Modern Vespa

After posting Plug and play horn ? (front rack sorted) (Post 955253) I decided to defer the front rack, but did put a Stebel TM80/1 in, following guidance from kbalch and others. It's the low note, but still a loud sucker. In the UK it seems the high note is only available as a twin pack. Still haven't had to use it in anger, but good to know it's there.

Anyway, in place of the front rack, spent this month's bling money on the Vespa OEM rear crash bars. Once again Vespa World had the best price, and delivered promptly.

http://www.vespa-world.co.uk/scooter-accessories-812-0.html

Fitting wasn't quite the "plug n play" the instructions would have you believe.

The sheet says to loosely bolt up the bracket to the flange underneath the scooter (easy enough), then slot the rear two halves together (easy enough), bolt the two rear flanges to the scoot on top of the existing grab rail and rear rack, and connect the two front ends to the bracket underneath (both impossible).

They wouldn't meet up, and the flanges on the bar ends were too wide to sit flat on the existing fittings.

I ended up:

1. Loosely fitting each flange end separately under the existing fittings, using slightly longer bolts of the same thread size, as the 2 bolts supplied wouldn't go through all 3 fixings.

2. Slotting the two lower rear halves together.

3. Bolting the fronts to the bracket underneath the scoot.

4. Tightening everything up.

If I was doing it again, I'd definitely use copious amounts of masking tape. I managed to scrape off some top coat sliding the two ends in under the grab rail and rack. I'll squirt some grease in to it to be safe.

Anyway, fitting tribulations aside, I'm pleased with how they look, and the perceived protection they give.

Sharp looking scooter! I lust...