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@paul_s avatar
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Member
Lx150
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Location: Seattle
 
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@paul_s avatar
Lx150
Joined: UTC
Posts: 23
Location: Seattle
UTC quote
Hey Everyone--

I parked on the street this afternoon to run a quick errand. I came out about 20 minutes later to see my scoot on the ground. It wasn't on asphalt so it didn't sink and tip so some joker must have bumped it or something.

Talk about a way to ruin one's day.

So, the damage was all on the right side (the side it landed on)--scuffed mirror, slight bend to the brake lever, hand grip chewed up on the end, a dent and a lot of deep scrapes on the area right below the seat (the cowl is maybe what it's called), a big gouge on the long narrow plastic piece below that, and some scuffs on the outside of the foot rest.

When I tried to start it--it took a couple cranks but it's been running fine since.

So, here are a couple of questions that I hope some of you might have input on.

1) Is there anything I should look at besides the body damage?
3) What's the best way to fix the body damage? Anybody want to ballpark a guess at what a body shop would cost? Is it worth calling my insurance company?
4) Is touch up paint available? What's the best way to touch up something like that?
5) I just read on the forum that a nice big magnet might be the easy way to hide this. Anybody got a good source on large magnets? Or thoughts about what would look nice? I'm thinking a nice big Mod target.

Thanks in advance for your ideas!
@judy avatar
UTC

World Traveler
2007 LX150 Daring Plum Leonardo Da Vespa
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World Traveler
@judy avatar
2007 LX150 Daring Plum Leonardo Da Vespa
Joined: UTC
Posts: 29303
UTC quote
I'm sorry that sucks. Do you have your evap hose still connected if so i would do a disconnect. Also check your air filter and see if gas got into it. I had my scratches covered and it cost me $300 but you could get by with covering it with a magnet or sticker. I live near the beach so scratches=rust I don't have any suggestions on the magnet/sticker other than Ebay. I've found some cool things on there. Hope this helps. The wiki section has step by step instructions with pics for both things i suggested. Good luck.
@alice avatar
UTC

Molto Verboso
ET4
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Location: Southern California
 
Molto Verboso
@alice avatar
ET4
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Location: Southern California
UTC quote
What a shame. Whenever I park my scooter I cross my fingers that it's still standing when I get back.

A sign shop can fix you up with a custom magnet ... the mod target should be easy and inexpensive. Touch up paint only works for small nicks; doesn't really look good covering a large area. You can always get the estimate for a repair before you contact your insurance company. The repair might cost less than your deductible.

Good luck.
@benito avatar
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Moderator
2010 Dragon Red GTS 300 Super, 2018 Grigio Titanio Piaggio Liberty S 150
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Location: Toronto, Canada, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
 
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@benito avatar
2010 Dragon Red GTS 300 Super, 2018 Grigio Titanio Piaggio Liberty S 150
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Posts: 16296
Location: Toronto, Canada, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
UTC quote
Sorry to hear about the damage to your fine scooter. I've had scooter damage and know how bad it feels to know that your baby is hurt. If you don't bother with the mirror, brake handle and the grip, fixing the rear cowl shouldn't be all that bad. Any dents can be pushed out by a body shop pretty easily and the painting can be done fairly inexpensively. Here I know a body shop in the city that would probably charge about $400 CAD for that type of thing.
@dannyh avatar
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Resident Gentleman
--------2008 LX150-------- Sold
Joined: UTC
Posts: 5045
Location: Brady, TX
 
Resident Gentleman
@dannyh avatar
--------2008 LX150-------- Sold
Joined: UTC
Posts: 5045
Location: Brady, TX
UTC quote
It is definitely worth it to call your insurance company. The wind tipped mine over last March and they paid about $775. See my post at AAAAAh!! The wind tipped it..
As others mentioned, magnets are great. The painted plastic parts are available from your dealer and the one you mentioned below your cowl is very easy to replace. Same with your mirror. If your brake lever isn't too badly bent and you can live with it, you can remove scratches on it with progressively finer sandpaper. The grip should be easy to replace, too. You didn't say what color your LX is, but if it's Dragon Red GM Torch Red is a pretty close match. You can get small tubes of it at WalMart.
@lumox avatar
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2010 GTS300, 2009 LX150
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@lumox avatar
2010 GTS300, 2009 LX150
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Location: Chicago
UTC quote
My LX150 "fell" over while parked a couple of weeks ago. I was shocked at the repair estimates for damage that looked pretty minor. Because the bike is a unibody, two separate body shops refused to simply paint the damaged cowl. Both would only paint the bike if the entire thing was stripped, and then the whole frame repainted. The paint job was estimated at $350 or so. However, I was looking at least 10 hours of labor to strip the bike. Also, who wants to have a great new scoot stripped and reassembled? I have insurance to pay for it, but would a reassembled bike be just as good as one fresh off the assembly line?

