Modern Vespa

Has anyone had this happen? If so, does anyone know a fix other than buy a new one?
I noticed that the lid on my Givi e30 top case wasn't staying up and when I looked at the rack here's what I found.
I don't load my case heavily. The most I usually put in it is a pint thermos of coffee and my iPad2, along with some light items like gloves and ear plugs.
Kinda weird for it to split like that. Must be our bumpy roads here. The tubing is almost broken all the way through on both sides.
I'm not seeing an easy fix.

That looks like a classic case of "'work hardening," Danny, from constant flexing over the bumps. There is what we engineers call a "stress riser" right there at the end of the weld for the hinge bracket where the stresses are concentrated.

Short of having it welded, the bead ground down and polished, and the piece re-chromed -- which would probably cost more than a new rack -- I think your only reasonable option is a new rack.

Danny, I have an LX150 with a Vespa topcase. My mount does not look like yours. You have a fold down rack and your case is on top of it and it looks further back than mine does. The further back, the more leverage on the rack. I have the padded insert on mine and it is a suitable backrest for my passenger.

My case came with the hardware necessary to install it without an extra rack.

How about one of these as a replacement?

http://www.scooterwest.com/items/?_pageCCS=t#page=/item_details/LX-Vespa-S-Rear-Rack-w-Grab-Rail-For-Top-Case/5758

I'm going to try the one they have for the GTS, to replace the stock rack that has given me too many problems. Hopefully that one will work for you too!

That looks like a pretty good option. No moving parts to rattle, and cheaper, too. I wonder how big the "rack" portion is? I guess if it's big enough for an OEM case, my little Givi should fit.

DANNY do you keep a lot of stuff in it? Minds getting older but haven't you had an accident this past year or am i getting you confused with someone else? If you did i'm thinking that the crash might of put some undue stress on it and it finally gave away or having a lot of stuff in on a regular basis put more stress on it as well.. Nothing is made well these days. It's good that we recycle but all metal things are so diluted because of the recycled stuff that i think it makes things somewhat weaker. No engineer but just thinking out loud. I'd go with the cheaper one if you like the looks. Good luck.

Yeah, Judy, I did wipe out in October. And here's a pic of the damage to the case. It's very possible the rack was weakened by that spill. I also hit a couple speed bumps pretty hard on my daily commute. Even without much of a load in it, I guess it all adds up.

That didn't help your rack i think. Good to know for people who have accidents in the future tho. Claim the case and rack if you can because there is probably unseen damage there. The roads are just killing me here. Literally and figuratively I'm about to get in a snit with the road people about my road. Very dangerous half assed patch job they did. Nothing will get done but i'll feel better. Good luck with your replacement.

Minor flexing many times => work hardening of the metal => eventual crack where the stress is concentrated. Work hardening reduces the ductility of the mild steel, which increases the chances of brittle failure.

...option for a rear LX rack. Here is a pic of my wife's...



...LX topcase rack. It is a one-piece color-matched design that came with the topcase when we bought her scoot new at San Jose Vespa. Bosco was the sales guy, so maybe he can add something about where to get one if needed. The topcase was "thrown in" to help make the sale, and we did not know about the flip-down chrome one at the time. This one is a sturdy one and weighs a lot. Her LX has the chrome grab bars and this one bolts on to that. NO vibration at all with this version.

That's the one that I have that came with my top box. Good and rugged!

For the princely sum of $75 plus shipping I offer you my Vespa brand topcase with the sturdy bracket included as well as one key.
view here

I got the givi rear rack, its at scooter west but, I got it some where else.
You end up keeping the vespa logo at the fender connection. think I paid 130 incl shiping. One of those days.

Looks to me as though you've got the wrong rack for an LX - that looks like a GTS rack. Still shouldn't have cracked though.

My house is undergoing mandatory spring cleaning. For shipping charges, you can have my old rack, pictured here:

For Sale: LX folding rear carrier/rack, Tulsa, OK

Hi Danny,

Here's something that may work. It's on sale @ Scooterworks.

http://www.scooterworks.com/Rear-Rack-Vespa-LX-Prima-P6190.aspx

Thanks, everyone, for your advice, comments, and suggestions. I have decided to go with the one-piece rack like bagel linked to.
Meanwhile, here's my temporary fix.
Please try not to laugh too hard and hurt yourself or spew coffee or other beverage all over your keyboard.

