Modern Vespa

It is turning colder and wetter here... summer is over.

Do any of you experienced scooter owners do anything special to prepare your scooter for the winter?

I plan to ride unless it is icy and / or actually raining

I also keep my scooter in a garage... but it isn't heated

I was just wondering about "winterization" and what exactly that term means in relation to scooters

What do you all do?

I only stop riding if there is actual ice on the roads, which rarely happens here. The scooter doesn't have anything special done to it for winter, I just adjust my clothing to suit.

I ride my GTV year-round too, and my garage isn't heated, either. But it's close enough to the house and stays warm enough that nothing ever freezes. This is all I do:

- put on a nice warm lap apron
- check my tire tread extra often, or replace them a little early
- use my seat cover a lot
- constantly check the weather on my iPhone
- and last but certainly not least, stock up on hot chocolate for that handful of days when there's too much threat of icy roads.

i take off the tinted visor off my helmet and put on my clear one on ..... thats a true sign of winter coming .... im still in the tinted one so far even though its just starting to dawn when i set off ........ ohhhh and dig out my winter weise wear ....................
......................... hate winter, think i have s.a.d.

Have a look at the wiki article on winterization. Winterizing Your Scooter

I have just fitted my heated inner jacket liner and have heated grips ready.

I keep a small spray bottle with cloth of rain x to clean my visor.

Would really like to get tucano urbano hand muffs and leg cover but cost too much ££££

When I lived in Germany in 1984/85 (Near Munich)
Motorcyclists would ride in the winter.
They'd drive with their feet dragging on the ground for stability.

No salt on the roads either,
They used a very fine pea gravel to add grit to the snow covered side roads.

That's for those folks who have winters where they cannot ride for months at a time.

I leave the GT200 in the garage and take the car to work.

Wuss.

Bill X

the tucano neoprene muffs only cost £20, and they should fit your scooter if you don't have bar end weights.

Very true, even then, we try to get out once in a while when the ice melts and the roads are clear. We need our scooter fix even in the winter.

Wise for you maybe - as perhaps you try too hard sometimes.

Everyone has to make their own decisions on this, there's no absolute right or wrong in cold/wet/hot/dry riding. Just the individual's common sense, hopefully with researched 'wisdom' when the weather is outside a known comfort zone.

I'll be ridding till the last day in October. Nights now range from low 50's F to uper 50's F with one or 2 upper 40's F. Days are still 65F- Mid 70's F. End of October it should be in the upper 40's day and low40's at night. All I'm doing is putting on a jacket and heat grips.

I plan on riding all winter if I can!

We only get 2-3 snows a year that don't last very long. My commute is under 3 miles each way a day, so I plan to toughen up and do it!

I try to ride all winter as long as there is no ice. Sadly around here you can go for several weeks without riding at all.
Even if there is no current snow, there can be black ice, and there always seems to be some sort of iced over water spill to contend with.

I do have to start using a battery tender this time of year. Even with a somewhat heated garage, my batteriy weakens sitting out all day day at work -on a cliff over looking Lake Erie and the Great White North of Canada.

Also I really don't ride for more than a few miles at time in the middle of winter so that is a real battery killer. This year I will probably add a fuel additive to both the Vespa and the Buddy since I will be splitting my limited ride time between them.

don't forget to be good about checking tire pressure too.

Good reminder about tire pressures, the cold certainly can cause the pressures to be lower.

Zieh' dich warm an
denn die Kälte
greift den Darm an.

Oh, and don't forget to check the dip stick

Trust me, I doubt I'll ever get on a scooter without checking it ever again.

Last winter I missed only a couple of two week stretches and rode the rest of the time. My garage is attached and stays above freezing. I have a short commute so if I dress properly I'm not too uncomfortable. I will use my battery tender if the bike is not ridden for a couple of days or longer. I always use Stabil in my gas tank as well. I keep a 5-gal container full of treated gas available to fill from during the coldest part of the winter.

Ice and snow are definite contraindications to scooter riding for me, but if the daytime temp stays above 35 or so and it's dry, then I'm ridin'!

It is 32 F here in Columbus this morning. I will have to break out the scooter skirt and watch for slippery spots, but I'm riding to work.
I am not ready for the cold weather at all.

I tend to wear two t-shirts in the winter

What is winter?

Same down here in Logan. My ears got a little cold but I'm REALLY liking the huge windscreen !

Nice to see you in Athens last weekend. Are you going to do the Haunted run on the 18th ?

Is there anything one should do to make sure the battery doesn't freeze...

Or that the coolant is ok with a few minus 0 / 32 degree days?

I mean, will the coolant freeze?

I have factory coolant and the stuff they put in the battery when it was first serviced

I was thinking about liquids in the scooter

Your battery and coolant will be fine at freezing temperatures. I ride during the winter at much colder temperatures and other than putting the battery on the tender for times when I'm not on my bike I've had no problems whatsoever. I've been riding for three winters now.