Modern Vespa

Has anyone used any of the 3m or Scotch VHB two-sided tapes or the dual lock fasteners (like velcro but more grip, like the kind used to stick an EZ Pass to a windshield) to successfully - and confidently - place RAM mounts on the brake reservoir covers rather than using screws through the covers.

Thanks.

Use screws, preferably on a custom plate to go on top if using the brake reservoir. Me, I'd choose another mounting point.

If you use velcro you are going to loose the RAM mount the first bump you go over.

Use the handle bar mount that comes with the RAM mount, works perfect.

Wayne B

There is no access to the handlebars on the 250.

Mirror posts are also frequently used to mount stuff. I've used mounts on my wifes with just some random plastic inserts I cut.

Would you think mounting a Garmin Zumo on the mirror post would be stable enough? I'm afraid that it would exhibit too much vibration. I had resigned myself to mounting mine on top of the dash cowling.

Simon

Zumo will be fine on the mirror.

Wayne B

THanks, Wayne, I'll give it a try. I can always move it later if I don't like it. Appreciate the feedback.

Simon

I had my Garmin on my wife's mirror. It really is a good place. You would have to vibrate enough to shake you off the bike for it to be a problem.

Heck even with my mount, I hit a hole on the road at 75mph that knocked the holder out of its ball socket. It was incredibly violent, and the darn thing hung on to it's power plug while I tried to recover. I thought for sure it was a goner.

Yeah, that's a scary thought. I wish the Zumo itself had somewhere you could attach a lanyard to it to safety it to a tie down point.

My problem was riding in a formation with a rider who wasn't thinking that I have 4X as much requirements for safe travel up front. She whizzed by the pot hole and didn't think to point it out to me.

It was such a hard hit I thought my alignment would be shot. My Garmin is flying around all over the bike, I'm flying around all over the bike, but the old girl still tracks straight. A real testament to Piaggio's front end strength.

Scared the hell outta me though.

Do me a favour....

You have to watch the road yourself FFS, she may have had enough problems avoiding it without endangering herself (or nearby riders) with extraneous signalling.

Only signal obstacles if you have plenty of time and have thought the whole process through. Each rider has to ride their own ride. It's a very good design. Watch for a knackered steering bearing or two though...

I'll do ya one better.... In addition, I shouldn't have had that much trust in a rider I was not familiar with. And I didn't mean to place all of the blame on her.

That being said, we were in tight formation at the time, I was riding sweep and was trying to fend off aggressive cars and such. And I literally watched her cruise right past it without even a minute adjustment. It just wasn't an issue for her.

This is a good lesson for everyone, so thanks for busting my balls jimc

On the way up and back I noticed that riders were not properly pointing out hazards. Except our leader. She was good, but signals weren't being translated back properly. As for the others, i'm not even sure they knew what certain signals meant. A simple "left foot point" would not have been considered "extraneous signaling" (sorry jimc) since she cruised right past it.

There are different opinions about riding in formation. I won't get into that other than to say it's not for everyone. There was plenty of time. Just not an appreciation of the danger, of which we were both guilty. I'll say! I couldn't believe I could still track straight. Sounds like the bearing will be an issue no matter what I do

Good riposte.

When group riding it is human nature to 'follow the leader' (the bike immediately in front) - it's not a good idea - and nor is it a good idea to expect warnings of hazards from others. They may not have seen it - they may have seen it and are going through their own 'Oh Shit!' moment - they may think it is so obvious it doesn't need pointing out.

In my book, if you could only use a pointed foot to show the obstacle and not a downward pointed finger then it is not worth risking showing it in the first place for your own sake. The instability induced by doing so (for those trying it for the first time trying to emulate their 'elders') may prove more costly than it's worth.

Especially if riding a 'progressive' ride rather than a scenic one!

And if riding 'sweep' or tail-gunner then you would be far enough back to spot it for yourself anyway.

[It's by far the best place to be - playing catch-up is fun!]

I don't want to get into another line by line response because jimc is absolutely correct. It was just a bad situation with aggressive drivers and my only hope is that the other riders never even noticed. That's the job of sweep, after all

And I'll admit that I still let a dangerous and very aggressive cager get in between me and another rider. I thought she was just going to pass on through but she ended up being really nasty and was riding my buddy's ass like you couldn't believe. I pulled ahead and moved in behind him to slow her down. It worked but it was dangerous for all of us.

So to restate what jimc said: