Modern Vespa

Greetings All,

Recently my wife had a minor mishap with her 2013 LV 150 and laid it down in a gas station parking lot. She is fine, and only her ego and her confidence are bruised. There are a few scrapes and the windshield took a fatal hit, but the real damage to the bike is now the handlebars are no longer in alignment with the front wheel.

I know with bicycles the handlebar clamp is pressure fit with a jam nut and bolt into the steering stem, and when something like this happened when I was a kid we just held the wheel between our feet and muscled the handlebars back into line.

Can I do the same thing with the handlebars on my wife's scooter, or should I take it to the shop? Since my local shop is two counties away, I am hoping someone can give me some advice here before I do something I may regret later.

Thanks!

Stand wide-legged over the front wheel, clamp the front wheel with your feet/lower legs (not mudguard!!! Alternatively, place the front wheel with the correct side next to a curb) and align the handlebars with your hands. Just like on a bicycle...

I just bang the bars against the end-stop - not too violently mind! The bars can just about move w.r.t. the steering column just so the steering lock has a chance of holding up when perps try to break it.

I thought I would post a follow-up to thank those who replied and let everyone know that I followed some of their advice.

To stabilize the front wheel and hold it in place, I actually used the handle from an old shovel, with one end between the legs of the center stand and the other fastened to the front wheel with a ratchet strap. That held the wheel firmly in exactly the right position so get the bars set back to where they originally were.

Thanks again for the advice.