Modern Vespa

tired of those stock hard grips?
do you need more comfort?

REPLACE THOSE TIRED GRIPS

I replaced mine with a gel style sport bike grip.

#1 lay out your tools: grips, glue, razor-knife (thats all I used)
#2 remove bar-end weights
#3 carefully cut grips off the throttle side. Don't cut down real hard as you don't want to cut into the throttle plastic sleeve.
#4 clean handle bars with a clean rag (the old glue rubs right off)
#5 cut out ends of new grips (only if you have bar-end weights)
#6 sparingly glue handle bar area
#7 lightly lubricat the end of the grip prior to sliding on ( I used a little spit on my finger)
#8 when sliding on the trottle side twist on in a clockwise motion (towards the front of the bike) till grip completely is against the flared part of the throttle sleeve.
#9 adjust/align grip to your liking
#10 reinstall bar-ends weights
#11 let sit 8 hrs or overnite and your good to go

forgot to tell you how long this took 20 minutes and that included taking the pics

Hey Old,
Why do the grips look red in the bottom pic and orange everywhere else? I first thought it was just a flash/exposure thing, but the top pic they're orange and the bar wgts are red like the bike. I'd really consider changing them myself if I could get some that were similar to the color of my bike or that had a nice style to them that I liked(yours are nice too tho).

Secondly, does the gel make a big difference in "feel" of the bike? Bar wgts? Give us the juicy stuff on how they have affected performance.

they are red it is just the closeness of the flash that maks them look orange. I will go for a ride tommorrow and see how they do, but I can already tell you that they have a much better feel than stock.

Thanks, OAD. Looking forward to your report.

This seems like a good thread to post a pic of my doubled Grip Puppies. I put the smalls over the stock grips, and the large over the smalls. Very comfortable for my big hands. Also installed a throttle lever.



BTW what is the purpose of the bar end weights?

beyond my DIY skillset though, so I went down to the BMW cycle shop and picked up some standard black foam wrap-arounds, and after several attempts, was able to get them fitted satisfactorily! 8) Seems to take the cramping out of the throttle hand.

Your solution is so much more elegant though, may have to find a dealer who can install some real grips!

Thanks! 8) 8)

Bar end wgts, besides doing the obvious of adding wgt, work like this...

When you lean into a turn, if you notice your handlebars basically act like a seesaw(that's lever/fulcrum talk for all my nerds), with the center at the middle of the bars. By adding bar wgts, it means that you have to apply less pressure to start and restabilize the lean...in essence less work and smoother leans.

cutting and re-glueing the grips seems a bit excessive...............

i just push a thin screwdriver down between the grip & the bar, spray surface cleaner in the gap to dissolve the glue for a while, work round the grip doing this and slide the grip off in one piece then put loads of surface cleaner on the bar and push the new grip on, once the surface cleaner has evaporated the glue left on the bar works on the new grip, never had a problem yet

To those wanting to know about the performance of the grips I installed.

I rode 200 miles today mostly twistys. The grips have a tacky grip feel as to not let your glove slip when on the grips. The gel potion of the grips works real nice, it takes that little buzz/vibration out.
As far as overall performance, I like em alot and I would buy them again and put on another ride if I had one. The wife scooter doesn't have them yet, but when she gets back from her little trip home she will probably tell me "why didn't you put some on mine" .

maver,
as far as the screwdriver and solvents I have done them plenty that way if you want to save the old grips. Since I could care less about the old grips I cut them off and threw them away as this was way faster and easier to do. Also I am kinda anal about using old glue, a new tube was only $4 and is good for 10 pair of grips. But you can put grips on how you please either way will work.

hair spray works pretty well....

Yep, works v. well

I use an air compressor to get the grips off AND back on again. If you control the flow of air and where it can escape, you can essentially inflate the grips enough that they slide right off and then slide right back on again.

Works every time, like magic.

Is your Vespa faster with super bike grips?

I installed these grips shown in Old as Dirt's photos. Exact same grips, exact same size - except mine are black. I DID NOT use any glue on the throttle side. I did take off the bar weights.
After installing the grips my throttle does not spring back to idle. I can manually twist the throttle to an idle. But if i have throttle twisted driving down the road take my hand off the grip it acts like cruise control and does not snap back. What have I done wrong? There should be a throttle spring that snaps back to idle, right! I sure there was before I installed the grips.
I do love the grips by the way, they lessen rider fatigue and feel great. Any advise on the spring issue, does removing the bar weights have anything to do with the throttle spring?
I hope have explain this well enough I am not sure "throttle spring" is the right term.
Thanks Jay

You most likely just need to shave the grips off at the end a bit. Mine did this. It's just the grip is out a tad too far and grabbing your bar end weight on the throttle side. Cut "around" the end in a circle around the grip to shave off the last mm or two.

Great info. I think I'm gonna change out my stock grips. Are all bar weights the same or do they come in different weights?