Modern Vespa

This will be my first winter on a scoot on the London roads y'all. What tips or advice can you old timers give me?

Do I need special tyres for the cold wet winter roads?

Should I get hot grips?

Should I buy a skirt?

I wait with baited breath

special tyres won't be necessary.

whether or not you go with other accessories depends on the length of your commute and whether you're the sort of person who gets cold easily.

i love my hot grips but i've got raynaud's disease so i need them pretty much year round. another option is handlebar muffs - tucano urbano make some inexpensive neoprene ones that are really easy to fit and will keep your hands warm and dry.

scooter skirts (which attach to the rider), scooter aprons (which attach to the scooter) and insulated trousers will all do a good job of keeping you warm and dry - which one you go with is a matter of individual preference. i've got all three, and tend to use the scooter skirt for pootling around town and riding to work. the overtrousers come out for longer, faster rides, or on really chilly days.

a neck warmer will make a big difference to your general comfort level. a lot of people seem to like the 'polar buff' - it's like a fleecy tube with a long microfiber bit on it that you can pull up like a balaclava. you can order all kinds of different designs from the buff website. i've also got a neckwarmer from tucano that is fluffy and lovely and ever so cozy.

a good jacket pants an gloves is all you need ... im all in weise when the leaves have fallen and my s.a.d. kicks in ....... bloody winter

+1 on the Buff, keeps your neck warm but also keeps cold air out of your helmet (if full face).

I ride in over trousers with removable thermal liners, which is good as even mid-December on the M1 I was toasty, and as the temperature rises the thermals just come out. Not used skirt/apron but I reckon trousers would be warmer as there are fewer places for airflow to make you cold.
Personally I don't like the look of skirts and trousers can be warn off the bike if it is really cold!

Some thick gloves may suffice until the really cold days but it depends on how far, how fast and how often you ride, though I may invest in some hand warmers as a few times last year my fingers froze, and that is horrible and painful.

Soldiering on through the winter is character building

I ride in Canada in the winter. Here I where a thick polar fleece under my riding jacket along with a scarf which keeps my neck and upper body warm. I wear my jeans and riding pants and for the most part my legs do OK except in the coldest of days when it is well below freezing. My hands are cold on the best of days so I have heated grips installed on my scooter. Without the heated grips I wouldn't be able to handle the cold weather. Even with them, sitting at a stop light holding onto the freezing cold brake levers sucks the warmth out of my fingers and it takes a lot of riding with them back on the heated grips to warm up again. I wish someone make heated brake levers.

Riding in the winter is actually a lot of fun especially if you've had a lot of snow and finally get a clear day that is dry and sunny. You really appreciate those days.

I don't want to get a balaclave cos it will ruin my hair, but I do need a neck warmer/cover and also something for my cin. Can you get a kind of half muff?

check out the buff catalogue ... they're designed to be used in a number of ways, including pulling the microfiber bit up over your chin, or all the way over your head, balaclava-stylee. not only is that super-warm but i've found it stops my hair getting tangled up.

https://www.buffwear.co.uk/catalogue/

I ride with a thing called a "dickey."
It's like the turtle neck part of a turtle neck sweater.
Keeps the neck and shoulders warm and can be pulled up to cover chin and nose if needed.
It's really comfortable, even on a very cold day.
I wear leather gauntlets with "Thinsulate" linings and have never needed heated grips.
I wear my Joe Rocket armoured jacket with thermal vest and Levi's with long johns. Nice and warm cold wx riding.

Are there Carharts in England? They are like an insulated shop suit; they do wonders.

A good parka and scooter blanket are essential. I'm too cheap/lazy to install heated handle bar grips but at stop lights I pull off one of my mitts and warm my hands on the headlight then alternate hands at the next light. I can't tell you how much I love stop lights during the winter!

One of the absolute best thing for winter is a tall windscreen where the sides extend out over the hand grips. that and a scooter skirt (edit, it is actually a lap apron-corazzo) and the neck gaitor.

I swear by this neck gator. Very comfy (and I'm the type that gets irritated by clothing easily especially around my neck), and very warm.

Outdoor Research - Specter Neck Gaiter

..........an Mp3 with the big windscreen..... sorted!

Fay

I ride in a full face helmet
I use winter gloves
warmer socks
Tucano Urbano full winter jacket (my Dainese one was better)
Neck warmer thinghy.
Waterproof trousers if it's raining or cold.
I do have heated grips too.
I ride 16miles each way.

Be aware there is less grip and ride accordingly.
My journey time is approximately 12 minutes longer in December than in July.

I have always said you can cope with nearly anything for twenty minutes, after that it gets miserable. The extra twelve minutes is probably kitting up. The main reason I ditched the PX 200 in favour of the Mp3.

Fay