Modern Vespa

So here I am in Minnesota, and it's getting cold. This is not a huge suprise--after all, I live in Frostbite Falls, but still. This morning it was 28 degrees. It was dry, but I drove my car the ten miles to work. Much less fun than riding Gertie the Scooter!

What's your lower limit for temperature? Mine is around 32F. I'd like it to be above freezing.

Thoughts? Is riding below 32F unsafe?

Bob

There is no too cold.

For me it is not the temperature but whether there is ice on the road or not. I don't ride if there is ice but I have ridden in the teens Fahrenheit while in Breckenridge Colorado. Though the coldest feeling I've ridden in was low 20s in foggy conditions in northern New Mexico between Raton and the Texas border. There I had to stop every hour to warm up my toes. Heated grips and muffs kept my hands warm and gear kept the rest except for my toes.

I agree, even though I have no blubber to speak of to keep me warm, I ride here in NYC all through the winter as long as there is no snow on the ground.
I do have heated grips, have not yet put on the windshield or my Tucano blanket and muffs on as yet.
What I tend to worry about during the cold is if the tires are good enough, have to check tire pressure more often than the once a month I do for most of the year.

Windshield

tucano urbano ... its amazing...

heated gloves wired into scoot....heated vest and heated socks (battery powered)

for rides that arent more than 15 minutes the above ^^ can get me around even in sub freezing temps


any ice or snow on the road surface keeps me at home though...

Lower limit? It snows from me every 20 years.
I say that if there is no 21 ° C (70 ° F) I do not even remove the cover from the scooter.

I'll ride up to about -15C but have been in colder. I use heated gear and TBH once that is up to temp it's fine. Road conditions are really the factor and I"ve recently bought a Ural which will allow me to ride with snow on the ground. My 2 wheel bikes I will not go out with if there is snow or abundance of ice. I live in a very urban area though so though the roads are usually dry not that long after a snowfall.

howdy, i guess the "lower limit" is the 10 below zero that i rode to work one day cause the cars wouldn't start. i have riden between the ruts of snow but only if i know there will be open road ahead. ice is the no-go cause. that is all ancient history though since the cold bothers me more now that my warrenty has expired. i just got back from a desert country with temp's in the 80's and it's a shock to get home where the night temp;s are routinely below freezing.
rubber side down.
ken

It doesn't get cold enough here in Boston for me to stop riding because of the cold - it's the road conditions that stop me. I will ride until the first snow and then it's time to put the bikes away, as there is too much sand and salt on the road for it to be safe.

im comfortable with off the shelf "winter" gloves down to 25-30F. below that around 16 is where I need real good gloves which I haven't found yet. No windshield, no heated grips, no winter skirt. I will ride as cold as I can as long as I can find the proper gloves and gear for it.

In Florida, we don't see those sub 0 temperatures. The cold for me isn't the problem, but the wind definitely gets under my skin. I've ridden in 40degree weather with freezing wind chill, but I also don't have the proper clothing to battle with that type of weather either, which I do plan on changing this year. Hoping to get something for Christmas. Haha.

I played AA hockey in Quebec and we used to play in Boston all the time for invitation tourneys and the like. I remember the first time I billeted at a home in Boston gaping at the size of the Sunday paper. Us anglos in Montreal had nothing even close. I also have an ex that went to Holy Cross and spent time out that way as well. Sorry I go off track easy... back to winter in Boston. Yeah you get way too much snow but I have to think the Ural I picked up would be perfect for Boston and it's crazy roads. Surprised the use salt and not sand in Boston? In Montreal it was just sand as it got too cold for salt to work.

In Toronto I find the salt not so much of an issue. The traffic downtown gets so bad that in short time the roads are bone dry and only a little salt comes up. 3 winters with the Vespa and not a speck of damage. I'm thinking if I get 6 or 7 seasons and there is a little damage that's OK. Time for a new scoot after that long regardless and I don't see the 2017 GTV being a collectors item in my time. The Ural which I will be taking out in snow is getting winterized this week with snow tires and Barkbusters etc. I had the undercoating done at the factory which should help when it comes to salt damage. There is an indoor self serve car wash I take the bikes to in the winter to hose down the undersides on the above freezing days we always get in Toronto in the winter. During cold snaps I use a sponge in our indoor parking.

