Modern Vespa

Looking around the posts, I came across the series on putting reflective tape racing stripes on your vespa to increase visibility. Could/would you do this on a portifino green LXV? I found a site that offers the vinyl reflective tape in a number of colors and was wondering if black, brown, or gold would work without destroying the vintage look? How does someone go about designing something like this?

If you can't tell by now, art was not my best subject...

Thanks,

-George

I think the Gold would look very nice on the Green.
Maybe a 1" wide Gold stripe with a 1/2" Brown one next to it.

Gold would probably look great.

I used these guys for mine, give them a call and I'm sure they can help wit the color matching (my wife thinks I'm color blind...)
www.legendproductions.us

Absolutely !! It is YOUR scooter, personalize it with safety and other features. There is no perfect scooter, except for the person that owns it.

Have a blast, you can't do it wrong.

Best,
SDG

Just remember that if you do put stripes on it, you gotta show us pictures!

I wouldn't do it to mine. I think the subtle green color doesn't lend itself to being "jazzed up" as well as some of the bolder color models.

I would put a large paper bag over a Portofino Green scooter
Excalibur Silver rules!



....seriously though, the gold would complement the green nicely, go for it!
Good luck

Hi George R
I put the black reflective tribal stripes I designed on Autocadd, then printed to paper, cut and taped several pieces together, as stripes were long. Used spray on glue, let set 5 minutes then stuck the pattern to the sheet of black reflective material. I then used a hobby blade to cut along the line of the pattern. Once that was done peeled off the paper, then the backing and applied the decal to the scoot, then removed the protective coating, and clear coat painted over to prevent snagging. I put some pictures up on my post of the De-crhomed GTS 250... over in projects. I think it turned out great. I do not think the color of your scoot matters as much as the pattern. My tribal stripes are in no way vintage... But checkered is .... A thick stripe next to a thin stripe is racer-vintage.

Good luck, and yes if you do put reflective stripes on post pictures!!

Not having the artistic "eye", this is where I have difficulty deciding. Has anyone out there dressed up a green LXV or GTV?

I'm thinking subtle yet elegant is what is needed for the Portofino Green LXV. It is a classy look and needs a classy striping. For that I think adding yet another colour might start to look messy. The scooter already has green, brown, black and silver, using gold stripes would add another colour. Use the black stripes, I'm thinking horizontal near the bottom edge of the front fender and rear cowls.

Agree! I'd go this way with your LXV, but 1 colour, as has already been said, there's plenty of colours on there already 8) I want the thick/thin stripes in satin black on my orange S

I saw a portofino green bike at a stoplight earlier this week and I couldn't stop looking at it. It looked magnificent in the afternoon sunlight and I was incredibly jealous of the color.

I think it's a classic look and I wouldn't try to add to it.

Sometimes less > more. (And yes, I do see the irony of my position, suggesting nothing.)

Hopefully Caligurl will see this thread and maybe post a pic of her bike. She has a Portofino Green LX150 with reflective rally stripes from Motorsport Scooters.

If I were you I would stripe it if it was going to be riden at night. My LX

never sees the dark side of life. At night it is parked nicely in its little

garage. Safe and sound untill the next day. No night, no stripes.

Paul

I have seen black stripes and checkers on green scooters. Looks pretty good.

The reflective stripes do help quite a bit. The ones on my LX are like rows of little beacons when a headlight hits them.

If you send me good, clear photos of the front and back of the scoot, I will mock up some stripes so you can get an idea of what they would look like.

G

PS...If yoU are looking for rally stripes, a big white one with a smaller one in gold or brown could look nice and not overly fussy on the green color.

OK... I was playing. I added a stripe to the side of the factory wallpaper shot. It has a "white" reflective and a brown reflective stripe. You could do the big one in in the silver tape they make.

I'm having trouble figuring out how to get a pic transferred... but I had a pic of the scooter on my "New Vespa Owner" thread a few days ago. `

From the MV Wiki:
FAQ: How do I upload a photo?
FAQ: How do I resize a photo?

