Remade Elite Panniers

a guy - from Stockport originally - living on the other side of the world in Tasmania has remade one of the most sought after 1980's Vespa PX accessories there is...at a cost of just $600 (Aussie) - which included postage - I just had to try them out...with the exchange rate that was about £320 all in...

so...if after you've had a scan down this page you fancy a set yourself just head along to this link - AWOL Products - and message the guy...

comes with a full set of fixing screws...washers...nylocs...keys...spare brackets...

full set of rubber badges for whichever one you choose...haven't made my mind up yet...

extra long seat post for an after market seat I presume...also two excellent key rings...one has AWOL on it the other has ELITE on it...

the number plate bracket was the only thing that didn't line up...

not a problem...dropped it off with Mark Pinson and it was soon sorted...holes slightly elongated and attempt to fit the kit number two is in motion...couldn't do this myself as I have no drill bit's or Dremel bit's tough enough to cut stainless...

I have my own method of fixing a number plate when I have a carrier fitted...

the bracket now fits perfectly...the holes were out of line by about 2mm either way...

didn't take long to get to this stage...everything fits together as it should...

as you can see I've used 40mm x 6mm bolts and nylocs to hold the bracket firmly in place then spacers to stand the number plate off...

the carrier itself comes in five pieces and is easy to assemble...everything - including all bolts etc - are stainless steel...

in the background is the carrier that's been on here for the last 10 years or so...

although there is a seat post supplied with the kit it's not needed with the standard seat...

this old black & white number plate has seen better days but looks great with the panniers in place...

and here we are...everything is fitted...

doesn't look quite right!!..

as you can see in this picture the panniers appear to be falling away...not sitting properly...I think the word I'm looking for is "drooping"...

this has turned into a bit of a head scratcher!!..

as much as I like them I really need to get to the bottom of this!!..

needed better surroundings than my back yard so I nipped down to East Park...

I've always come here when I've wanted a nice background...my back yard looks like a builders yard at the moment...

I think this is where I decided that I would have to find a different way of mounting the number plate bracket...being able to step back a good thirty feet put everything into perspective...

still...it's a beautiful sunny day to be out and about on the P2...

need to try and locate a top box that will fill that gap in nicely...

attempt number three...getting the panniers to sit level...this is actually attempt number four...I temporally put some tube spacers in line to see what sort of distance was needed then found these on eBay (not all from the same supplier)...all in about a fiver...bolts are 5mm longer than the one's I used on the previous set up...all stainless...

as you can see I've stood the number plate bracket about 20mm off the frame...an 18mm spacer and two 1mm washers...the large stainless washer is to spread the load...

although this looks good I have another idea to make it more secure...hopefully I'll get it done before "British Vespa Days" in Stirling but this will do for the time being...