Modern Vespa

By the end of a heavy session on my 221 yesterday, my scooter felt wrong. Stopped looked and rear was sitting low. Shock mount rubber had ripped apart again. Rode home sad and slowly.

I had an OEM spare, which I fitted just now. Back to ridable again. And, now it's raining. Of course it is.

221 will get its usual total engine strip down in a few months. Three black mounts of various makes, have torn in the last 10 years.
What shock mounts have people had better success with?

if you can live with the loss of flexibility the rubber offers, you could go for Polybush.

Been there
The only upgraded buffer I've come across is the Clauss Studios buffer.
It's no longer in their catalog

https://www.vespatime.it/en/buffer-rear-shock-absorber-vespa-all-models-since-1958-clauss-studios.2.20.558.gp.10879.uw

I've been using the Clauss top and bottom polys since 2015 on my blue P (and to all my other Vespas) and they're still like new. They stopped making the top mount and SIP is also out of stock after they bought everything. I have managed to secure two more top mounts to have as spares and for the bottom I now use the red MD Racing polys which are really great. My local supplier may have some more Clauss tops so if you're interested I can ask him and ship one to you…

Do you have any sort of wide tire kit on the scooter? If so, it will push the alignment out of whack on the suspension travel.

Does that clauss mount go in the same position? Does he have any more?
BGM make and orange one I've not tried, any info on that?

Regular 51P 350 x 10 on a tubeless rim. Nothing unusual about the travel. The shock is adjusted quite stiff, which won't be helping. Sure it's something to do with the power.

Yes, it mounts in the same position and you just drill a second hole for the extra bolt (tank out of course). I called him, he has 3 left, I get them for 50€ each. If you want one pm me and I'll arrange it…

Can't understand why they stopped making these. Got to be the answer. Kind offer. Thanks. I'll let you know

Probably not enough demand, and not enough scooter peeps willing to drill the frame. I have this in My P2, and have had them in others; its a great design.

The only thing i can think of (at least from a design standpoint) is that having a high durometer upper shock bushing will put extra stress and side load on the shock's shaft. Over time it will cause the shock seals to fail prematurely. And with that same side load on the shaft, it will cause accelerated metal fatigue on it as well. ESPECIALLY if someone installs it with a wide tire kit. The upper portion of the shock shaft has been known to snap off. Keep in mind a shock will cycle hundreds if not thousand plus times on a short 30 minute ride. The way Piaggio designed the rear suspension works decently enough with with the softer rubber mounts, but the still poly mounts just don't allow proper cycling of the suspension.

And this isn't a rant, i'm just stating that the original suspension design isn't up to par for modern materials. A correct suspension design on our scooters would have heim joints (spherical rod ends) on both the top and bottom of the rear shock. Downside is that if the rod ends are steel, then more vibrations would be transmitted to the frame. Ideal would be miniature "Johnny Joints" to keep the vibrations in check.

There's a few options when it comes to smallies but the LF only has (had) the Clauss... this is a little OTT but nice.

It's wild to me that there are no products developed for the large frame series, other than the discontinued Clauss item. All these fancy shocks, engine bushings, disk brakes and more; yet still the weak point connecting the whole rear assembly is just a chunk of rubber... missed opportunity

And the discontinued VE UK mount which looks suspiciously like a Clauss, but blue. I assume it's been discontinued as I couldn't find it on the site.

They started blue and then got silver…

ALL of those parts look exactly like the Clauss parts….

They are. VE is just a reseller…

I had exactly the same issue after my Corsica tour in May. I was using a brand-new standard-looking BGM lower buffer, but it worked its way out of the mount and disintegrated. This is the one I had:
https://www.scooter-center.com/en/silent-block-set-shock-absorber/engine-bgm-pro-made-in-germany-oe-10mm-x-48mm-vespa-px-1984-t5-125cc-pk-bgm7956

It seems that BGM must be aware of the issue and now offer an anti-slip version:
https://www.scooter-center.com/en/silent-block-set-shock-absorber/engine-bgm-pro-antislip-made-in-germany-oe-10mm-x-48mm-vespa-px-1984-t5-125cc-pk-bgm7956as?number=BGM7956AS

On the advice of Safis in this parish, I ordered this one from MD Racing - so far, so good:
https://www.10pollici.com/it/homepage/vespa-classica/motore/carter-motori-e-parti/silent-block-inferiore-md-racing-ammortizzatore-posteriore-vespa-foro-interno-10mm.1.1.23.gp.6450.uw?l=2

Incidentally, I also ordered a PLC Corse buffer but it came with a 9mm fixing, despite being advertised as 10mm, so that was returned.

Regarding the top mount, I emailed Clauss about availability but they didn't bother replying, so I guess that was a no.

Well that explains alot lol