winter riding Archives - Page 13 of 22

Cold Scooter Ride

January 1, 2015 by Scooter in the Sticks 8 Comments

Riding a scooter or motorcycle in cold weather is, for me, an acquired taste, one that evaporates quickly when too much time passes between frigid experiences. Bright sunshine goes a long way towards easing the transition from a warm home to a cold garage but habit is far more powerful in making a cold scooter ride an easy choice.

Examining my shadow I felt more astronaut than rider clad in heavy gear and bulky mittens just to ride the Yamaha Vino scooter. It doesn’t take long though for resistance to give way to the familiar satisfaction of surmounting the cold and drift in the wash of accomplishment. For lack of a more poetic description a cold ride leaves me feeling alive.

The roads were bare and dry though the risk of ice is ever present when the world is frozen. Thankfully, the only chunks of ice I saw were in town, remnants of the First Night State College celebrations.

Even though I saw no other ice it’s essential that anyone riding below the freezing mark adjust their attention to the road surface to account for unexpected ice — usually from careless motorists tossing liquids from their vehicles, meltwater that has frozen, or a dozen other situations that could trip up an inattentive rider.

Just saying…

The Yamaha Vino 125 scooter is indifferent to the temperature or the ice. It starts easily and runs flawlessly. While I miss the heated options on the Vespa GTS 250 I’m pleased to know that I can still function without heated gear. At least at 28F.

I’m reminded of a talk by a guide from one of the big motorcycle touring companies in Alaska where he insisted no heated gear is permitted — they don’t want people freezing when the technology fails. On the Vino I am geared up to passively resist the cold. And right now as I think about it I have a hard time remembering how I braved sub-zero rides without heated gloves.

Ice sculptures on Allen Street in State College, Pennsylvania is a traditional part of First Night. The cold weather kept things sparkling as opposed to previous years where it rained with the temperatures in the 40s.

A cold scooter ride requires a machine that functions — the Yamaha Vino handles the task well, gear that protects the body from the cold — my new First Gear Kilimanjaro jacket is a big improvement over the old one, boots, mittens, full face helmet, and Tourmaster Overpants complete the arctic ensemble. For summer only riders I’m sure it seems oppressive, but for those venturing out in the winter it’s part of the drill.

A nice, cold, New Year’s Day ride in the sticks.

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.

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:

Winter Riding and Camping in the Arctic

November 10, 2014 by Scooter in the Sticks 25 Comments

Any winter riding I’ve done pales in comparison to British rider Ed March. He’s ridden his C90 Honda all over the world, by himself, without backup. That’s adventure. The video is definitely worth watching.

You have to consider March’s riding extreme by any measure. The fact that he rides a small machine earns him some dismissive reactions from those that think adventure is the realm of bigger bikes. I suspect it led to his production of “Hitler Finds Out Ed March is Riding to the Arctic Circle”, one of dozens of parodies of all types built around clips from the film “Downfall“, a chilling portrait of the last days of Adolf Hitler played masterfully by Bruno Ganz. Be warned if you are a big adventure bike rider, especially of the BMW variety, you are in for some not so subtle ribbing. The description of BMW’s wiring and electronics crack me up.

Again, worth a look.

Robbed of the Riding Life

February 23, 2014 by Scooter in the Sticks 17 Comments

Cold weather, snow, ice — winter, it’s robbing me of the will to ride, sucking away the riding life and condemning me to a life behind the wheel. At least that’s how if feels. I don’t know how riders who put their machines away in September and don’t get on them again until May do it. I can only assume their souls are already gone, casualties of like in the north. We’re ice people.

Thank god I was able to ride today if only for awhile, it recharged dead part of me, so what does it matter if the scooter took a tumble in the snow…

The past few weeks have been dark.

A friend asked how my life has devolved to a minivan. With a straight face and in earnest I told him it’s a perfect vehicle; comfortable, spacious, useful. Looking in the mirror that evening I wasn’t sure if I said those words or if some hollow man living inside was responsible.

Sunday morning trips to Saint’s have seen no signs of the Vespa in a month.

I could ride, have ridden in all but the worst of recent conditions of snow, ice and temperature. But the desire is gone, not even a flicker of the old pull of the road. Instead some insidious, pain in the ass voice keeps whispering of risk and danger.

It’s hell to get old.

Snow in town, a signal to leave the Vespa at home. The old defiance is gone, the revolutionary voice quiet. What kind of life is this?

Hot Earl Grey tea seems ordinary when I arrive warm and relaxed after a ride in the van.

I feel strangely disconnected from things when I’m not riding, reduced to the voyeur in life, watching but not participating. Paul and Gordon are working, on this morning a review of prints made from Paul’s recent trip to Sicily.

With my point and shoot camera I’m the unenthusiastic tourist, content to watch the little screen display a life. Winter, what a marvelous excuse to do nothing.

So many mornings the road is covered with something that tells me to leave the Vespa in the garage. A lot of mornings. In past years this would not have stopped me but I sense a fragility of body and spirit right now that makes it easy to melt into a bucket seat with heat at my fingertips.

This morning temperatures soared into the 40s and reaching towards 50. Junior and I made our rounds and as I watched him I realized he doesn’t let the weather get to him, especially when I get out the big ball that won’t get lost in the snow.

The Vespa has been lost in the snow.

By afternoon the sun had warmed the world and I just had to go for a ride. A short one. A ride to re-establish a connection to the scooter. So here I am, on the road and happy.

Everything is melting and water is everywhere. When the temperature drops below freezing tonight there will be a mess of ice and obstacle. Who knows if the Vespa will move again at dawn.

For now I just have to be careful and not let the exuberance overtake good sense. Like the opportunity to learn that the Vespa will run while laying on its side, the result of plowing through the snow and stopping to take a picture without thinking about the centerstand sinking into the mud.

Oh well, the snow was soft.

The weather forecast shows more snow and cold not far off. I’m so tired of it all.

Something has to change. (Cue Dom)

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