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Vespa in Cold Weather

November 18, 2014 by Scooter in the Sticks 14 Comments

It was 16F this morning when I left for work. That temperature feels especially cold to me at the beginning of the winter riding season and I’ve not yet adapted to the harsher environment. In a month I’ll think nothing of it. Riding a Vespa in cold weather, or any other two-wheeled conveyance for that matter, requires a little bit of thought. I advise most to think “no”. Just don’t do it.

Walking Junior up the street with the wind at my back I was convincing myself that a ride would be fine. Returning with it cutting through my tender face I was thinking how nice the van would be. Checking the road surface it was obvious the wind during the night had dried most of the moisture and there were few patches of ice to be found.

Few.

They’re not bad when you hit them straight but while braking or leaning and you become YouTube fodder. I realized on the ride in that I’ve developed a system of continual road surface scanning. It’s not obvious or time consuming but other things just become apparent quickly. I know guys who see the pretty girl right away. I see the place where ice might lurk.

Being stupid I had let the fuel level drop low and had to make a stop. Definitely try to get the tank full in cold weather and don’t want to run out. I have mastered a technique that allows me to manipulate the credit card payment device and fuel the scooter without taking my heavy gloves off. I consider that a notable accomplishment. I can shoot pictures with the Canon G15 as well with gloves. THAT saves a lot of cold hand agony.

No competition for parking this morning. Just some leaves to deal with. I am a bit gun shy about leaving the Vespa outside in the cold after several “no-start” events at the end of the day. One I attribute to fuel line freeze but the others seemed like battery issues. I’ve replaced the battery but each time I crank the engine I swear it sounds a little “weak”. Really should invest in one of the portable motorcycle batteries for peace of mind.

Parking is never an issue for a Vespa. At lunchtime I rode to the hospital for some routine blood tests and there were cars prowling the lot looking for spaces. I had a dozen choices. Chose this one because of the picturesque rock.

Knowing I would be in the office late I decided to ride home, have lunch and swap the Vespa for the Honda minivan. Riding in the dark when it’s cold and you need to watch for icy patches is more tedious than I was prepared for. The smart choice when in doubt is to always choose four wheels. At least that’s how I see it.

On the way home I passed another scooter rider and I’m not sure if I’m impressed or astounded. It’s cold and I’m completely buttoned up from head to toe including electric gloves. This guy is riding with a 3/4 helmet, no visor, no goggles, a winter jacket, jeans, tennis shoes, and some gloves. He looked frozen but happy.

I’ll never look happy when I’m frozen.

I had to stop to have a look at the sheep and take a few pictures. By this time the temperature was a balmy 22F. If I didn’t have things to do in the office I could have easily kept riding towards the sunset, cold or not.

Cold Riding

November 16, 2014 by Scooter in the Sticks 12 Comments

Cold and grey this morning for my weekly ride into Saint’s Cafe where I attempt to keep a creative flame alive — if only a flicker. The 35F temperature provided another opportunity to try the new First Gear jacket and test my Gerbing electric gloves to make sure they’re working. The jacket was great and has a little more room making it much easier to manage the wires to the gloves which must be fished through the sleeves. Cold riding requires me to embrace a gear ritual that at the beginning of each season seems unbearably tedious. Here’s the ritual I have to learn (again) to be tolerant of:

Layer, layer, layer. Depending on the temperature it can be up to five not counting the jacket and thermal liner. It’s a damn nuisance.
Overpants. I hate fussing with the pants, those long zippers and then trying to get the Velcro secure at the ankles to keep the air from rushing up towards my bellybutton.
Wires and jacket. I have to say the new jacket is much, much easier to manage the wires though they still hang up at times.
Balaclava. Think ski mask. This thing keeps the frigid air knife from my jugular vein. Absolutely essential when the temperature nears freezing and below.
Earplugs and helmet. I like riding quiet and want to continue hearing birds sing hence the earplugs. Foam, -32dB contractor plugs. Then the helmet. I hate getting this out of order by doing the gloves first only to find out I can’t secure the helmet with gloves on. I’ve tried many, many times. (Insert appropriate curse word)
Gloves. After securing the ends of the sleeves and having the wires in the right config, I attach each glove and then pull them on and make sure they are securely over the sleeves to make sure no cold air rushes up the arms.

