Snow was falling when I got up this morning with enough sticking to the road surface to create a thin layer of slushy ice – perfect for testing my Pirelli GTS 23 and 24 tires for traction in the slippery stuff. These are considered sport-touring tires and replaced the stock Sava’s that the Vespa came with. The Pirelli’s have a central front groove designed for improved wet performance. They are also noticeably quieter than the Sava’s running down the road.
Even though the snow came down pretty hard at times the road surface shifted back and forth between wet and slush so I had to look for places to test braking, sliding, and traction in general. It was slow going as I got my winter riding legs limbered up a bit. All the moisture in the air coupled with near freezing temperatures made for excellent visor fogging.
The tires were surprisingly good in the slush. I had to work hard to get the wheels to lock up. The tread pattern seemed to push the slush out of the way and gave pretty good contact with the road surface. I was doing all this testing in the 20 to 35 MPH range. Nothing fast, just a slow speed comparable to what I would do on a commute to work in this kind of weather. I’ll have to wait to see how they do when there is deeper snow on the road. Something tells me they won’t do very well chewing through that.
Swinging through town you can see two things. The Christmas decorations are already up and there is no traffic. Granted it was Sunday morning and everyone was probably in church, but I have a marked advantage from a lot of people in terms of traffic.
I’m sure there are better tires for winter riding. The Continental ContiNavigators have a mud and snow rating and come in sizes for the Vespa GTS 250ie. Not sure you can get them in the United States though. I suspect there isn’t much of a market.
Rather you than me…o brave one!
The second photo has the “Winter Wonderland” feel to it. I have a feeling that we’re not far behind over here.
Good to know about the Continental that you mentioned. I’ll see if my pal at the dealership can get them in.
Have fun,
Bill
I enjoy the pictures and rides you go on. Keep up the good work.
RED RYDR
Winter is the great undiscovered riding country. Most riders don’t know what they are missing and probably can’t imagine it because they can’t conceive of slowing down.
Thanks for the head’s up on the ContiNavigators. I’ll see if our dealer can get some in.
Mike
I have followed your picture logs through out the year and now with deepen winter its a wonder how you march through all that snowy slush. I get a little worry just having water on the road but with you, your Vespa, and the snow, ice, and rain – let the great adventure begin.
One question – Do you have a lot of salt on the grounds when you drive into the city during a snowy period. How are you managing the Vespa from getting rust development?
Ride safe and enjoy.
Phil
Bah, hum-bug…Christmas decorations out before Thanksgiving…errrr! Not sure why people do that….up here in Mass, there were folks that had them out before Halloween even. Call me old , but i like my holidays one at a time!-Crusty
Wow! You live in a Winter Wonderland. What a quaint village scene with the Vespa and the Holiday trimmings. Love the images, you are really a super photographer and yes keep feeding us vicariously. We would much rather enjoy your pictures than the reality. Thanks again for a beautiful post. When are you publishing your book? Vespa should finance it.
Okay, I’m just shaking my head, here. What happened to the mild mannered college administrator I knew in the beginning? When Gary and I were doing the dashing exploits and you were a lot more hesitant?
I think you got a taste of something you want more of!
Wild man! I tip my helmet to you.
Thanks for going where I do not dare go. It’s nice to “live” my snowy scooter adventures through you.
Sherry CC up in Nova Scotia. Our Thanksgiving is over…SO LET THE DECORATING BEGIN….HE HE
conchscooter: It’s an acquired taste.
bill: Winter Wonderland is right. For a few moments it was like being in a snow globe. By the end of winter I won’t think of the snow the same way. Fickle, fickle, fickle…
Let me know if you manage to find a dealer who can get the ContiNavigators.
Red Rydr: Thanks for stopping by. I plan to keep taking pictures and riding.
Winterman: Slowing down is an essential ingredient. If the circumstances of the road, traffic, or ego won’t allow it riding in bad weather is a huge risk I think.
phil: Right now the roads are free of salt but as soon as the first heavy snow or ice arrives the trucks will be pouring tons of the stuff down. I treat the Vespa like I do the car without much extra attention to the salt save for the occasional hosing down of the machine. The salt chews away at things no doubt about that. For anyone wanting to maintain a pristine cosmetic sheen to their scooter they had best stay off the roads this time of year.
I guess I think of the Vespa as transportation and I use it as such. And of course for recreation and exploring as well. If I bought a $5000 car, got 5 years out of it and then sold it for $250 dollars I would be happy. I guess the same holds true of the Vespa. I’ll keep it mechancially sound and clean to a point. But I accept the inevitable entropy that comes through use.
crusty: Yeah, it creeps up sooner and sooner every year. When I was a kid we got our Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. I’m not ready to humbug yet though….*grin*
heinz and frenchie: Thanks for the kind words. It is pretty around here and I’ll try and capture some of the Christmas spirit that appears in the small communities.
I keep thinking about a book but oh where would I find the time. Vespa certainly could distribute a book through their network of dealers but I fear my riding focus is far afield of their branding and marketing goals.
irondad: You and Gary can assume full responsibility for my venturing out in fool’s weather. When I eased the Vespa out into the slush I wondered to myself about that irondad fellow and the big Honda ST in this sort of mess. That always makes it easier to run my little Vespa along….*smile*
Not in the management game any longer though. I’ve moved back into the creative world. So I’m expected now to be a rebel….
sherry: I’m not sure how much actual snow riding I will do on a regular basis. I think it will be more of “as needed” sort of thing. I’ll definitely continue to ride in the cold but as for the rest you’ll just have to wait and see….
My buddy Brian and I used Michelin Boppers for all the twisties at the Dragon this Summer. We also ran into alot of rain and when Brian was behind me he said not only could he see the rain slinging off the tire he could actually hear it. By far these tires rule for holding the road, I bet they would be great for you!
Happy Thanksgiving! Check out the turkey on a Vespa on our blog. It will put a smile on your face.
Pirelli Unico S38 are stock tires on new-school Vespas here in Italy, you may easily see a picture in one of my recent posts. I neither have ever heard about Sava tires…
There’s no snow, here, even if temperatures have fallen down to 2C deg. last week. This morning, though cloudy, rainy and windy, it was a comfortable 17C deg. and riding is still a pleasure. The wind is a good trainer.
I should only change my rear tire, as it’s way too smooth and it’s starting to get dangerous…
L’Insetto Scoppiettante
I noticed the ContiNavigator tires on the continental website last year and asked the Conti rep at the dealer show about them. They aren’t approved for the US and there aren’t any plans to ever have them here. Bummer because the look like really good foul weather tires.
Some really nice early snow pics Steve, stop on by Rounder’s and share the wealth!
I’m still waiting for proper winter tires, the ones with spikes. My local dealer put the order in weeks ago (someone snapped up their last pair just hours before me) but still no luck. So I’m also considering Continental option as my stock Sava’s are wearing down and it’s getting slippery.
Riding constantly in 0-5 Celcius here, fortunately mainly inner city riding so clear roads. Bad visibility and cold hands are more of a problem than tire grip. Gets dark early (around 5pm) and quite rainy so visor is almost always dripping wet mud.