I found a company that supplies color matched repair paint. www.paint-chip-repair.com. I am not certain if that's the answer, but I'll give it a try. If it doesn't work out, I'll look at decals or magnets. Also thinking about painting the cowl a different color that might accent the bike nicely. This would not require anyone to strip the bike. This has been an incredible pain.
Forum member supplied image with no explanatory text
@dannyh avatar
UTC

Resident Gentleman
--------2008 LX150-------- Sold
Joined: UTC
Posts: 5045
Location: Brady, TX
 
Resident Gentleman
@dannyh avatar
--------2008 LX150-------- Sold
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Posts: 5045
Location: Brady, TX
UTC quote
lumox,

My scratches were pretty minor compared to yours. I used a little touch-up paint then covered it with a magnet. Then I added rear crash bars, hoping they would prevent some damage should this happen again.
I hope the paint you get works out. Keep us posted on the outcome, please.
@silver_streak avatar
UTC

Veni, Vidi, Posti
2007 Vespa LX 190, 2011 LXV150ie
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Location: Annapolis, MD, USA
 
Veni, Vidi, Posti
@silver_streak avatar
2007 Vespa LX 190, 2011 LXV150ie
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Location: Annapolis, MD, USA
UTC quote
If you'd had both front and rear crash bars, you'd likely have had no body damage at all. They're a good investment.
@bill_dog avatar
UTC

eeeee bip
BMW R1100RT The Problem Child Kymco Downtown 300 - I'm not the Uber BMW R1200 RT Big Red
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eeeee bip
@bill_dog avatar
BMW R1100RT The Problem Child Kymco Downtown 300 - I'm not the Uber BMW R1200 RT Big Red
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Location: South East Great England of Britishland
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Seething
God that would really piss me off. It happend to me when I had a Kawasaki Z1300 but that time I sulked for a month.

I'm so sorry mate.

Regards

Bill X
@copper_dolphin avatar
UTC

Molto Verboso
LX150 Darling Plum; GTS 250 Dragon Red; Honda Big Ruckus Demented Bastard
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Molto Verboso
@copper_dolphin avatar
LX150 Darling Plum; GTS 250 Dragon Red; Honda Big Ruckus Demented Bastard
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UTC quote
Sounds like the body shop is being lazy, and wanting to charge you extra. There is no reason why they can't just sand down the area, re-prime, and repaint the affected area, then buff the surface to make the paint smooth across the fender. They are too eger to charging someone to paint the whole fender for one scratch... crooked body shop....
@silver_streak avatar
UTC

Veni, Vidi, Posti
2007 Vespa LX 190, 2011 LXV150ie
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Location: Annapolis, MD, USA
 
Veni, Vidi, Posti
@silver_streak avatar
2007 Vespa LX 190, 2011 LXV150ie
Joined: UTC
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Location: Annapolis, MD, USA
UTC quote
Copper Dolphin wrote:
Sounds like the body shop is being lazy, and wanting to charge you extra. There is no reason why they can't just sand down the area, re-prime, and repaint the affected area, then buff the surface to make the paint smooth across the fender. They are too eger to charging someone to paint the whole fender for one scratch... crooked body shop....
Not necessarily so. If the paint is clear-coated metallic, it is nearly impossible to make an invisible blend within a body panel (a spot repair, in other words). Any decent body shop wants to paint at least the whole panel to avoid customer dissatisfaction.

I recently tried to do a spot repair on the cowl of my silver LX and found it impossible to get a decent blend on the face of the cowl. I wound up having to respray the entire cowl to the fold where the cowl sheet metal meets the body proper. At the fold, the blend is not obvious, but you can see it if you look hard enough.
OP
@paul_s avatar
UTC

Member
Lx150
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Location: Seattle
 
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@paul_s avatar
Lx150
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Location: Seattle
UTC quote
Thanks everyone for your input on all of this. This forum is really the best.

