Scooter in the Sticks

Exploring life on a Vespa, Royal Enfield Himalayan, Honda Trail 125, and a Kawasaki W650

Basking in the Warmth of Electric Gloves

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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.

Holy Shit It’s Cold

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19F this morning for my ride into State College, Pennsylvania to meet my friends Paul and Gordon at Saint’s Cafe to talk about photography, life and whatever else emerges.  Sunshine helps mitigate the cold — probably more a state of mind than any actual change in temperature.

I wasn’t excited to ride this morning when I crawled out of bed but kept moving in that direction until I finally plugged in my Gerbing electric gloves, flicked the power switch, and headed down the road. Electric gloves are nice!

Electric gloves are nice until they quit working.  About four miles into my ride I noticed the warm, toasty feeling depart and a cold, numb feeling creep into my fingertips.  Looking at the power switch I saw the light was out — no more juice.  I already knew the problem — corrosion on the connector.  I’d been tinkering with it for awhile rather than just swap it out with a new one and led me to this conclusion: “Holy shit it’s cold”.

When the temperature drops below 30F I need those electric gloves if I don’t want to engage in periodic huddles around the headlight or muffler.  Paul gave me a new lead and connector and tomorrow I’ll install and be back in business.

Hot tea and a bagel did much to soothe aching cold hands but my riding spirit was already in good shape.  There’s just something about riding in the cold that yields unexpected dividends for me…

The Vespa is Ready for Winter Riding

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Braving the cold in an unheated garage, tools strewn across the concrete floor, the scooter is now ready for winter.  Tires, oil, antifreeze, all changed and checked.  Surveying the mess I am reminded of how disorganized I can be.  I’ll never have one of those workshops that appear in The Garage Journal.

A quick ride to make sure the wheels don’t fall off and the oil stays in the engine.  The Heidenau K66 SnowTex tire’s aggressive tread pattern and extra sticky grip provide a little more security on cold, wet and snowy roads. They feel weird at first, like riding on big balloons.  That feeling quickly disappears.

The weather forecast calls for 19F in the morning with snow showers.  I’ll look in the mirror tomorrow morning and ask that guy if he wants to ride.

Cold Weather Riding: Getting Your Head Into the Game

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As the temperature continues to drop and the weather becomes a bigger concern for a rider.  A cold, wet morning on the way to work when I saw an intrepid commuter.  Riding in this situation is more than just enduring the cold, it’s wrapping your head around a new way of riding.  One focused on managing a new exposure to risks.

I just put the snow tires on the Vespa and will change the oil, check the antifreeze, and generally get the machine ready for winter in the morning.  My body is ready for another season of cold weather riding.  Now I just need to get my head in the game…

Riding and the Coming of Cold Weather

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Last night the long shadows paralleling US322 told me that fall is on it’s way.  That and thermometer readings dropping through the sixties, into the fifties, and this morning a bracing 42F when I rolled the Vespa out of the garage.

Cold weather excites the rider in me, fueling a desire to ride that mostly lies dormant during the heat of summer.  Cold, rain, snow, fog and other physically challenging forms of weather are my mountain — the manner in which I find satisfaction.

The coming of fall has a peculiar look and sound — a long, heavy light as if the sun isn’t quite ready to move across the equator for the autumnal equinox.  Cicadas drone more loudly until they suddenly stop.  Every living thing seems to respond to a biological imperative to brace for winter. Mount Nittany, the icon familiar to Penn State students and alumni around the world, is ready for the world to change.

Even my dog Junior seems aware of the change.  Tinkering with a new iPhone photo app – Alt Photo — I stumbled upon a blue tint that combined with his serious gaze to have me thinking that, like me, he senses the coming of cold weather.

As motorcycle and scooter riders I think we all bring our own, unique reactions to the road.  For some, the passing of Labor Day is the first step in winterization of the machine.  For others a reminder of the few weeks left until the ride becomes unbearably cold.  And for the coldblooded, foolhardy lot who swears they ride through the winter it means the start of an adventure.

To each their own.  I’ve already started organizing my winter riding gear.  The Heidenau snow tires are ready to mount.  I hate to say it but I’ve been running snow scenarios through my head.

And all because of a few long shadows along the road…