Modern Vespa

Has anyone had any luck getting the bloody thing off? I have not.

maybe a sledge hammer! kidding. I have heard it is difficult at best removing one. never had too yet.

A rubber mallet was employed to no avail...

are you serious?
I have put the screens on and off regularly, with some ease too...The rods are probably just rusty and jammed. Spray WD40 to tackle the rust and once you have used a wrench/spanner to loosen the bolts it should take a few good yanks to get it off.

If it is still jammed, be patient and try gentle side-to-side tugging of the bars.

Good luck bro!

I am dead serious. The screen is a new one so I don' think rust is a factor. I have tried some WD40 with no results. The bolts were loose when attempting to remove them as well. I will keep tugging! So to speak.

cheers

Loosen the bolts off about a quarter-inch. Tap the bolts in lightly with a hammer; this will drive the cone out of the split sleeve, thereby relieving the pressure that holds the sleeves in the mounting tubes. You should then be able to feel that the bolts can freely move in and out inside the tubes. Then wiggle the frames from side to side, while pulling them out.

If that doesn't work, it's time for brute force. Loosen each bolt enough that you can fit a prying device behind its head; I have used the hooked claw end of a crow bar in the past. With the device behind the head, hammer it forward, driving the bolt out of the tube.

When you reinstall the screen, make sure you lube the split sleeves and cones, and don't tighten them any more than necessary.

Yes, agree with Fogie's suggestions - hammer treatment will be needed.
Let us know if you have success!

Sat

It is a friction fit sleeve, so really, once you loosen the nuts completely, it's just rust and deformity that's holding it in. It's possible your aftermarket brand had a friction fitting that stayed a bit more deformed than the OEM one. It would suck if they used something that really jammed itself in there. If you absolutely positively can't seem to budge it with a pair of vise grips and your hands, then I would take off the windshield acrylic so that just the stanchions remain, and figure out a way to attach a slide hammer to it.

The OEM model has plastic expansion sleeves, so they don't rust any more. The nuts might though. I used anti-seize on mine when I installed it, and boy does it slide out easy! In fact, you really have to tighten the nuts pretty tight to keep it from loosening while riding.