I think I’m now ready to ride in the cold. I do this every ride when the temperature is below 40F. That’s a lot of rides. This ritual requires about 10 minutes time. After months of quick departures it is the longest 10 minutes of my life. Luckily for me, it fades after a few weeks and seems simple and easy.

I have all three riding jackets hanging in the garage. From the left is my mesh Triumph jacket, old First Gear, and new First Gear Kilimanjaro. I’ve been considering the fate of the middle one. Someone suggested I give it to Junior to lay on and soak up some daddy mojo. I was leaning towards the landfill option. I mush note a saw a comment on a forum about how much trouble Hi-Viz is to keep clean. My first reaction was, “What?”. After a moment to think I realized not everyone is like me and never washes their riding jacket.

Junior is going to love my old one.

Gordon and I had a fine conversation on our collective creative trauma and entropy. Neither of us had any solutions on how to flame the photo fires but it is nice to know you’re not alone. He brought a new book produced by one of our graduate school advisors who has remained remarkably productive his entire career. I suppose it’s how you get your work in the Whitney, MOMA, and receive Guggenheim Fellowships. The book was a collection of photos made at proms and titled “Prom”.

The new jacket is brighter than the neon Public Parking sign across the street. Chalk one up for modern pigment and textile technology.

Hi-Viz changes the riding experience — take a look at the glow in the headset reflection. It’s like riding a Day-glo scooter.

Wasn’t a lot of time for riding but I did manage to find some dirt and gravel roads to play on. The little street tires are not ideally suited for this kind of riding nor are the shocks but it’s still fun to see what sort of trouble you can get into. More on trouble in a future post.

First Gear Kilimanjaro Jacket Review

November 14, 2014 by Scooter in the Sticks 23 Comments

As the Excalibur Grey Vespa moves through central Pennsylvania its rider is now clad in Hi-Viz yellow. I feared it would be the yellow green color, and it is, but I was surprised how cool it looks. I may be quiet in person but my jacket is loud and obnoxious!

The new First Gear Kilimanjaro jacket is great. Compared to my old one it’s better built, better fitting, warmer, and more functional. So far it seems a near perfect solution for my cold weather riding. I’ll share more as time and cold marches on.

The first ride with the jacket was to work on Thursday morning with the temperature hovering at 35F. I was toasty with a t-shirt, sweater, old pile liner, and the new jacket with thermal liner. I suspect that combination will get me to 20F. Below that point I’ll replace the t-shirty with polypropylene long underwear, a warmer sweater, and perhaps another layer of some sort. All those layers really mess with a company’s sizing scheme. When I was looking at sizes based on my body measurements I fell squarely between LARGE and X-LARGE. But you always need to remember they are thinking you’ll be wearing a shirt under the jacket and nothing more. Experience has guided me to bigger sizes.

In this case, considering the temperatures I would be riding in, I chose XX-LARGE TALL, or 2XT. Good thing I did. The coat has plenty of room to layer and with no layers the cinching systems allow a person to snug it up nicely so it doesn’t look like you’re wearing a tent.

The best feature so far is the collar. Much more comfortable and better fitting at the neck and high enough to cut out more of the cold air that normally would knife into tender flesh and blood.

The polar vortex is hear I suppose. The ride home was as cold as the ride to work and autumn seems like nothing more than a doormat to winter. Like the squirrels in our garden madly preparing for winter I’m doing the same with the Vespa. Yesterday a pair of Tucano Urbano handlebar muffs arrived — spacious neoprene covers to keep the cold winter from my hands. After years of electric gloves I’m surrendering and moving to the next level of warmth with the muffs. To complete the upgrade I’ll be installing Koso heated grips. Protection from the wind and head beneath fingers and thumb equals contentment in the cold. At least that’s my hope.

