Modern Vespa

>THAT IS GREAT NEWS!
But why didn't anyone know about this a month ago? Was this item just added? Is it custom-made? Did Piaggio suddenly begin supplying them? If so, everyone should be selling them, yes?
REGARDLESS, THIS IS STILL GREAT NEWS. Building my substitute took three pages of MV discussion. It would have been so much easier, but not as much fun, to just buy one.

I'm pretty sure I posted a photo of them on MV about the end of last month. At the time, you were insisting that you needed one with a different thread pitch.
We get them from the same distributors we get Piaggio luggage racks from in Italy, so the odds are that they aren't custom made. I've got about twenty of them in stock, but can't address whether or not other companies sell them.

Here's the quote from 30 Sept - yes, at that time it's true I was still dealing with the bad specs given to me by ScooterWest, BUT you provided no indication that the "the bolt" was available for purchase anywhere.
Please provide the Piaggio Part Number for the front rack long bolt being sold now.

IMO you were dead set on going down your rabbit hole, so you missed the pic of the bolt motovista posted.

You should order one from him and be done with it IMO.


Edit: my post has no intention of giving George a heart attack for my response

a) his 30 Sept posting did have a photo; it still does but the "quote" didn't include it.
b) if he had posted AT THAT TIME that he was selling it, I would have considered buying one from him.
c) if you had understood my last post or had really followed this saga, you would know that I was dead set on NOT going down the rabbit hole ScooterWest had sent me to and that the good folks on this forum truly set me straight and helped me create a working replacement.
By contrast, IMHO, your comment contributed nothing.

On the positive side, if anyone breaks one and doesn't want to spend $8, they can follow your instructions and make something that will work out of the metric bolts bin at Lowes.

I think the way Piaggio hangs the front rack on the new GTS really has turned something that was functional into a pretty decoration. I understand why they use a bolt to hold it in place, because they can't do a strap to the bottom of the legshield like the early ones, but they went to this system of drilling into the body, and bolting it at the top too, with the last of the LX racks, and it doesn't seem as strong as hanging them off the top of the legshield. I'm not sure if the bolts are even automotive grade. I would be reluctant to put a case of Pelegrino or rotopax of gas on the new front rack and hit the road. With the front rack that hangs off the legshield, like the FACO and early Piaggio racks, you could overload it with just about anything as long as it didn't block the headlight or make it so you couldn't steer the bike.
This is the FACO rack for the HPE, and they had to use one bolt in the bottom, but it's still sturdy and functional. And it's made in Italy. You really can stick a case of your favorite beverage on it.

YES! I am all for being positive!
I should mention that MY Lowes didn't have the parts I needed for my all-steel Frankenstein stand-off bolt. $8 is a reasonable amount to buy one from you, BUT
you said (and I agree), " I'm not sure if the bolts are even automotive grade."
If your replacement bolts are the same as the original Piaggio ones, I'm not sure using them is the best solution for the "loading" reasons you mention. All the original design weaknesses would remain.
I would have added a strap-on to my Vespa (DON'T GO THERE!) but the gap below my large windscreen and the top of the legshield is really narrow.
So, given these design issues, my real steel bolt might be the better (stronger) solution. Time will tell.

As you are no doubt aware, this is not a load bearing bolt, but serves to stop the rack from bouncing into the front of the scooter. The bolts at the top are the ones that carry the load, and should be automotive grade. So for this particular use, replacing the part that broke with the same part that came with the rack is likely a good choice. Your original post questioned whether or not a replacement bolt is available, and they are. Here's the link once more.
https://scooterpartsco.com/misc-c-801_3501/special-bolt-for-piaggio-oem-front-luggage-rack-long-p-37822.html

I do so like beating a dead horse...
Here's what I questioned and some new thoughts:
When did this bolt of yours become available? It wasn't offered up as a solution with a link until after I built my own.
Is this bolt an actual Piaggio part? If it were a) I think it would have a Piaggio part number, and b) what are the chances only one vendor would be selling it?
How much torque will the new bolt take? It would be upsetting to use it and have it fail just like the one it replaced. The corollary is, has anyone successfully used this bolt to fix a failed Rack installation?
I'm comfortable using the bolt I built; knowing that it is stronger than the original (and probably yours).
You made your pitch, can we just drop this now?

