Modern Vespa

Here is a relatively simple method of attaching a leather top case to a tubular rack. With this set up you will no longer have to use all the leather straps to hold the bag down. The two hooks can be easily removed and reinstalled in about 2 min.
If you have a Piaggio leather bag, you will need to drill out two of the rivets on the bottom of the bag
If you have a Pirate Upholstery leather bag you can simply unscrew two of the rivets (Chicago screws) on the bottom of the bag and keep them in case you want to use them again.

Hardware needed- you can get stainless steel hardware listed below at Lowe's or Home depot

2- eyelet bolt- 1/4-20x2"
2- wing nut - 1/4-20
2- washers- preferably fender washers
1- small pad lock (luggage lock)

You will need to bend open the eyelets so they fit onto the rack. You will also need to drill a hole in one of the eyelet bolts so that the pad lock will pass through. Only one locking eyelet bolt is needed. The photos below are self explanatory. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Nice fix there.. I am sure that will be very handy to those who wanted a way to do this. You should not loose any storage space if you put soft stuff on the bottom.

Couldn't they just slash the leather and take the contents? Or is the goal for them not to steal the leather case (that was just slashed to get the contents)?

Serious questions, I'm not trying to be an a-hole.

You a-hole






I think those official leather bags easily go for at least $500, so I'd say whatever you can do to keep it from being hauled off is a plus! But yeah, hopefully they haven't mangled it in the process of looking inside.

If someone really wants to take something that you leave locked up outside, they will take it regardless if its locked. Including you scooter. This is just a really good deterrent to leave the bag where it is. It also gets rid of the 4+ leather straps that you were used to strap the bag to the rack.
P.S. they dont have to slash the bag to open it, they can just unbuckle the flap like the rest of us with opposable thumbs.

Didn't know, don't own one, just curious.

A-Holes would probably open it to steal the contents and then slash is with a knife just to be, well, a-holes...

BUT, your deterant is very nicely done and would stop the dumb kid who isn't thinking straight from just grabbing an easily accessable, beautiful case. Well done.

YESS! I was just thinking this! Thank you for the picturess! you are fantastic! My only other question is, if I ever wanted to leave my leather/canvas top case on my bike how to go about locking the straps somehow to prevent anyone getting in. But otherwise brilliant!

I just attempted this mod, but I couldn't find the right sized eye-bolts anywhere. I ended up doing something similar, on my SX Appeal case, but with U-bolts. More of a permanent mount than Pirate's. My boyfriend helped, because he's got a ton of awesome tools in the shop.

We used a drill to make pilot holes, and then a soldering iron to widen and melt the edges (the rivets didn't really line up very well with the bars on the rack, so we just left them). I found clear plastic tubing just barely big enough to fit over the U-bolts, and cut it to cover the smooth part of the bolts. This was to prevent scratching the chrome rack, and hopefully reduce the chance of rust for a while. It also had the added benefit of snugging the bolts tight onto the rack so the bag has absoultely no movement at all. I put cap nuts on the bolts inside the bag to prevent them from scratching anything I put in there. They still stick up pretty far though, so we may cut them down if we think we can re-thread the nuts back on afterwards.

You would need to switch the buckles to a set that can be locked. You can get a set of small pad locks that all use the same key.

Heres a little trick. Thread a nut onto the u-bolt as far as it will go, cut the bolt to the right length, then back the nut off of the bolt. If the threads were damaged while cutting the bolt, the nut will straighted them out while you are taking it off the bolt.

Jay, it looks like you are using a GTS rack, is that right. Question///
I'm installing a 2009 GTS rear rack
on a 2010 GTS Super 300ie. Will you leather bag fit the rack without any over hang.

Thanks

The photos are of a GTV, I am pretty sure it has the same rack as a GTS. The dimensions of the case I make are on my website. I doubt there is any extreme over hang but with the measurements listed you should be able to figure that out. If you have any other questions please feel free to contact me directly @ info@pirateupholstery.com Thanks.