I'm REALLY looking forward to our first snow storm and taking the Ural out to Exhibition Place down the street from us. It's a massive public event place with a huge parking lot that I can practice on. Once familiar with the handling every day is a motorbike day

Vespas handle well in the cold, at least the 300's. I've been stuck in the snow a few times for short trips and it could be worse. One to two ice storms though I'll admit were bit white-knuckled.

BEST thing to pick up for winter riding is a skirt if one is made for your ride. Makes a massive difference and the way the rads vent on a Vespa Mae it all the better.

You asked if cold riding is safe.
Good question!
YOU must feel safe, whatever the weather or temperature!
If you are cold you will not be focusing on the business of riding.
But if you are also so bundled against the cold that you cannot operate the scooter to your sense of safety - ?

So, I feel that safe cold riding is a very individual experience.
O.S.

I'll ride in a temperature that makes me happy to get off the scoot, and takes just a little time to warm afterwards.

If I'm still cold after 25 minutes of ending the ride, it's too cold to ride for me.

So what's my temp? Probably in the high 40s Fahrenheit. I'm not happy in anything colder than that, and this is about having fun, right?

I rode ALL winter when I was 17 and 18, now 65 it's got to be 50---

Thanks for all of the responses!

My only major hesitation in riding below 32F is that I wonder about some unexpected patch of ice--someone's spilled latte, a leaking radiator, a bucket tossed out a window--that would cause a fruit basket upset.

I have plenty of cold weather clothing--I've been camping on the Canadian border at -40F--so that's not an issue. It's really just a question about safety.

Perhaps I will expand my horizons. Thanks for all of your input!

Anybody know how cold is too cold for carbureted Vespas? I know theres a warmer built into some carbs but that takes time to warm up, and is only so effective. Any rubber bits I'd assume would have issues as well.

On the flip side cold air is more dense and is better for engine performance but how cold is too cold?

In the past I have ridden my 1200GS when the road ice warning has come on.
I believe that is around 2-3C.
It very seldom happens where I live, but in the arid and mountainous regions of South Africa, the temperature can drop below zero C a few days of the year.

As a lad there was one day in winter where i fell of at least twice on the way to work because of black ice. Not very memorable though.

Also one day I couldn't get my Lambretta to the road because it kept trying to ride up over the snow.

I used to live north of you, east of Thunder Bay. I would put the scooter away at the first sign of the salt truck. Regardless of their being very little moisture at say 20 below. Oh OK 40 below to avoid the conversion.

For small patches of ice the ASR does a good job and you can ride them out. Still I'm very careful to look well ahead. There is so much traffic here though everything is ground up under tires and I'll wait a day or 2 after a snowfall. We don't get much here which is really the only reason I can do it. Every 4 winters or so we seem to get a bad one. We'll see what this year brings. Where I grew up in Montreal no chance to ride past November. That is a very different type of winter than Toronto gets.

small world...i skate with a couple guys that were on the same line at holy cross many moons ago.....winter in boston is definitely not the same as winter in quebec

I agree with this. I love the cold so I am more than willing to ride as cold as it gets, but around 16 degrees F not C I've had to use two layers of gloves to not be frozen and couldn't safely use the handlebar controls, so I stopped riding that cold. If you find winter riding gloves that protect at that temp, let us know!

I've posted these before, they work incredibly well and allow you to wear any gloves. I've used them in up to -20 C with no problem. I do wear them under Dainese Gore-Tex cold weather gloves.

http://powerinmotion.ca/Products/Heated-Wear

The heated liners? How does the battery not dangle freely? Is there a holder inside the glove somewhere for the battery? They are really expensive but look worth it!