Sorry... It's front only.

That is a shot of a happy scooterer...
Looks like that brown and white stripe on the green is a good combination...

What do you think of the side stripe above?

I will look at the front stripe a little later or in the morning when I have the fast computer.

Along the lines of keeping things simpler... what about just doing brown in wide and narrow stripes? Then echo that down the center of the front, wheel and back? Do you stripe the areas in the footwell?

How hard is something like this for a DIY'er to do? If you buy some rolls of the tape, can you screw up the Vespa by trying something and taking it back off? If you carry a stripe down the center, do you carry it through on the grille?

I will (and already had... without the high visibility gear) be driving it at night occasionally... just around town, etc. or to a church mtg.

Finally, since NJ has a "reflector tape on helmet" law, can you get tape in the same colors that stick to the copter hemet?

Thanks for the thinking...

-George

I thought about this long and hard because I really love my stripes and stripes on scoots in general. I think the portofino green LXV is beautiful as is and big obvious stripes couldn't possibly make it look any better.

What about getting a really narrow strip (1/10" or 1/8") of white reflective tape and following the inner line of the chrome along the front of the scooter? That way, it's not noticeable in daylight but still gives you the added safety at night. It's not really what comes to mind when talking about stripes but might be a nice compromise.

I put reflective vinyl stripes on mine. The key to that was using soapy water, sprayed on the scoot surface first. It allowed me to nudge the vinyl around a bit, for proper positining, before it fully stuck.

I don't know if the soapy water trick will work with tape, but it might be worth a shot. It helps a lot getting everything lined up. A credit card helps to buff out the air bubbles. NY has the same helmet law. I went to the hardware store and picked up a roll of 3M reflective tape. I think it was $3 or so.

You could also try ordering from a place like this if you want a not so common color (around here red and silver seem to the be only options)
http://www.reflectivedecals.com/stripes.htm

Yeah, I think if you did something simple like that, it would be pretty nice, without ruining the classic look of the LXV. And hey, reflective stuff is never a bad thing on a scoot.

I bought reflective pinstriping and put around the turn sigals and center running light. Plus I a couple of reflective stripes on the passenger pegs, front and back. And rear mud flap has white, I dont think it takes away from my scoots looks.

The reflective tape around the mirrors and helmet shield is black. White around the helmet. The old Piaggio logo is home made of reflective tape.

Did you see the other forum posting that has popped up this week? It's all about stripes and the different options. You can see all sorts of options... center strips, right of center, left of center, or across.

Adding stripes can be fun or challenging depending on how you approach it. As far as I can tell, the only difference between tape and larger pieces is the way it's cut... meaning the materials are the same. They are called adhesive vinyl and many sign shops will sell it by the foot. The colored vinyl is more "stretchy" than the reflective which has metal backing and can be harder to bend and curve. Streetglo.com has some good instructions on how to install it. Use a soapy solution in a spray bottle and the vinyl slides pretty easy until you press hard on the vinyl.

I am going to assume the stuff online and the stuff at your local sign shop are going to be the same stuff but by different vendors. The sign shop is likely to buy the vinyl on long rolls in 12", 15" or 24" widths based on the cutter they use. Some are perforated with holes for the gears in their cutting machine, some are not. If you are cutting by hand, it will not make a difference. My local shop will sell it by the foot and you can cut strips of vinyl and can make your own "tape" if you want it. Most of the areas on the scoot are not likely to need a piece longer than two or three feet.

Application tape is tape that goes on the "good side" of the vinyl and holds the different pieces together for installation. So if you add two stripes and 16 letters, you can lay them out on a flat surface, stick them to the installation tape and then install them as one unit. You them remove the application tape after it is installed on the final surface "aka.. the scoot". Be sure you get "wet installable" tape if you are doing a wet installation (easier).

Good luck and show us what you do. PM if you have some questions... I will try to fumble through with an answer.