Sportique Legshield Trim

[tranquilitybase]

Hi,

I wonder if anyone can advise me.....

I'm in the process of trying to fit legshield trim to my 1964 Sportique.

I saw a Youtube vid of an American chap fitting a black plastic type. It turns out the one for PX fits most models.....However, I had to give up with this as it was so tight, I would definitely have caused damage if I had carried on. The chap in the vid managed to get it on, but despite using silicone spray and warming the trim.....it beat me! (I bought this trim from a chap near Derby).

So, I bought another type.....the two piece metal (chromed) version (Cuppini) from Beedspeed. This has just arrived but it doesn't look like it follows the shape of the legshield curves very well at all. I'm worried that I may cause damage if I try to push it on.

Does anyone have experience of fitting this type please?

Are you supposed to bend it to fit? It's made from rigid metal tube with a wide slot for the legshield on its inside, so I don't know if it will bend??? .....Not sure whether to send it back.

At this rate, I'll be in my 90s when I finish this resto.......

[gillie]

the plastic one can be very easy but i have had some nighmares where ive thrown it away too , if the headset is off its much easier one way of doing it and it works is ive ended up cutting it in two before now (in the middle) at the top with a sharp knife and fitting the sides seperate you have to push it together but its not very noticable , the metal ones are always a little off but they usually go on and do look better , just dont be tempted to bang them on to hard as they will mark the paint and spring back a little if your not careful , use some masking tape if you can , good luck

[henri]

grease the inside of the cuppini's ,if paints marked this will inhibit rust . allthough they look tough they can be fettled by hand , bending/twisting gently til they closely follow line of leggys .better they follow the line easier they go on .
an if ya think cuppini's an plastic trims hard try the ali 1 , hot bath/tied on with old bike inner tubes then a special rolling tool .you get 1 go to get it right ,an mistakes arent correctable .H

[tranquilitybase]

Many thanks to you both.......I'll try both types again, probably starting with the plastic one as I'm bothered about messing the paint up.

Henri, was it you or the trim that had a hot bath, then tied up with inner tubes? Is it a Vespa owners fetish that I've missed out on?

[henri]

both , but dont tell the management ,she'll only want to join in . an i never get a laugh when she says "weres the soap" an i answer "well dont rub it so hard " . takes the fun out of it . H

[tranquilitybase]

Ha Ha....good one.

[tranquilitybase]

I've done it! The cutting method worked. Plenty of grease too.....Many thanks!

[gillie]

good work , ive had mine on for 2 yrs now , no -one has ever mentioned it lol ,

[tranquilitybase]

I've encountered another problem....There's an overlap (of a couple of inches or so) where the new leg-shield trim comes down to the outer runners. I believe it is supposed to be like this, and I'm glad as it covers some blemishes up.....However, the outer runner sits about 3mm above the trim, ie it won't bolt down flat now. This is partially because it has a rib underneath which sat in the groove of the lower part of the leg-shield before.

I have thought of grinding part of this rib off and/or cutting the upper part of the trim but not sure this would work. The trim has some metal inside it. I guess another way would be to not have the trim overlapping with the outer runner, but not sure this is acceptable.

I'm just wondering if anyone has had this problem before, and what the "done thing" is please?

[henri]

trims cut to stop at runner ,on mine anyway . H

[tranquilitybase]

Thanks H. Thinking about it.....it's the only way....Cheers