Modern Vespa

I rode 60 miles through the mean streets of Detroit Saturday afternoon with the last hour in 95 degrees and 100% humidity. Ideally I prefer around 85 degrees, but I'll take hot weather over 68 and cloudy any day!

100% is rain!? No?

Not necessarily. But any surface cooler than ambient would have condensation on it at least. Fog is likely, too.

Went into Cycle Gear over the weekend to pick up some mesh jackets. Noticed some cooling helmets liners for on sale. Tried the helmet liners out yesterday at 94* with 90% humidity. They really made a noticeable difference,the inside of the helmet didn't smell like swamp a**.

Hottest I've ever ridden.

I had planned a scooter getaway to the Pennsylvania Amish country for this past weekend and kept to it - despite the heat. Loaded up the trailer with our scooter and another couples scooter and drove early Saturday morning 160 miles to Intercourse, PA. From there we rode our scooters about 60 miles in the near 100 degree heat through beautiful Amish farmlands, including some stops at the historic Julius Sturgis pretzel bakery (America's oldest) in Lititz, had a nice lunch at a microbrewery pub, and then took a Lancaster County round about ride to the wonderful Pennsylvania railroad museum in Strasberg, (thankfully, the main train building gallery was air conditioned). We rode at night for dinner (a somewhat cooler 85 deg F) , to nearby Bird-in-Hand. The next day we did another shorter 2 hour farmland scenic ride before packing up the scooters on the trailer and heading home.

It was hot but not so bad while we were moving. We rode at a very leisurely pace, and with minimal gear on, half helmets and gloves, shorts and dri-fit shirts. We had a great ride even with the high heat.

You trailered your scooter 160 miles and then rode them another 60 ?

Correct ?

Bill x

Actually come to think of it I think my record was 107 degrees in Maryland with 4n6is cool and Scutrbrau while returning Feb31st's GTS250 back to Pennsylvania.

I had a vapour lock with the auxiliary tank so the scooter would cut out once in a while, Matt's GT200 had a broken water pump so he was refilling it with water every time we fueled but to his credit he got it back to New York even though it spent the entire day with it's temperature needle kissing the red section.

Poor Rick just looked he was in a sauna so he rode as far as he could then turned back for home.

I met up with Froggyposition later in the day and I think by then my clothes were wrung though with sweat.

Great days.

Bill x

Yep.

trailer 160mi at 75mph+/- then 60mi+ at 20+/- mph (with lots of stops along the way), and another day 30mi at 20 mph, and then trailer 160mi at 75 mph +/- back home, a quick day and half trip.

The original plan was to spend more than 2 days out there and cover more touring ground, but we revised the trip (to only one overnight) in respect to the heat, (and the comfort level of our pillion spouses!).

Horses for courses I guess.

I'd ride the 160 miles there and then carry on riding, then ride a little more.

Just ride and soak up the heat while you do it.

Taking the Benelli TNT 125 out today to see if I can get 150 miles out of a tank on the hottest day of the year ( again )

C'mon lets turn it up.

Bill x

Actually I've never understood the trailering thing when most of the time a GTS250/300/BV350 is more than capable of making the distance.

I've never understood riding in a t shirt and shorts either. Sorry.

Bill x

...I'm sorry...

It's called LEISURE riding not iron butt. I can see not wanting to ride at night from eastern NJ to the Pa afterwork at night with pothole infected roads that both NJ and Pa have, in hot weather. Just does not sound like fun to me.

I think we left New Orleans at 3am and finished at 11.45pm Oilville VA which wasn't bad going.

Just clocked 147 miles on the Benelli in the lovely sun on a seat that's more shallow than Love Island

The nice lady in the gas station said aren't you hot in all that leather ?

I just ride faster was my answer.

Great morning out.

Bill x

Seriously? I do that every day- at midnight! Just glad I work nights now- on days it'll hit about 117.

" I'm even hotter when the leather comes off"

https://www.pennlive.com/daily-buzz/2018/05/motorcyclist_killed_after_hitt.html

https://tinyurl.com/y4svkk3f

There is a story there if you'd like to hear it from the last time I visited.

Bill x

My rule of thumb has been , if the distance is more than a 4 hr. ride/drive
I prefer to take the trailer , unless it's a day long ride with my small group.
Also temperatures and humidity , and or rain enter into the equation.

Don't enjoy much below 50 deg , or above 85 at my age anyway.