They are supplied by my neighbor, good old Bob Piaggio, who has elves locked in his basement that hand make them at night, because during the day, they're busy making cookies. Seriously, I have no idea how many people you think are out there making bolts for Piaggio luggage racks. Seems like a niche market.

The Bolt Cartel was not happy when they learned you spent a week ordering measuring devices to purloin proprietary pitch information, made trips to various stores and then put together something that not only sort of works, if you wrap it with a piece of inner tube, but is a far superior product in every way. That didn't sit too well with Don Lugnut.

But I learned so much in the process and made so many new friends who cares what the Vespa mafia thinks...

.

That's actually how the dealer mounted the top of my front crash guard. So it should work as long as you can find a very long bolt of the right dimension.

A long M6 bolt (100mm) would be needed, I believe, with a pair of lock nuts at the bottom to snug up against the frame attachment point and a pair at the top to simulate the top of the short spacer to snug the rack to. A sleeve/spacer could be added in the middle but, unless it's nutted in place, it might rattle. An acorn nut on the exposed end could pretty it up.
Yes, I think this would work but I like the idea of just replacing the broken long spacer and then continuing the installation with the stock hardware.
I admit I was focused on getting the Short extension bolt attached and missed Corn's alternate design approach; to reword Corn's comment, "So you have a one-piece unit instead of two." Thanks for reminding me!

68 cent bolt https://www.boltdepot.com/Product-Details.aspx?product=6222

a few of these 71 cent spacers https://www.boltdepot.com/Product-Details.aspx?product=13780

and all in and done under $5.

There's a threaded hole in the top of the bolt, where another bolt fits in.

You screw this bolt into the body of the Vespa, drill a hole in the horn cover, stick the shorter version of this bolt into the hole you cut in the horn cover and screw it into this one, then put the rack on and put a bolt through the rack hole and into the hole in the shorter bolt, and tighten it down. You could likely accomplish the same thing with one long bolt, some sort of spacer to cover the threads where they are exposed, and a couple of lock nuts.

thanks for letting me know how that's assembled, dang new stuff any way. my old front rack is soooooo much simpler and soooooooo much easier to install and remove in 2 min. don't think I would ever ever want one of those new scooters.

Would have.
Could have.
Should have.
OK, I'll play along... one more time:
The 68-cent bolt https://www.boltdepot.com/Product-Details.aspx?product=6222 old as dirt wrote about is described as a "Metric hex bolt, Zinc plated class 8.8 steel, 6mm x 1.0mm x 100mm" and as illustrated on that BoltDepot page does not have "a threaded hole in the top of the bolt, where another bolt fits in."
I believe that is the point Motovista was making as to why this Bolt isn't the right hardware for the problem.
*
Going forward; SHOW us you built or used a solution that fixed a real problem you had with a broken long spacer.
If you can't show us the work... all we're getting is:
Would have.
Could have.
Should have.

The horse has been dead for a very long time so stop beating it.

OFG

The horse has bolted.

this thread reminds me of a joke...

a duck walks in to a bar and asks the bartender: you got any grapes? the bartender says: nah, we're a bar, we ain't got any grapes. so the duck says thank you, and walks out.

the next day, the duck walks into the bar again and asks the bartender: hey you got any grapes? and the bartender says: nah, man, we don't got any grapes. I told ya yesterday! okay, the duck says. thanks! and walks out.

the next day the duck walks into the bar and before he can ask, the bartender cuts him off: hey, duck I told ya, we ain't got no grapes. we're a bar. and if you ask me for grapes again imma nail your webbed feet to the floor!

the duck looks at the bartender and asks: ya got any nails? the bartender says: nah we don't got any nails either. great! says the duck. you got any grapes?

Okay, everyone, let's all mosey on to other, more important topics now -- like some of these burning and still unanswered questions:

- "What kind of tires should I put on my Vespa?"
- "What kind of oil should I put in my Vespa?"
- "What full-face helmet fits under the seat of a Vespa?"

Shaardvark has completed his project to his satisfaction. Armchair quarterbacking and second guessing him at this point is just being a dick.