Extra Rims to Mount Heidenau Snow Tires on the Vespa GTS Scooter
Finally, after years of mucking around mounting and un-mounting tires, I bought a pair of used rims on eBay so I could permanently mount snow tires and make winter Vespa riding a little safer. Now I just have to swap wheels which is easier and faster. I’ve looked for sometime for some inexpensive rims. These arrived from Michigan (left) and California. I was surprised how beat the California rim looked with it’s completely worn out tire.
So I’m creeping slowing toward full readiness for winter.
Testing the Winter Gear
With exception of the snow tires, all the Vespa winter riding gear is in place — Tucano Urbano apron and the Tucano Urbano muffs. Took a ride up into the mountains to test things out. A light rain was falling but the temperature was in the upper 30s so I didn’t have to worry about ice.
Large Sheet of Glare Ice: Vespa Rider’s Nightmare
I was wrong about the ice. Good thing I was putting along slowly looking for things to photograph when I came around the bend and encountered this expansive sheet of glare ice. I stopped to make a photograph of the obstacle and to take a look at the best way to pass. Since it was a downgrade I just lined up straight and coasted across the ice.
Baby It’s Cold Outside
A friend described the scooter apron as a game-changer for cold weather riding. I can’t agree more. With legs and feet cozy under the apron. The muffs provide the same benefits for the hands that the apron delivers for the lower body.
For anyone riding in winter — these items are essential. They don’t look all that great, but man it’s nice to be warm. Because baby it’s cold outside.
Wandering in the Cold
I didn’t ride far, perhaps 20 miles, just enough to make sure everything was in place and functioning as intended. Had to put two longer screws in the apron attachment points to make sure things wouldn’t come off — the thickness of the apron made the normal screws too short. Thirty cents at the hardware store fixed the problem.
Looking forward to more riding. The Boalsburg Car Company will mount my tires on the rims next week and I should have the Vespa sleigh in tip top shape for Christmas.
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Yay on getting your spare set o’ rims! (I do agree the Cali-sourced rim looks surprisingly “experienced”, but judging from that tire, I guess it’s been some places.)
Luckily, I haven’t experienced ice quite like that in these parts, but there have been little bits here and there. My biggest worry was yeasterday (well, Friday), when it rained for the first time in well over a week, and…well, you know how it is when the rain is light in the first hour or so on the road.
As mentioned before, probably not going for the Termoscud this time around, but likely getting the muffs, and rain pants.
Good holidays to you!
Experienced is right. It was good for my soul to see something Vespa more abused than my own stuff.
Those first moments of rain can be slick, especially in heavy traffic areas where there’s more cumulative oil dripping from vehicles on the road. I’ve had more than a few eye opening experiencing in that stuff. Careful is the watch word.
The muffs will make a big difference. Ugly but effective.
Happy holidays!
Hi from the uk ?? I’ve just bought the thermoscud urbano made apron for my GTi300ie super abs. I had a 2008 for three years and never bothered with one but at 60 and having knee and back issues i thought it time. I’ve got great hopes for it with all the reviews on it. Being in or near the Peak District of Derbyshire it can get pretty foul weather wise.To say how popular they say the apron is in London I’ve never seen one fitted. I’m guessing we all consider ourselves too hard and butch for namby pamby luxuries like keeping warm around these here parts.
I might get a pair of the hand warmers as well. Can anyone tell me how they are used?
Of course I know they are to stick your hands in but do you wear other gloves inside them? Or Are they in place of gloves? Hope not because in the event of coming off when you part company from the scooter you would effectively have no hand protection. Also if you get a big rain storm does water get through? If so that would mean having to take them off to dry them out indoors before having to refitt them, if that’s the case I think the hassle level would be too high for me.
But that’s the sort of thing I would like to learn about.
Anyway all for now
Stay safe
Dave
Namby pamby luxuries — I like that. At 64 I’m all about keeping warm and dry now. The Termoscud apron is a minor miracle for me. Allows riding without donning the usual spacesuit I wear in winter for all but the coldest of days. And it keeps the wet stuff off my legs and feet. I think you’ll like yours once you get used to it.