I also have a broken topcase rack, due to an improper install on my part. Are there any used ones for sale (lx50 yellow OEM topcase). Thanks.[/img]

That's cool, I wouldn't change a thing !

O.K. For those still interested, here's the new rack.

With that temporarily fix, you don't even need a new rack...hahah

Nice fix but you are missing the duct tape....sad.

Glad you got it fixed. Never good to have yer rack not right. Definitely way more solid than the OEM one, especially if you have a lot of stuff in your top case. No more accidents.

Hi All
Just curious if the original poster (Danny) ever heard any more from anybody else. I thought I would post this picture- I have a feeling that there is a batch of bad parts out there. This is the bracket holding a Givi and it was never overloaded- and oddly it didnt bend, it just snapped as if it was brittle. Both sides of the rack snapped at once- this break has a match on the other side.
My guess, although I'm not an engineer, is that there will be lots of these showing up.[/img]

Good you got it fixed looks good with the top box on

Ride safe

MISHA Wow do/did you have a top case on there? Things aren't made well these days IMHO. Don't get me started on appliances. I'm careful with my rear rack since it says it should only have about 7kg on it if i remember correctly. That's not much weight and with the roads being horrible everywhere the constant bouncing up and down with weight certainly can't be a good thing. I have to refit my screws because it got accidentally used to put it on the center stand rather than the grab bar Very easy to do. I don't have a top case and when i carry stuff i try and distribute the load, so that more weight is on the seat. NIGHTWINGS rack would be a better one to use if your carrying around more stuff on the rack, regularly. Good luck[/b]

New rack looks stunning

Hi Judy
Yes, there was a Givi case on it, and it had a textbook, a notebook, and two workbooks in it. But all of it didnt weigh 8 or 9 pounds, tops.
The thing is that the metal basically snapped- the tubes didnt bend, they just snapped like plastic.
I looked on the site and found Danny's post because I believe that either the tubing is substandard or the welds made the metal brittle...no way that it was the weight because I wasnt close to the weight limit, and never have been. I just dont carry that much in it.
My guess is lots of posters will eventually tell similar stories.
Hope this helps someone else who might have the same rear carrier set-up.

100% guarantee someone did that while your bike was parked, like put a kid on it or something to take a picture.

I'll see your 100% and raise you another 100% that it wasn't. A brittle break like that is almost always caused by work hardening of the metal from thousands of cycles of minor flexing as the bike goes over bumps with some load on the rack. The metal gradually becomes more and more brittle until it breaks catastrophically. If the rack were properly engineered to start with, it would have had appropriate bracing to prevent such flexing. It obviously doesn't.

MISHA That really sucks and i think SS is right about the way it's made. That said how pure is the metal these days? If you use second or third generation recycled metal would that be the cause? Weaker metal because of the recycling? I jut have a leather case that i take on and off. I really don't use my rack that much

I am going to have to agree with Silver Streak on the break being caused by work hardening. I had been hitting a couple speed bumps pretty hard (20-30 mph) on my daily commute for a couple years. I usually don't have much in my Givi case, probably not over 3 pounds most of the time. But, the case sat pretty far back on the rack compared to the new one, which no doubt added to the slight flexing of the tubing. (See pictures above for comparison.) Also the new one has a triangular brace underneath (you can't really see it in the pic, but it's there) That should help. Plus, I started slowing down more for the bumps and sometimes take a different route to avoid them.

The biggest contributor in my opinion is hydrogen embrittlement caused by short cuts in the chroming process. After you have chromed a part you need to heat it to a high temperature (I don't remember exactly what that temp is) in order to prevent hydrogen embrittlement. Many skip this step to save $$. This basically makes the work hardening situation much worse.

I choose stainless steel for parts like this that are subject to vibration. I can be polished or chromed and will hold up much better.

-Craig

You may be correct but the final straw that broke it was probably someone putting something heavy on it which finally did it in.