Modern Vespa

Hi all - generally I cover my Vespa as it lives outside, I forgot to last night and it's been raining all day (started early this morning).

Obviously scooters can be ridden in the rain so I figure this is no big deal - right? Anything I should check in on before I ride again? My first bike so I am still learning…

Thanks.

Nope, should no big deal at all. The only immediate concern would be the seat, and only if you happen to have one made of leather.

Thanks! Vinyl seat (2021 GTS touring) so should be fine. Appreciate the response

Ditto - no problem. However, I would just say - water goes where it wants to go. Someday, it'll probably get stuck out in a torrential downpour and water will get into a kill switch or something, and you might have a moment of panic that the scoot won't start. Just keeping in mind that it's recently been sopped, try flipping the switches a few times and that sort of thing before getting too worried.

99.9% of the time you won't have any issues, but just bear it in mind. Been riding rain or shine (and sometimes snow) for ages now and I've learned to expect some oddities when wet

If anything, the problem is direct sunlight, the continuous exposure to ultraviolet rays certainly cook the plastics, in some cases it can deform them; cover the handlebars including the instruments, in any case it is not a bad idea ... rainwater can infiltrate the electrical controls.

There are opposing forces:

I have the 2020 touring - forest green with the coffee colored seat. I've been through two seats already. That brown color seems to be particularly susceptible to submit.

The reason I've never covered my Vespa is that San Francisco is windy. I wouldn't want the wind to blow my moto over (or to agitate the paint with dust etc.) I've certainly seen plenty of covered motos laying obscenely on their sides after a gusty day.

So with the cover, you risk wind damage. Without it, you risk sun.

Do you have a private piece of land?

Mayorofnow, I assume you meant susceptible to sunlight?

The cover I have vents and it's certainly not as windy here, and I do have a fence around it on my back patio to block some wind. Like I said, covered 99% of the time just not today when it happened to pour.

how about posting some pictures of San Francisco and your scooter! Big fan of pictures and scooters, here in Ohio.
Lived in Frisco for 1 year, 54 yrs ago. (Yeah. that summer .....
Thanks
O.S.

Yeah. My phone keyboard has been bad lately.

Pro-tip: if you quote someone, they get notified (so they're more likely to see it.) I'm curious to know how your experience lived up to the legend.

I'm away for the rest of the year, so I'm afraid I won't be able to take any photos of The City. I've got some photos of Italy in the other thread though.

I learned this lesson the hard way, it sucks.

Here's another lesson learned the hard way that might help. If it's going to live outside make sure you have a good, premium, QUALITY cover. A cheap cover won't be breathable enough. Moisture will still get in there, but it will stay trapped between your metal Vespa and the underside of the cheap plastic cover. It'll take longer to dry out, which will prematurely cause rust.

But a good, premium, quality cover, that will be lined soft on the inside, and breathable, it might even have some special material around the bottom sides to resist melting on your muffler. Spending a little extra is worth it.

I've had motorcycle, SUV, and a truck cover from CarCovers.com - no affiliation and no interest in it, just letting you know I liked them enough to get THREE of their premium covers, three seperate purchases over the last 6-7 years... and I might be buying one for my trailer before the winter hits, tbd. They do good stuff.

If you're able to get that folding cover thing someone posted earlier, I'd recommend it. I have a friend who keeps his Norton in one, but his is much more sealed, it doesn't have that huge opening. You don't want water and critters getting in there. His Norton still looks great.

About the only inconvenience I have ever had by way of leaving a scooter out in the rain is a wet butt upon mounting.

I keep a chamois under the seat to wipe off dew.

My LXV will soon be going into the little shop building for the winter, the others are already inside… and it will make me so depressed. She's done time outside throughout rains, some snow, winds, hot sun, ya, all that nature puts out, but covered is good, inside is better if you can.

Sunlight, dust, leaves, pollen, salt (in the ice and snow regions), rodents and insects all take their toll. Keep it clean, "cavity wax" with your favorite stuff (dinitrol, waxoyl, fluid film, 3M), and you ought to be okay.

If you ever go to Milan in winter, you will see quite a few Vespas, and just about every other brand of scooter (I was surprised at how many very old Scarabeo 50s are still on the road there), sitting on the sidewalk next to apartment buildings in the snow or rain or sleet. And every morning people go outside, wipe the seat off, and ride to work.

THAT'S the solution? Wipe it off?