Hands are a completely different animal. I’ve tried many, many things including the little chemical hand warmer packs. They were useless for me. They sat inside my gloves on the palms of my hands. That part doesn’t get cold. It’s the tips of my fingers and thumb that grow numb.
I tried heavy expedition mittens, winter riding gloves and even Gerbing electric gloves. And heated grips. Nothing, nothing kept my hands warm until I got the Tucano Urbano muffs. The key for me was keeping the winter and elements off the hands to start. Those neoprene muffs are another minor miracle. Now I scoff at sub-zero temperatures. The muffs along with various glove or heated grip configurations work from 50F down to -15F. Warm hands. The muffs are ugly though. Function over form for me in this area.
Everyone is different though. I have a very low tolerance for cold so what I do might be overkill for another. You’ll have to experiment to find what’s right for you.
Steve…
Good to see that you were able to secure some extra rims for your snow tires. We’re hoping to see some of your stunning winter photography soon. And that’s some sheet of ice! Any plans for studding the tires?
We used to know the muffs as “Hippo Hands”, a similar product once marketed by Vetter many years ago. These days, since we’re in the Great White North, once the cooler weather arrives we just saunter down to the local Canadian Tire store and pick up a cheap pair of muffs designed for the snowmobile trade. Under $20.00 when you catch them on sale and they work just fine. Still, nothing does the trick like a pair of plug-in electric gloves. A lot of products aimed at snowmobile riders like neck covers, face covers, even heated socks, adapt to winter riding.
I’ve been hoping to do some sort of photography in the snow before Christmas. Need some sort of holiday greeting! The forecast doesn’t look good though. I might have to recycle something from previous years.
That ice was big and bad. Haven’t seen anything like it in a few years. Especially this earlier in the year. It’s not even winter yet! Studded tires would mean finding new tires that accept studs, and because much of out winter has our roads dry, I would be dealing with the traction loss of studded tires on dry pavement. I think for now I’ll just avoid or carefully navigate ice.
Our snowmobile trade here seems pretty weak. Haven’t seen a snowmobile in a long time. Not even sure where I could buy one. But I often think if a person can ride one of those in winter and stay warm, I should be able to ride the Vespa and stay warm. My configuration now is complete. I stay warm in winter. The weakest link are my feet but if I’m out for four hours or less the heated insoles do the job. I’ll have to have a look at the heated socks. I’ve looked at several but the reviews weren’t great.
Look at Merino wool socks and waterproof (many are Goretex-lined), high-topped boots. Several common make/model recommendations in AdvRider.
Just got three pairs of Merino wool socks from LL Bean. Very nice. Last year for the first time I wore my Sorel Caribou Boots when it was really cold. That did the trick. No cold feet. They’re not stylish as scooter attire, and certainly would be useless on a motorcycle, but for the scooter, tucked under the apron, they’re great.
Thank you for the article and articles. I look for opportunities to continue some riding in the cold, dark months here but need to improve my gear. Reading your winter riding and rides gives me inspiration to get out there. So far the last time I went was in November with long underwear, flannel lined jeans and my mesh riding pants. Top was long underwear, turtleneck, ski fleece top, puffy jacket liner and all the zip in components of my summer mesh jacket. Felt like Robbie? in The Christmas Story movie! Hands were in winter gloves but fingers were getting cold. I guess at 61 I am feeling things a little more.
Thanks again!
Gearing up for winter riding in cold climates can really have you feeling like that little brother in A Christmas Story. Or an astronaut. Over time I’ve acquired more appropriate gear so it’s slightly less like that. But only slightly. Just takes some “stuff” to keep the cold at bay.
And getting older, as you suspect, doesn’t help. Be careful and have fun.
You are right about the handlebar muffs being the game changer. When combined with functional heated grips, you don’t really need anything more than summer gloves. The Gerbing are pretty fragile but they do keep the back of your hand and fingers toasty warm especially when combined with the muffs AND heated grips. Grip Studs would work fine on your tires and you only lose traction when you put too many studs in the tires or too agressive of studs. I’ve seen both cases around here and they usually complained about the loss of traction. I haven’t had that problem.
