Modern Vespa

I thought there was already a thread for this, but searching didn't turn up anything. Tons of topics on engine stands, but nothing on scooter stands.

I know a lot of people use use the big red Harbor Freight motorcycle stand, but I'm too cheap to pay $600 and they never seem to go on sale any more.

Plus, I had an old motorcycle/atv stand I'd gotten for free and an idea or two for improvements that would make my stand scooter-specific. Namely, I wanted a stand that would let me swing the motor down to pull the top end off, which meant a removable rear section.

I built a new deck frame using 2" angle iron, and the rear section slides underneath it underneath, held in place by 1/2" angle iron rails welded onto the main frame.

I relocated the outer support leg to the end of the original frame, extending it 16", then welded on more angle iron to extend the base. Added some casters, fabricated the deck out of 1/2" plywood (too thin, but it's what I had available), and went to town.

I can provide some more details if people are interested. Total cost wound up being close to $300, excluding consumables like welding supplies and the original hydraulic stand I started from.

It's strong enough I can stand on the back deck without issues, so my welding is good enough for that. I will probably widen the base to 24" with some u-channel and relocate the casters onto that at some point, but it's pretty stable as it is.

Yeah. Plus they're heavy. I went rolling table and ramp. Yours looks great though.

Your stand is looks too pretty and shiny to put something a grimy as a scooter on!

Seriously, though, I just swapped the pressure plate and plunger on my GL and it was a dream to do it up in the air like that. For that task, it would have ideally been six inches or so higher up, but as it was, it beat the crap out of doing it lying on my side on the dirty floor.

The smallie is up there right now modeling my motor drop vision. It would ideally be a few inches further back, but I could just lift it up so the rear shock mount sits on the deck if I needed to drop it a little further.

I've got to do an elaborate strap job with blocks to get the rear that high.

Only shiny for now. It replaces my milk crate stand. Now high enough to work in a chair

CM - awesome outcome.
I find myself desperate to out outriggers on those wheel locations for a wider stance (I've seen a scooter tumble before…) but overall wow!

I like this very much. I bought a second hand lift like that some years ago, but as you have realised it's not much good as is.

Is the rear section of plywood also the ramp? And what are you doing to restrain the front wheel, can't quite see what's going on there.

There are a few threads on the topic, mostly under the "lift" description. My favourite is Terry's, so nice and simple.

Stand looks great!

And you can wheel it around too...!

TL;DR: To-Do List:
- Add outriggers
- Extend lift arms
- Add front tie down rings
- Build pipe lift, add brackets to support
- Add securing bolts to ramp tabs
- Reinforce (thicken) deck Thanks!

I'll get there!

Outriggers are an easy add, and I *said* I was going to , I just need to go get the materials and make it happen.

This was the Minimum Viable Product. Still working out the final details and will iterate in the near future. My main concern was the quality of my welding or that I'd need stiffer materials, but there is zero flex on that thing, including me standing out on the end of the removable deck, so I'll call it a win .

Based on my experience doing the clutch work, I'm going to add 6-8" of extension to the lift arms at the same time. I'll sleeve the tubes from the inside so it'll still fit into the base when I drop it, then add straps on the top and bottom of each piece for additional reinforcement. It's probably complete overkill, but I'm okay with that. I put a wheel bracket on the front, which I don't really like, but the price was right with overnight delivery from Amazon. I'll add a couple of tie-down points on the front, too.

And I have a separate ramp, which you can see in this picture:


It's a 2x10 with angle iron brackets added to hold it in place top and bottom. I will probably drill down through the upper tabs, deck, and crossbar so I can drop a couple bolts in to lock it in place. Not a hard task, but one I just didn't feel like dealing with. Yeah, the pipe lift is good, but doesn't solve my problem of needing to get down on the ground to work. It's a better option than using a car jack to get the rear wheel into the air, though. Maybe a combo play and I can add a bracket to hold it in place on the lift...

So still a few things left to do, but it's already quite workable in its current state.

Looks like a great win.
Gonna be so nice to access those hard to reach spots - especially for a taller individual like yourself

This is fabulous Chandler!

I have the HF one. I've made a few mods to it but one of my favorites is I have a 2x10 across the center where the center stand goes. This lifts up the back end nicely when I pull the front tire down with the straps. And I can slide the board forward and backward into the tire catch to tighten things up....

Nice sorting

Thanks, Scott!

Yeah, I've used the 2x10 (or stack of 2x10's, depending on needs) for a long time, but the challenge I was having was getting the bike onto the stand and then into the wheel clamp. Being able to wheel the scoot straight into the wheel clamp, get it secured, and *then* raise the rear wheel is the goal.

My original design was over-engineered to incorporate the jack into the ramp so that I'd be able to raise and lower a section of the deck with the center stand on it. I decided to do something uncharacteristic for me and simplified my design, which may now pay off for me.

there's still plenty of time to complicate it more

Ahhh, I see what you're after now. Fancy!