Riding season in my life means I pull a cover over my car as I have no garage and I run scooters for every thing. It's rare for me to pull the cover off the car if I can ride instead. With a short 2 mile hop to work, I am riding, and it's easier to put on my rain suit and ride slow and careful than to pull a wet cover off the car. Hydration matters and so does being accustomed to the heat and working in the heat.
I work in a meat packing plant, on the harvest/kill floor and we usually have several people have to be removed from the floor per wheelchair or stretcher due to heat problems. Yes, areas in production get over 100 degrees and we still work, hydration breaks, in some area, rotate out to water fountains, and such.
So, yes, I ride, both to work and to play when it hot, but my house doesn't have a lot of central air and it's set at 78 or above during the summer. And yes, I am wearing my protective gear. Love mesh jackets!

160 miles is hardly an ironbutt ride. I am another who would have ridden it. If you are going to putter around you could use a 50. To each his own.

Heat, what heat?

Those nasty furnace like temps of last week have given way to the perfect riding temperatures of today -- this morning it was 55F when I got up. One cool day erases all memories of heat for me!

Hey, you weren't too far from my 'part of the world'.

Yeah, it was hot and humid over the weekend. I've been riding to work and Saturday someone at work asked me "why, why the black jacket?" Well, it's my armored jacket, yes it's mesh but I'm still bloody hot in it, I sweat through my T-shirt by the time I get home, but I'm protected. I won't preach gear, it's a choice, I personally will wear 'most-the-gear-all-the-time' MTGATT.

I think the hottest I've ridden was 111 at least that's what the bank thermometer read that day, I wish I had the pic of it I took with my scooter that day.....

Qui News Valdera: Troppo caldo, operai Piaggio si riducono l'orario.
https://www.quinewsvaldera.it/pontedera-troppo-caldo-operai-piaggio-si-riducono-orario-sciopero-rsu-fiom.htm
"Too hot, Piaggio workers are running out of hours."

Same here in New Orleans... But we have 1000% humidity on top of it so your sweat stops working. Good times! It was 85 the other evening and I thought I might need a jacket...

It's going to be around 100°F here in the SE UK tomorrow. I'm looking forward to riding down to visit my brother 90 miles away.

I'll be on the back roads - which are much nicer riding anyway - and wearing my favourite T-shirt, shorts and sandals.

Let the rider decide!

Every Thursday I walk with a friend that I've known for about 30 years.

She wanted to curtail tomorrows walk in case it gets too hot.

Really ?

C'mon.

Bill x

I'd wear a hat though.

A good point.

This is something I really don't get about the English.

We complain about it when it's cold and raining.

It gets warm and sunny and then we complain about that.

The best seller in my local Mc Donald's is the Never Happy Meal.

Bill x

But we (UK) always talk about the weather - we're in a particularly unpredictable system here. I know it's very unlikely there'll be any rain back home in CA (yes I said that) until October. Here in UK? We've only just achieved better than 50% accuracy 5 days ahead with forecasts, and sometimes that can go down to 12 hours.

Lets face it the weather conversation isn't a conversation about the weather.

It's an ice breaker or a segway into another conversation.

Sun's up.

Bill x

It is also the same for italians, the whole world is one country now (yesterday there were 40 ° C) It's true...it is often an excuse to introduce other conversation.

http://www.rainews.it/dl/rainews/articoli/Caldo-battuto-record-giugno-vicini-a-50-gradi-al-Centro-e-al-Sud-44adfac6-624e-4a2b-b941-43e78509195f.html

102 degrees yesterday.

Keep it coming.

Bill x

Ciao Bill.

Sort of warmish in Europe and Greenland. Just gotta keep in mind it's a conspiracy between Al Gore and David Suzuki.

Good read on the heat wave some folks are enjoying. Sometimes the big picture escapes our grasp. )


https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-weather-greenland/europes-record-heatwave-threatens-greenland-ice-sheet-idUSKCN1UL15C

Those are some crazy temps in Europe. Have a feeling this thread will volley ball to us in the US in a few weeks with competing temps.

I went to Ireland for the first time two July's ago in 2017 for almost two weeks into the start of August. It was 90+ there the whole time with only a half a day of rain the morning we went to the dingle peninsula. It cleared up fast by the afternoon.

Everyone we came across from the areas we visited kept telling us it was the longest stretch of warm weather without rain they had ever had. I imagine that has been broken this year and will continue, unfortunately.

Hot weather slows me down.

COLD weather stops me dead in my tracks

fried okra

Future tech . . Reon Pocket wearable air conditioner