The Gerbing Classic leather gloves I have do a fine job keeping my hands toasty when combined with the muffs. But that combination is only necessary when the temperature is really low. I have one complaint about the gloves — a little loop of heating element protrudes from the liner causing a small cigarette-like burn near my thumb. I have to either put a band-aid on to protect the skin or wear a glove liner. It’s something that I should have probably sent the gloves back for. Maybe I will at some point. Gerbing has replaced them once already.
I’ve wondered about using some Grip Studs. Do you put them only on the drive wheel or both front and back?
Both front and rear. The front for braking and rear for acceleration and both to minimize sideways sliding. Grip Studs have sizes for bicycles that don’t need much rubber and you don’t want them to stick out much from the tread. I’m normally use the #1200 studs but this year I’m trying out the #1000 studs designed for bicycles. They only go 6.2mm into the tire versus 10.7mm for the #1200. Perfect for the worn down front tire.
I looked at the Grip Studs website and specifically at the #1000 studs. Coughed at the price of $100 for 100 studs. As I thought about a “light” application of studs I still came up with 80 or so for the front and back. So I guess it makes sense. I don’t often ride on snow covered roads so I wonder if I’m kidding myself about running with studs….
Oh yeah, bring on the “Namby pamby luxuries ”…
I need to start a collection of cool terms people have shared over the years. Wish I would have started a long time ago.
The scooter apron is definitely a game changer in cold weather, but so is a taller screen, both on scooter and working quad bike lifting the cold air blast from your chest and upper body, and I’ll be 75 in February. Season greetings Steve, and thanks for the posts.
I have the short windscreen — it moves the wind blast off my body and onto the helmet. I don’t like looking through a screen so I can live with that. I can see how a taller one would be even better though.
Hope you have a fine holiday season Bill!
For our winter ride with Bill and Warren, I put on a long sleeve shirt and a pair of socks. Come on down. Leave all that warm stuff at home. Hopefully, the MP3 with the heated grips will be gone, but we will find something for you to ride.
That’s a kind invitation. Won’t be long before I could use some warmer weather. I’m just not sure, but I’m too modest to ride in just a long sleeve shirt and a pair of socks. Call me prudish…
Try it, it is liberating. I just have to make sure the Green Peace people are not around. They tend to try to role me back in the water. Oh yea, and don’t set on a hot set.
I always want to be liberated!
Merry Christmas to you Ken!
Yep, handlebar muffs with heated grips are the key for me. As to coasting through a large patch of ice, that’s exactly how I’ve found to do it, even on three wheels…no turns, no throttle, clutch engaged…..it gets way too interesting if you attempt maneuvers while on ice, way too interesting.
Merry Christmas to you and yours Steve….
The muffs and heated grips are a great combination for all but the most frigid circumstances. On those days I add the electric gloves to the mix.
No maneuvers on ice is good advice. I have these Grip Studs here waiting to put on. Still haven’t worked out a plan though.
Best wishes to you and your family for a fine Christmas and Happy New Year!
This was pure shit click bait. You didn’t even put the damn tires on. Instead you blah blah about an apron. This post was as useful as tits on a damn chicken. Absolute trash.
I chuckled when I read your comment. A first time it’s been suggested that I’ve been producing click bait titles. The post you responded to was five years old so I had to read it to assess your concerns.
I suppose if you were looking for information on snow tires, and didn’t read past that in the title, you could be disappointed. By the time I wrote the post I had been running snow tires for years and had posted several times about the tires and their performance. This particular post covered a range of things related to my winter riding. Tires being one and the concern for me at that point in time was the nuisance of having tires taken off the rims. So the advance with snow tires was an extra set of rims so I could leave the tires on the rims all the time.
You’re right of course, I didn’t go into how to mount the tires or how they performed. A search of my site will reveal that information.
And you sound just like I did about the apron. Blah, blah, blah. Apron? Who cares. Turned out I knew nothing. Once my pride and ego got out of the way, I discovered that ugly apron was one of the magical weapons for cold weather riding along with bar muffs. But until that change of heart, I would be whining like you about them.
Click bait? I never thought about that. Since my blog is personal, I don’t monetize it, and have never really been concerned with traffic, the notion of click bait is sort of funny. But then, we all see what we want to see and believe. Who knows, the post may indeed be absolute trash.