As long as it's not frozen.

If my bike has been out in the rain I like to find a way to open the seat and leave it open for a few hours, on the off chance that water has gotten under the cover. I buy and revive old scooters and motorcycles and most of them come with a waterlogged seat, so I stand it on end and just let it drain, then leave it in the sun for a while. With a new seat there probably aren't any leaks, but you never know.

My GTS is now 5 years old. Bought new, it lived outside during the day for most of the first 18 months of it's life whilst I worked. It was mostly garaged at night but not always. In the UK the weather is harsh in winter so it stood out in rain, snow and sun. All I did was clean it regularly, use good products to polish it with, used Waxoyl on vulnerable bits, but best of all I used it. Using a bike regularly makes everything all right! It dries it off, not only on the outside, but the inside too. When standing outside especially in torrential rain lots of water goes down the steering head gap into the underfloor area. It can sometimes pool a little until the bike is moved or ridden, when it drains out through the underfloor drain holes. Essentially if your bike stood out in the rain overnight you don't need to worry. But longer term I would try to cover it or find a dry place for it. Good luck and enjoy your bike!

BTW, not a stupid question at all. I'm cleaning up and rebuilding a 2016 GTS right now that has a coolant in the exhaust problem and was abandoned out in the weather for some time. It was in Maryland/Northern Virginia. The battery pan and inside seams on the right side show rust... though only slightly, unlike a recent posting where the bottom literally rusted out. Every single nook and cranny on the bike had mold and mildew.


So don't do that. Keep it free of contaminants (grime, dust, pollen that gets between panels and gives mold a place to grow), and protect those Vespa seams that are subject to rust. Hose out that battery compartment regularly if you ride on salted roads. Build a little makeshift shelter to park under.

I think it would be 👌. As long as you are not abandoning it through the winter. When the wet season is over take the cover off for a while.

Where do you purchase this? Anyone have any experience with another rigid cover? We have a 2006 GT200 and a 2019 Sprint 150

Do an on-line search. You will find a number of choices on Amazon, for example.

https://www.bikehome.com/the-folding-motorbike-shelter/

Yeah sorry, i found those but wanted to know if anyone has a particular brand they've used. Thanks

While I was awaiting Melody's return from her first traffic incident last year (looks at calendar again…yep, officially "last year"), I decided she needed a bit more everyday protection than she'd had before: the Dowco scooter cover I bought for her some five years previous was getting a bit long in the tooth, but while I'd already ordered a replacement (also Dowco, but a heavier-duty version thereof), I also felt the need for something a bit less labor-intensive to use…anyone who uses such a cover has had at least one instance when they've come home late one night, decided "nah, don't feel like dragging the cover out now, I'll do it tomorrow", then awakens the following morning to find their ride drenched in rain/buried in snow/pelted with avian poop. (Mel's suffered All Of the Above.)

I'd looked into the Moto Shelter, and while the price was a tad steep, that wasn't the show-stopper for me: the need to bolt the thing down was a no-go, as the driveway needed to be clear (or, more to the point, clearable) on relatively short notice for stuff to be moved between the front and back of the house. What I came up with was a decent compromise , although it took some sleuthing to find something of the right size. When I did find it, I was pleasantly surprised to hit the near-perfect nexus of size, quality, and cost:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0946C2WZJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The only downside is that if you don't (a) own your own house, or (b) have driveway access with permission to bolt something like this to an adjacent structure, this is also a no-go. If you do, however, it's one hell of a cost-effective means to keep excess exposure of your ride to the elements to a minimum. (This particular awning appears to be unavailable at the moment, according to the House That Jeff Built, but might be available elsewhere.)

Thanks that's super helpful. Unfortunately the parking pad for house is not near a wall or fence so it'll have to be truly free standing.

After some more digging, I found that people have built a simple wood frame (for lack of a better term) weighed it down and then bolted the cover to it. So might give that a try.

Thanks for everyone's help

There are many prefab frames and covers which are intended to be freestanding. This particular one is made by ShelterLogic.

Or if you prefer inclosed.......

ADVANCE OUTDOOR 6x8 ft Outdoor Portable Storage Shelter Shed with 2 Roll up Zipper Doors & Vents Carport for Motorcycle Waterproof and UV Resistant

CycleShell has a floor.
http://www.cycleshell.com/

Probably the only "retractable shell" system I'd bother with. Thanks for reminding me of this one, DD!