Scooter locks for Bajaj, Stella, Vespa Ps

When you live in an urban area there isn't much you can do to fully prevent your scoot from being stolen. All you can do is make it such a pain in the butt for the thief that he passes it up and moves on to the next scoot.

I have seen people rely on their steering column locks. I have also see guys, at shops, that are 5'2 wheel barrow the scooter by lifting the front tire and rolling it into their garage when in neutral, because the owner forgot to leave his/her keys.

P-Series (Vespa, Stella, Bajaj) style scooters weigh approximately 250 lbs. With a pick-up truck and another guy in an alley you could quickly wheel barrow the scoot into the shadows and then the two of you could pick the bike up into the back of the pick-up. Will that ever happen? Probably not, but it could. And for under $150 you could probably avoid that.

A good lock for the P-Series scoot is made by On Guard called the "Beast" 5017LPT (costs $98).  It is pictured above.  You run the hammer arm between the front shock and fork.  As the bike rolls forward or backwards the chain will wrap around the wheel and lock it up -- unless of course you are lucky enough to lock it to something.  It fits the Bajaj like a glove when installed the way it is in the photos below (any other way it won't fit) and I am $1400 theft guarantee the Beast offered for scooters. I also tested the 5' Kyrptonite New York Fahgettaboudit (costs $150, but only offers $1000 for theft for scooters) in the hopes that it was long enough to wrap around the legshield and lock at the fork; unfortunately it wasn't.  In my opinion either lock is a heck of a deterant.

My research shows that On Guard is as good quality as Kryptonite and is a little less expensive.

Here's one closer. In order for it to fit, the lock must be facing upward towards the fender. From the looks of it it will be a major pain in the butt to bust up the lock without totally damaging the scooter, which I think thieves would want to avoid.

Below are pictures of how the lock looks installed on a Chetak. Remember a Vespa P or Stella would accept this lock as well.

Additionally -- as a second lock only -- it would be wise to get a long cable clock and run it tight around your legshield and lock that to the Beast lock as well so that the headset could not be turned freely without removing the cable.

Traveling with your scooter

My wife and I have traveled with our scooters a bit . . . to rallies and such. We often borrowed a trailer from a friend or rented a $25 U-Hual motorcycle trailer. I use to have to drive our scooters into Philly for tune-ups and learned quickly that it's not all that easy to tie down your scooter (NEVER USE YOUR KICK STAND -- compress the suspension & leave your kick stand up) with certain equipment. So I figured I'd tell you the equipment you need.There are two types of motorcycle tie down straps: (1) ratchet or (2) cambuckle. My preference is the cambuckle, but I must stress that you get what you pay for with either of these. I am not a fan of the Home Depot or Lowes straps as I have not had good luck with them. If I am looking for inexpensive ratchet straps I go to Costco. You want heavy duty quality.

Ratchet straps -- if you use a lower quality ratchet make sure that with the loose line you tie a knot at the base of the ratchet as it will build up a small amount of slack and then begin to slip and your scooter will start to lean in the trailer behind you over time as you cruise down the highway. Trust me on this one. The other pain in the butt is de-tangling them. It sucks. I probably have 3-4 hours invested over the years in getting the knots out.

Cambuckle straps -- my buddy Ted has a set that is about 3" wide and you give a nice pull on each side and the bike locks in place beautifully. It took us 5 minutes to have the scooter loaded and tied down in the back of his truck, whereas ratchets always took me so much longer. There was no excess in the strap. It was nice and clean and ever so sturdy. Similar to the cambuckle straps pictured above, but wider and shorter straps.

I also purchased Canyon Dancer "Handle Bar Harnesses" and feel that my scoots are so much safer and sturdier in a trailer or a truck because of the Canyon Dancer. This was a great investment. It makes traveling with your scoots easier too.

The last thing you will want is a wheel chock to lock the front tire in place, whether in a truck or a trailer. You have a ton of options. Economy ones look like these from Harbor Freight Tools:

The one above is my preference for when you are in a trailer.  Just screw it into the wood base.


These are fold-able and are small.  Great for in the back of your truck.  You can stash them under the seat when you aren't using them.
You could make something like this out of wood if you prefer.

With a Canyon Dancer, two straps, and wheel chock you will have easy installs of your scoot and super safe travels.

Of course, you can do all this stuff on a budget, for example, two small pieces of 2x4 will make a great wheel chock in the back of your truck.  You can buy cambuckles and straps separately and bring it to your local shoe repair shop and ask him to use his heavy industrial sewing machine to sew the straps -- usually $1 per stitched area.  This allows you to make heavy-duty straps at a fraction of the cost.

Best Buy Ramp for $50

Heads up Costco is currently selling a PAIR of awesome ramps for $99 plus tax. Find a friend to go in with you and split the set or sell the other on Craigslist. At $50 you can NOT go wrong here. A ramp is also a useful thing to have around, especially at this price.

Stapleton, Inc. aluminum bi-fold ramp.

Details:
(1) Arched design ideal for loading items with low clearance.
(2) 600 lbs weight capacity per ramp.
(3) Working length 85 & 1/2" x 11 & 1/8".
(4) Folded size 45 x 11 & 1/8" x 5 & 3/4"
(5) Heavy duty safety strap included.
(6) E-Z to handle at 15 lbs.
(7) Aluminum construction.

This is a NICE ramp. I have seen it at a local motorcycle shop in S.F. for $150. Online it costs $55 plus $25 plus for shipping for something similar.

Folded it fits in the cab of your truck.