen one.

Mine was not a touring model. I only had the rear luggage rack.

Thats a nice two tone colour combo. Is the front horncast panel dark brown too?

Yes, the front panel was also the dark brown color. This picture kind of shows it.

This photo is wonderful. I don't know how carefully it was set up, but it's amazingly composed, with the subtle two-tone background, splotches of sunlight, enigmatic tree tendril pointing to the subject, and of course the subject yourself in the shadows with a little sass. The tilt hints at a TV-Batman-criminal-lair, although you and the scooter seem not to be tilted, suggesting maybe you're not part of it. The chaps-and-milk-crate combination lead one to really wonder what is going on with the stuff clipped into the chaps pocket, which appear to be 3x5 cards.
* are they the notes you'll be using later that day to argue a landmark case in front of the Supreme Court?
* are they quips you'll pull out with great fanfare to use as the new superhero, Lady Deadpool?
* are they the summary of how to dispose of a body, for which you've got that gallon of bleach(?) ready to go in the milk crate? (I'm conjuring Harvey Keitel as Victor the Cleaner in "Point of No Return")

I didn't know chaps even had pockets.

Juan! Are you trying to out my mild mannered alter ego!?
To be honest I think I clipped my drivers license in the pocket. And these chaps were custom made for me many moons ago at Street Vibrations. Thanks for liking the photo. I took at during the golden hour using a tripod and my Wi-Fi camera with remote. I just so happened to be in a state parking lot after five pm (deserted). It was up against a building. I never noticed the dappled lighting. You are right tho.

Another for you Juan!

Certainly nice, but not as enigmatic as the first one.

Pretty sure nobody who owns custom chaps would associate with me IRL. That's an entirely different plane of existence. I don't even own jeans.

This looiks like the Piaggio touring seat on your bike. There have been some unusual models sent to the US from time to time, so it would be interesting to find out what that VIN number looked like the first time it was sold in the US. It might have come with that seat and the rear rack.

Motovista,
A few posts up are the photos of the brochures that came with my scooter. No mention of a rack or seat. Also, the seat was a refab done by me because I am a very short individual.

Was the rack on the bike when you bought it?
And can you check to make sure it's a factory Vespa rack? If it's an aftermarket rack, the insurance company loses that argument.

It was on it when I bought it but I didn't buy it new. I had the LX model not the LXV which does come with the rack. The model I had it's an extra. I don't have the scooter anymore. It was a recovery.