Check the Modern Vespa forum for answers to questions about performance in heavy urban traffic and heat. There are a lot of riders living in those environments who are members.

The URL is modernvespa.com. There is also a link on the right hand site of my blog.

Speaking of wind, we have our share being on the Atlantic Ocean, but so far we have been able to handle them. However we have not had 50 mile an hour gusts. We are too new to riding to venture out in that. But we appreciate your advice and adventures. Keep it up!

pvino: The weather seems pretty quirky these days. As far as a video goes I have started numerous new ones and have never finished. One of these days I will put something together though…

irondad: I think I might have been more hardcore last winter. This year the cold weather has affected me more and I am less excited about riding out in it. I still do and once out it is great but the transition from warm house to cold ride is more challenging.

sarch: Sounds like a great ride you had even with the sudden weather shift. I’ve seen those old gas stations around here now and again and have thought what good shelters they would make in a really bad rain. So far I have managed to keep riding but someday…

Tried to look at that link but something is missing so a get a page not found warning. Maybe you can post it again using an html tag to make it an active link?

vtscoot: Glad I helped you get out on the scooter! There seem to be more and more above freezing days during the winter now so it is nice to have the scooter ready.

I’m still not using a battery tender mainly because I am riding 3-4 times a week even in the winter so the battery appears to be ok with that. I suppose one of these days I will find out otherwise.

rickrusselltx: No that’s a song blasting from the past! I remember the first time I heard that song.

And then I think how much cooler that whole scene would have been if they had all been riding scooters instead of walking.

We made a run from Birmingham, Alabama to Guntersville, Alabama.
There were storms around the state but they were hit and miss and we were on a schedule to meet some of the board members who were coming in from Red Bay, Alabama to join us. So we soldiered on. Things were looking good (in other words…dry) until we hit a location approximately 10 miles from our meeting point. We were riding a beautiful rolling back road when we topped a rise and were shocked by a huge straight line wind blowing directly from the left to the right. Leaves were whipping past (one landed in my wife’s lap and she screamed thinking it was a bug or bird – LOL!). It required some MAJOR sudden leaning as the whole line of bikes suddenly shifted towards the right side shoulder. I was proud of everyone as no one panicked and all managed to recover nicely.
It wasn’t long after that when the first large drops appeared on the windscreens and then the deluge began. Almost as if materializing from our hopes and wishes an old abandoned gas station with a overhanging roof large enough for the entire group to fit under appeared and we were able to park in the dry and get our rain gear on while the rain just poured down. I posted about it when I got back home on our bulletin board. You can see some pics at http://p196.ezboard.com/fsouthernridersfrm14.showMessage?topicID=49.topic if you have a notion.

My apologies for the long comment, but thank you so much for bringing that memory back to my mind.

An experienced rider is one who has learned the judicious use of “attack and retreat”.

You’re starting to be pretty hard core, aren’t you?

Ride safe