I'm about to go out of town for work but when I get back I'll call my insurance agent and also run it down to the body shop and see what they say.

My wife has tried to cheer me up saying it makes me look tougher when I drive it now. I'm not sure I'm buying it though.

danny*h--I have a dragon red scoot so thanks for the touch up tip. Although my damage looks a lot like Lumox's so I'm not sure how well that will work. But, it's good info to have.

Silver Streak--you have no idea about my crash bar story. I was saving my pennies for some and about a month ago was ready to get them. But, literally on the week I was going to buy them I came home from work and my 4 year old sprinted out the back sliding door to greet me like she always does but this time the screen door was close and she completely mushed the door. If she hadn't been so freaked out it would have been funny. The door looked like Willy E. Coyote ran into it. Of course it wasn't funny that's where my crash bar money went too. Cruel fate why to you mock me!

williamvillage--I'm going to be sulking for a long time too.

Alice--thanks for the sign shop tip

Judy--thanks for reminding me about the rust. I need to get on this.
@techguy avatar
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Ossessionato
Kymco P250 Now, P200E in the 80's
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Location: Antelope, CA, USA
 
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@techguy avatar
Kymco P250 Now, P200E in the 80's
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Location: Antelope, CA, USA
UTC quote
BEFORE you call you insurance company, I would check with your V dealer to see if they have a shop they work with on minor repairs. It may be cheaper than your deductible.

Based on my understanding of some insurance companies, if you call and ask questions about you policy and 'how much"... they track that call and assume you had an accident or you would not have called.

I could be full of BS but this is what I have heard. Some one with first hand insurance company knowledge may know better than I.
UTC

Ossessionato
GTS 300ie
Joined: UTC
Posts: 2009
Location: Austin, TX, USA
 
Ossessionato
GTS 300ie
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Location: Austin, TX, USA
UTC quote
Since this wasn't a moving offense and wasn't on a street (not really an accident), I don't think the insurance will go up. I think it will only be a problem if you actually make a claim. I can't guarantee this, however. I would get an estimate and decide if you want to fix it and whether you want to pay or the insurance. If it's not bad, you can just look at it as a badge of honor that you use your scoot or hide it with a decal.

It is pretty standard practice for the body shops to want the bodywork/cowl off the scoot to paint it. It allows them to do a better job of blending the paint, especially with metallic paints. I do know some about paint and bodywork, because my father owns a shop. As a kid, I used to help out.

Good Luck. I hope your situation goes better, more quickly, and cheaper than mine.
UTC

Banned
GTS 250ie YELLOW N WHITE,Giallo Lime
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Location: Beautiful Orange County CA
 
Banned
GTS 250ie YELLOW N WHITE,Giallo Lime
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Location: Beautiful Orange County CA
UTC quote
Big decal
lumox wrote:
My LX150 "fell" over while parked a couple of weeks ago. I was shocked at the repair estimates for damage that looked pretty minor. Because the bike is a unibody, two separate body shops refused to simply paint the damaged cowl. Both would only paint the bike if the entire thing was stripped, and then the whole frame repainted. The paint job was estimated at $350 or so. However, I was looking at least 10 hours of labor to strip the bike. Also, who wants to have a great new scoot stripped and reassembled? I have insurance to pay for it, but would a reassembled bike be just as good as one fresh off the assembly line?

I found a company that supplies color matched repair paint. www.paint-chip-repair.com. I am not certain if that's the answer, but I'll give it a try. If it doesn't work out, I'll look at decals or magnets. Also thinking about painting the cowl a different color that might accent the bike nicely. This would not require anyone to strip the bike. This has been an incredible pain.
---------------------------------
You could always put a large decal or better yet a large Vinyl decal. Myself when I dropped my ET4 I got some dragon red spray paint to touch it up.
@lumox avatar
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2010 GTS300, 2009 LX150
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Location: Chicago
 
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@lumox avatar
2010 GTS300, 2009 LX150
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Location: Chicago
UTC quote
Paint Repairs
Well, I accomplished my paint repairs using the paint-chip-repair.com system. I am very pleased with the results. The kit was easy to use. You apply the special paint to a chip or scratch as if it were spackle. It dries in minutes. Next, you remove excess paint by lightly rubbing on a pink, chemical solution. The excess paint was easily removed. The kit did a great job of filling in chips and deep scratches. The more superficial scratches are still apparent in texture, but not really in color. I suspect this can be further repaired with an orbital buffer. The repair is not perfect. However, now it looks like the bike has some wear that comes with time, rather than damage that needs to be fixed.