EDIT: I see in their video how the battery system works Those things get hot! I think you might have sold me on purchasing these this winter. Take my $230!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-OMBWwxTAY

Yes, they are really that good. I find I never use the high setting for more than a minute or so. I use the skeleton system when riding and it works great. With the Ural I have had power run up to the bars so am thinking I will pick up the adapter and plug directly in to the bike. They are used by the military and police forces etc as well so are field tested.

As far as expensive goes, yeah not cheap but still less expensive than many of my riding gloves.

48F, otherwise my arthritis cripples me for days after

This is too cold for me to ride. 33 degrees Fahrenheit... Yep

No, they use sand AND salt, both liberally. There are a lot of street corners where they put out huge barrels of sand for people to use. Once that shit is on the road, it's really not safe to ride.

Anything below 68 degrees is too cold for me. If I have to wear more than just a t-shirt I'll pass on riding. I have a perfectly wonderful truck where I can be warm all year long without wearing 12 layers.

In my ill spent youth it seldom got too cold to ride.

Now it's 50 degrees F

I frequently ride my carbureted bikes (LX150 and GT200) down to 0C (32F). They both run fine, other than needing a bit of a warm up period - the GT maybe a minute, and the LX 2 or 3 minutes.

I usually let them warm for whatever time it takes to put on my helmet, then nurse them to the end of my street, and then they're good-to-go!

Right on. Thanks for the reply.

It's actually only 3 layers, a top, heated vest and jacket. No different than going for a walk in the cold. You might take the truck to go get a gallon of milk but pretty much any urban dweller walks in the winter to get around or has to stand at a bus/streetcar stop. I guess heated glove liners is an extra layer but that's the only addition on top of maybe a balaclava on really cold days. There are different types of riders and there is nothing wrong with riding a smallie only on nice warm days. Some of us chose a different lifestyle and ride for other reasons. Sure I could go out and pick up a really nice truck but see no point for something I'd hardly ever use and need to find parking for. Instead I have 3 bikes.

Whew - it was 16 degrees F in Bishop this morning on my way to work. But, I ain't riding my scooter when it's that cold. Afternoons are getting into the low 60s, so a short ride after work is fine. But below 32deg? Only if the other vehicles aren't available...

All relative, but this is too cold

I ride only fun, nowadays the limit for fun is around 45F to me.

Living in Finland, I've had plenty of opportunities to practice riding on snow and ice... which I did when younger. Let's just say, that if you're bound to go down with a 2-wheeler at least once in your life in normal conditions, you can multiply this probability by a quite big number when riding on snow and ice.

With my current ride, about 450lbs with fuel and liquids, I would not go even near ice without true spiked tyres....

Last year I found with my gear at the time that under 40 Degrees Fahrenheit (or 4 degrees Celsius and below) was too cold for me. I did get riding jeans that are thicker than my normal jeans. I now have a full face and was gifted scooter mittens (Mainly for the rain) but found they help reduce the cold somewhat.

I've been a wuss since getting back from the trip and haven't ridden this week. It's been in the low 40's here. I'll ride tomorrow and let you know.

t'was 48F when I was about to leave for work today. Walked to the scoot, returned to the house and grabbed the keys to the car. Now the thermometer is showing 75 deg outside and I wish I wasn't such a p*ssy and rode in this morning.

Since we are currently down Toone car and my husband had taken it for annual inspection So I had three choices for lunch. More leftovers, walk or take the Buddy. Temp was 47f when I went looking to see what gear I had in Houston. Found a flannel lined denim riding jacket with Kevlar lined jeans. Added an extra layer and off I went. Definitely a bit on the nippy side but not too bad for a few miles to lunch and one errand.

I have to wonder what happened to the 72-80f temps my phones weather app had promised this week in Houston.

In Connecticut it gets pretty cold, and I'll ride down to 25 degrees Fahrenheit as long as it's been dry and the roads haven't been wet or overly sanded. It's really not the cold that bothers me as much as the potential to slip on ice or sand. Having said that, I'm not taking the GTS for a ride of any substantial length at 10 degrees F, regardless of road conditions.