Modern Vespa

During the summer in our parking garages (at work) there were: 3 Harleys, 2 Hondas, a BMW, (Yamaha) Vulcan, Vino, and a brand new Vespa GTS. This week it has been cool in the mornings here in San Diego (low 60's). You would thought there was 6ft on snow on the ground because none of those bike have been here all week. But my Buddy STANDS ALONE AND PROUD!

Maybe we're just wimpy surfer boys. Look what happen to our "football" team last Sunday .

just wait till the snow flies...

we've been busy laying in supplies for the winter. Salt for the sidewalk, a brand new snow shovel, coal for the furnace, plenty of canned goods....oh wait, that's right. We moved to San Diego last year. Never mind. Perhaps I'll go find my sweatshirt.

+1

I ride all year long, thanks to my removable thermal lining on my riding jacket. I don't have it on yet, but come December/January, it comes back on and I'll still be riding.

Now...about the rain situation...hmm...

The only change for me today was that I wore my Corazzo today to help me stay warmer

Exact same here in Northern CA. My LX150 has been the lone 2 wheeler for just about a week and half now. Usually it's the alone scooter among about 8 very shiney, very expensive Harley's...on sunny warm days I often have to park in the big car parking lot because there is no room in motorcycle parking when I arrive.

It's a bit chilly in the morning but I work inside and warm up quickly. How would I know if I'm truely warm if I never get cold.

We have had a cool snap, down here in NOLa. It was 78 this morning and I wore my Corrazo for the first time this year. As long as I am moving it is comfy.

I bailed today because we're supposed to get a Nor'easter tonight. Or perhaps the early fall Northern California version of it.

Besides, my TT has been neglected the last few weeks.

I can relate to that. My Hybrid has been sitting in my garage for months! I try to start and run it just down the hill to keep the battery charged on a regular basis now; not to mention the high-voltage NiMH batteries. Those need conditioning too!

Is your hybrid as fun to drive as my TT?

While living in the great white north I bought a pair of these

and rode year round as long as there wasn't ice or salt on the roads.

Fortunately Scooterworks markets some for the Buddy for bada$$es like you:


Those combined with one of these

and there will be no doubt as to what kind of man you really are.

Rex was probably still wearing his signature cargo shorts with his warm jacket this morning.

Scotter---
The gloves and masks are for weenies who drive...Baj...Ves...well...I don't want to start a flaming war here.

Now the seat cover is pretty cuuule.

I only changed to my lined gloves.

Rain...in San Diego. That's funny. Everytime a storm comes close to here the weather people get in a lather. You would think a hurricane was approaching. Then we get little if anything in precipitation.

As the saying goes: "live to ride" "ride to live".........Enjoy

Actually, yes, especially when:

-I'm in my driveway and it's on electric mode, super quiet, it's like driving a golf cart
-I'm on the freeway and the LCD monitor displays "Hybrid Drive" meaning both electric motor and internal comb. engine is propelling the vehicle, which gets great gas mileage
-I'm at bumper to bumper traffic at speeds of 10-20mph, I'm completely on electric mode (the engine doesn't kick in until 30mph or faster)
-I'm looking for a parking space at a mall or shopping area and it's on electric mode

It's like I have one of those Power Wheels toy!!! Runs on batteries!! You should try it 8)

hahahah! Nah, okay, I can be a wimp at times. I grew up in the tropics (Guam) so I do get cold. But that doesn't stop me from riding!! So, I'm not a wimp after all 8)

Careful with publishing stuff like that, it could cost you the Vespanomics prize.

Owning a hybrid, and then running it down the hill to--what? charge the battery? Don't they sell battery chargers in your area?

Oops

Here's a trivia for you. The "So I got me a ride and I'm running so free, but it's guzzling gas in my SUV" part in my music video is actually my Hybrid SUV. What's ironic is, yes, it's a Hybrid, and I'm not lying on the song and video, with all things considered, it IS still guzzling gas...when compared to my Vespa

[While living in the great white north I bought a pair of these
[and rode year round as long as there wasn't ice or salt on the roads.

Anybody who rode year round in Wisconsin takes the prize. I couldn't do that in Colorado which is practically tropical compared to what you're talking about.

Being a life-long Cheesehead (I can make fun of my own kind), I thank you, Schipper, for your recognition!

We definitely get our share of the cold weather, but it's the wild fluctuations in temperature that can drive us crazy here in "the frozen tundra". We had freeze and frost warnings near Milwaukee Sunday night, and Tuesday it reached a high of 86°F. This makes for interesting work commutes. I'll have my awesome Corazzo 5.0 jacket on in the morning, then in the afternoon I'll be sweating in a short-sleeve shirt on the way home.

Dress in layers? Indeed!

IMHO, just about anyone north of I-80 in the states knows what I'm talking about, and can lay claim to the phrase, "If ya don't like the weather 'round here, just WAIT!"