The difference in outlook and well-being between cold and warm is striking when I ride. If I’m just a bit chilled, or worse, a ride is something to endure and wish to end. But warm, well, it can go on forever. I’ve complained for years of cold, numb, painful hands. With great hope I feel they will soon be vanquished. The jury is out on whether I have the proper electrical skills to make grips hot or whether I’ll be posting a picture of the GTS in flames.

For a closer look at the First Gear jacket check out this Revzilla.com review:

Riding in the Fog With a Knife at My Throat

September 25, 2014 by Scooter in the Sticks 9 Comments

The riding world has changed, the weather has changed, and I’m finding myself facing the approach of fall with winter hot on it’s heels. That’s the picture my mind paints when it’s cold in the morning — 48F this morning, 38F the day before. A cold damp fog leaking past the collar of my riding jacket feels like a knife at my throat — the cold pushing into meat and bone in a single, sharp intrusion. Hell, it’s not even cold yet and I love riding in fog. The seasonal change has the world on end and my mind twisted out of shape and making irrational conclusions when I’m standing at the front door thinking about riding to work. I feel the draw to the car on a cold morning much as I feel the draw to the reclining chair at the end of a long day.

It’s not the arrival of cold weather that’s shocking, it’s the approach of old age. How did I get here?

As always, concerns and conundrums conjured while standing evaporate once I’m on the road. Cold, fog, gravel — they’re just experiences to savor — the feel of cold air sweeping over me, the fragrance of cut hay, the moisture forming on the visor. everything is waiting to be consumed. The process on some rides can completely erase the world until I am left without thought or feeling, just a complete emptiness where anything is possible.

Gravel has become a comfortable riding surface over the years though it can still surprise me when my attention wanders and I’m suddenly faced with braking decisions or avoidance maneuvers that clearly call for practiced technique. One day my wandering mind will lead to a tumble in the stones.

Parked at this fork in the road the empty mind is overwhelmed by memories of walks in this place with long gone dogs on quiet foggy mornings. Once those mental doors swing open and nostalgia sweeps across consciousness the ride diminishes to a mechanical process of transportation as I think of my father and mother, childhood, and other sundry images both pleasant and bitter, the experiential building blocks of a life.

Each time I ride there’s an expectant thrill at what might emerge while on the road, riding in the fog…

For a look back at an early experience with the knife at the neck check out a post I did called COLD COLD COLD!

Basking in the Warmth of Electric Gloves

November 26, 2013 by Scooter in the Sticks 13 Comments

My Gerbing G3 Electric Gloves — all nice and warm again after replacing the lead wire from the battery. Simple repair. Disconnect the two leads from the battery, clip the cable ties holding the cable that runs back to the engine compartment and up under the seat where I connect the gloves. Pull the bad cable, thread the new one into place, connect the leads to the battery and I was ready to venture into the cold night for a test ride.

I love test rides.

The temperature was 31F when I left the house. Adequate for evaluating the performance of the gloves and making sure I didn’t introduce any new electrical problems. Gerbing says these gloves will heat to 135F when the outside ambient temperature is 32F. I know this because my Aleta got a pair of G3 gloves today for riding her Yamaha Vino and I read the specs.

That sounds impressive until you factor in the wind hitting them while riding. At 45mph 31F feels like 13 degrees. It follows that the glove’s heating temperature would decline as well.

Regardless, riding through town and looping around the valley my hands were plenty warm.

I do love riding at night. Found myself thinking ahead to a moonlit night over a snow covered landscape. It’s so bright that you hardly need a headlight. But I’m getting ahead of things. Snow isn’t suppose to arrive until tomorrow.

So one more thing to cross off my to do list. I can ride without too much concern about keeping warm now, at least not until the temperature hits single digits. Then my feel become an issue.

It’s always something.

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