By the way, the company that makes the kit can not match Vespa paint with a paint code. However, I sent them a small piece of trim, and they were able to use it for an exact color match. Attached is a photo of the repair.
Forum member supplied image with no explanatory text
@lumox avatar
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2010 GTS300, 2009 LX150
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@lumox avatar
2010 GTS300, 2009 LX150
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UTC quote
Paint Repairs
prior condition
Forum member supplied image with no explanatory text
@dannyh avatar
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Resident Gentleman
--------2008 LX150-------- Sold
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Posts: 5045
Location: Brady, TX
 
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@dannyh avatar
--------2008 LX150-------- Sold
Joined: UTC
Posts: 5045
Location: Brady, TX
UTC quote
Wow! Very impressive. I just looked at their website. They appear to have 3 different kits available. Which kit did you use?
@judy avatar
UTC

World Traveler
2007 LX150 Daring Plum Leonardo Da Vespa
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@judy avatar
2007 LX150 Daring Plum Leonardo Da Vespa
Joined: UTC
Posts: 29303
UTC quote
Wow you did a great job. Congratulations and thanks for posting the pics. Now no more scratches
@lumox avatar
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Member
2010 GTS300, 2009 LX150
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Posts: 46
Location: Chicago
 
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@lumox avatar
2010 GTS300, 2009 LX150
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Location: Chicago
UTC quote
Paint Repairs
I used the road rash kit. Plenty left over for future mishaps.
@snoozie avatar
UTC

Hooked
GTS 300
Joined: UTC
Posts: 136
Location: San Diego (Oceanside)
 
Hooked
@snoozie avatar
GTS 300
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Posts: 136
Location: San Diego (Oceanside)
UTC quote
Sorry mate.

To answer your one concern. You're bike was in pieces at the factory, and then was made whole. If you take care you can take anything apart and put it back together again if you have the inclination and time, and it could in fact be done better than the factory did it when your done.

Doing so would also let you see and understand how nicely these scooters have been put together (Has anyone ever noticed the mud-flap fender OVER the rear wheel, inside the body? A fender over a fender in a fender. lol), and sounds like fun.

You could also take the opportunity to have it painted the exact color you always wanted it, which sounds like fun too.

It stinks that it was tipped over, but the damage is truly minor, so take some solace in that.

Soooo...make an espresso, go look at your scoot, and figure out its new color. Orange and silver is my vote.
⬆️    About 1 month elapsed    ⬇️
OP
@paul_s avatar
UTC

Member
Lx150
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Posts: 23
Location: Seattle
 
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@paul_s avatar
Lx150
Joined: UTC
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Location: Seattle
UTC quote
Resolved!
Hey Everyone--

Thanks for all the great tips on this thread. I've got this chapter of things closed so I wanted to let you all know how it turned out.

I called my insurance company and they covered everything but the $250 deductible. So, I took it to a motorcycle only body shop in Seattle and they fixed things up good as new. I'm not sure if it's kosher to mention their name in the postings but if anyone wants to know more please feel fee to contact me directly. But, these guys rocked. Very nice to work with and it looks like new!

But, if I didn't have insurance it wouldn't have been cheap. But, for $250 my scooter looks like new.

Next step are some chrome bars!
@voneschenbach avatar
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Ossessionato
A fracking cage sadly
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Location: Seattle
 
Ossessionato
@voneschenbach avatar
A fracking cage sadly
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Location: Seattle
UTC quote
Yes - I have heard lots of stories about how hostile Seattle is to parked scooters/motorcycles. Glad to hear you were able to get this fixed and thanks to Lumox for the scuff repair kit before and after shots!
@gregt avatar
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Molto Verboso
Piaggio BV500
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Posts: 1013
Location: montgomery, alabama
 
Molto Verboso
@gregt avatar
Piaggio BV500
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Posts: 1013
Location: montgomery, alabama
UTC quote
Now that's a great insurance company! Sorry to hear about the mishap but I'm glad to see it will be made right again!
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