I've only been riding my GT for 2 months now, but I plan on riding it in winter, as long as the roads are relatively dry and free of snow/ice/roadsalt. It ALMOST tends to make one silently cheer for global warming ...

Funny, I was thinking about this only a couple of days ago. Of course, down here things are reversed, so the scooter/motorcycle parking that has been empty during the wetter and (relatively) colder months is now filling up.
Bloody fair weather riders........ Heaven forbid if we actually had a real winter down here.

Yeah, that's mine. Yeah, that's real snow. It was 11° that day. Went for a 70 mile ride.

Yep...that's a real winter

I grew up in the tropics. Umm..what's a winter?

yeah, that's pretty damn cold. I can certainly relate about unpredictable weather conditions. Denver is notorious for that. I can remember walking into a grocery store one day. It was sunny outside, probably in the mid-60's. By the time I came out 20 or 30 minutes later, it was snowing sideways. Really makes it hard to plan!

Sounds like we need to plan a winter ride up to Julian after it snows so Rex can see what winter looks like.

Yesterday, I went outside at 6:00 AM and thought I felt Fall in the air It was the first time in months that the temperature was below 80 degrees. It was 78 I'm SO excited

This is just the start of our riding season in south Florida

Janine

I hope my snow rider picture shows up here...
[img]http://farm1.static.flickr.com/172/486847952_dd178c952d.jpg?v=0[/img]

Remove the characters after the .jpg - these ones ?v=0

Here's your pic (nice one!)

SNOW RIDER LOVE...



In Calgary we ride ALL year long. Legshield makes a good windbreaker. Being low to the ground makes for better stability. and less weight makes it easier to use legs as outriggers.[/img]

60F and wimping out? WTF?

I'll ride 'til its high-20Fs in the morning or there's threat of snow/ice on my way to work. Then I know it's time.

Hey, Mongoose,

How do you manage your GTS in the snow? or would you?

I'm worried with snow cover that it's:
a) hiding some scooter-destroying hazard, and/or
b) rough on the scoot.

Nice pic, BTW. Also, I assume that's a Termoscud on your GTS? Did our friends from Reina help with that accessory, or was that an online thing?

Please forgive my newbie inquisitiveness ...

Even Julian in January does not count as real winter. Trust me on this.

I rode in on wet conditions this morning!

(Dislaimer: Some of you from the wetlands think this is childsplay since you're all pros at this alread. It hardly rains in San Diego, so we don't do much of this ).

pls no more pics of scoots in snow - I'm soo in denial about riding in it but am going to try...

questions for the scooting in the cold - do you do anything special to your batteries? I was advised by a MC rider I know to use my kick starter and forget about the battery - seems contrary to posts here on MV - plus kick starting my LX150 sucks and know that's a whole other issue/thread.
One other suggestion by the MC rider was to pull the the battery daily and bring it in with me - that could be a pain but beats crank'n on the kick starter that doesn't work/could cause damage.
(tender's aren't an option when you are away from the garage sitting on some sidewalk by a shop grabbing a warm coffee/drink)

Yur whut?

Wisconsin has four seasons. Named sequentially, I believe, they go like this: "Summer," "Autumn," "Death," and "Violence." Although I have a triple black belt in Shih Tzu and meditate daily in the attempt to become one with my inner Xoloitzcuintli, I happily admit to being a 190 pound weakling. I just love to ride.

Mala Mujer has the same problem as genie. Her hands went numb recently on a chilly night ride home. Now we need to find some handlebar mitts for her LX150.

and here I thought Wisconsin had two seasons, named 'winter' and 'the 4th of July'. You learn something new every day.

CORRECTION: Wisconsin (The whole midwest, really) has 2 seasons, Winter and Construction. That's the truth. Ask anyone here.

Don't worry, you'll be all right... I ride till there's ice on the streets. If you're riding even a couple of times per week and keep the scoot in a garage (unheated) at night you probably don't even need a tender. I leave mine out at work (16 mile commute each way) and didn't have any starting issues last year. If I know Milena's going to be garaged for 5 or more days I stick her on the tender and she's happy as a clam. (see threads on installing the pigtails so you don't have to connect to the battery but just to a connector mounted under the seat or elsewhere)

Also, if you have at least a medium wind screen all you need is layers EXCEPT FOR your hands... get good gloves and plan on warming them on top of your headlight at stop lights. That or heated grips.

Note: by being "OK" I mean when you get to work your thighs will take a half hour or so to warm up... but it's no big deal.

P.S. Re Milwaukee: the cold damp winds in winter can make it feel even nastier than the prolonged sub-zero temperatures up here in Minneapolis. Waiting for a bus on Milwaukee's east side invented the term "chilled to the bone".

L, thx for the info - I promise will not freak out and post everytime a cold weather thread comes up

btw, was kidding about the 'no more pic's' comments - bring them on, nice to see life happening w/scoots even with the snow on the ground in the cold parts of our world