Modern Vespa

Talking about only the scooter how cold is too cold? Clothing wise I am good. But generally how cold is too cold to start/stop the scoot in. It is kept in a warm parking garage, but the weather here in Toronto is -10c. Just wondering if the bike is ok to operate at these temps? Again, just wondering about operational issues. There's no snow. I have the clothing etc….thank you

-10°C is no problem for the scooter. Don't worry about that.
But for myself below 5°C I do not ride the scooter.

Also in Toronto. Hey there!

My in-laws are in their late sixties and go snow mobiling in the Buckhorn area when it's way colder than now. If they can do that, you can ride in as cold a temperature in Toronto as you're geared up for.

I've been riding year round in TO since 2007. I don't go as far, ride for as long, or go as fast as I normally would, but besides that, no big deal. Dress appropriately. Go slower. Rinse off the salt on the days where the temperature is above freezing. Allllll goood.


Oh, just avoid laneways. The roads are almost always clear during the winter in Toronto, except for the day of, and sometimes day or two after big snow falls. But the laneways don't get any love from the city.

Other then that, you're good to go.

You might want to check out this thread from the GTA Motorcycle forum. A new rider asks about what riding year round in Toronto is like.

Here's the link to the post in his thread to save you reading 29 pages unnecessarily:

https://www.gtamotorcycle.com/xf/threads/whos-still-riding-fall-winter-2022-2023-edition.222319/page-29#post-2924956

You aren't new so you're already in a way better position than this guy. Lou at Vespa Toronto West also has some OEM Vespa handlebar muffs, I think they're only $100-200 all in, might be worth investing in.

If you have any Q's feel free to give me a shout. See you out there on two!

For those who didn't know (I didn't) laneway = alley apparently. A narrow road or path between buildings.

My 'Too Cold To Ride' threshold was substantially lower back around 1975-1980 than it is these days. I now qualify as a card-carrying pussy as far as cold weather riding goes, and begin to gaze lovingly at the Miata or F-150 right around the 50 degree Fahrenheit mark. Things were different back in my Minneapolis/St. Paul days though.

The coldest temperature I ever rode a motorcycle in was -3 F on I-94 between East St. Paul and a Minneapolis bar where a 'freeze your ass off' type of winter MC ride was to be held. I was riding my 1974 Suzuki GT-750 'Water Buffalo', or as my UK friends called it, the 'Kettle'.

BTDT,
1973 I rode a Kaw 500 2stroke 300 miles with sneakers, jeans, T-shirt, and helmet @ 50-55°F.
1979 I repeated the trip on a KZ1300 starting the trip just above 0° wearing a jacket and Hippora gloves.
Today, if it is below 60°F, I wear a jacket. Below 50°F and I got the thermals. Below 40° and the fleece + thermals. But I still ride almost daily. I've not had below 25°F ride in years...because this is the sunny south

Thanks for the explanation. It is in line with what I found via Google translate.

you'll give out before the bike does

I have ridden to work below freezing several times. It happens, even in Phoenix metro.

yeah no for sure just talking canadian eh bud

If it's really cold and you are losing body heat quickly do you ride faster to get there sooner (but suffer from the lower wind chill value) or do you ride slower to retain more heat (but suffer from a longer time out in the stinkin' cold)?

I got caught out in in 37F weather and while that's nothing compared to what you guys deal with, I had left too late and the sun went down in the high desert with about 50 miles to go and I didn't have the right gear on (my fault, yes) and I got really, really cold. I would slow down to warm up but then it felt like I would never get there so I would speed up to get it over with but would then have to slow down again because it was way to cold at high speed. Is there an accepted strategy in this situation? Besides proper planning?

I live in New York - I tend to ride when it's above 35…….weirdly I very much enjoy the cold riding all bundled up.

Same here. Riding in the cold feels amazing if you have the right gear.

My personal low temperature for a longer road trip of about two and a half hours, so far has been around 22 degrees Fahrenheit, or roughly minus 6 degrees Celsius. I love that kind of thing way more than covering a long distance.

Exactly. The Harleys I road years ago loved the cold weather, but I wasn't much of a fan then. Now, as long as I have even a small screen to break up the wind some and keep it off my chest a little, I ride as long as there is no ice or snow.

I was more than a little concerned about the plastic panels on my Chinese made Kymco as I rode out on my commute to work one morning.
It was 5:30AM and 5°F.
Hit the starter button, its excellent EFI fired the engine instantly, and the panels had no trouble dealing with the cold.

O.S.

-10C should be just fine for a modern Vespa.

Start from a warm garage is good. A cold battery does not receive charge as well as in temperatures above freezing point.

I'll guess you wouldn't use oil ment for very warm environment anyways. Still, in case you'll also need to start the scoot out there in cold, oil viscosity rating is worth checking - probably good as it is.

Coolant is an other thing. Some mixtures survive cold better than others...again, I'm guessing that over there and with -10C you already have good enough stuff in the system.

To be totally clear: When I said I don't "go as fast as I normally would," when it's cold, this had nothing to do with maintaining body heat.

I ride slower in the winter because:

1) Tires are going to be so much harder and colder and will likely not keep any heat. Warm sticky tires provide good traction, cold af tires not so much, so I ride slower so as to not push my luck and run out of traction mid corner.

2) Human reaction times are greatly reduced when you're out in the cold. I/you won't be able to recognize, process, and react to changes happening while riding as quickly as you normally would.. so I accelerate a bit slower, ride a bit slower, and brake a bit sooner than I normally would, all so I can give myself more time to recognize/process/react, since I know I'm only human and I can't perform to the same level when it's cold out.

Getting back to your question, I'd say ride as fast as your both your body's limits, the vehicle's limits, and safe traffic practices allow you to. If you feel like you're pushing the limits of either, just park it somewhere and take an uber. You can come back for it later on or the next day. You don't NEED to get your BIKE home safely, you need to get YOU home safely.

Reading some of these temperature's above, we have just hit a cold snap here and its around -2c night time and +4c day time and everyone is moaning

4 degrees C last Sunday and our club were out and about.
8 of us in fact.

Our wind chills the last few days have been -15ºF or so. So, yeah. No riding.

Back in the day I would ride snowmobiles at very cold temps. That nice big warm engine in front helps.

These days on a scooter I have noticed my threshold go up the older I get. I am currently 60 and my commute ride or drive point currently sits at 45F. That is up from 35F from when I was 50.

It kind of sucks because there are some nice days that start out below 45F and warm up but if I am not having fun riding in the morning I will just wait until I get home and go for an after work ride.

I posted the photos and weather screenshot in the gallery section, but I stated before I'd not been out less than 25°F in years.
Today it was 19 when I started out, 22 when I took the screenshot just after noon.
I did use my glove liners until 1pm., then just my ski gloves.
Brought back memories as my teeth were chattering...and I couldn't understand a word they said.

black ice

In Toronto??? Entire city gets salted multiple times per month.

ah salt. fair enough