Do you ride all year round?

[halfabusa]

Anyone any experience of doing this on their scooter?

Yep, done it on both burgman 650 and the current tmax. Through snow and ice. Both feet down on the road on icy untreated roads, walking pace speed, gentle on throttle and rear brake to stop more than front. Only had a fall once on the tmax, nothing broken apart from my courage, so i limped back home and took the train that day. Not to say i won't go out again on similar conditions.

The reason i fell on the tmax was i was on a road with an oncoming van, and there was split speed bumps (3 sections of bumps instead of one running all the way through) and to give way to him, i accidentally took my bike on top of one of those sections but i mounted the bump towards the side of it rather than middle, so the wheel slid from the bump downwards which toppled me. If i got on the bump from the middle of it, or gone over a single piece of bump i would have been fine.

[SH125Paul]

Yep all year round - apart from the snow / ice...
Tucano Urbano muffs are the biz...
Not a fan of heated grips... specially if the scoot doesnt have a kick start..

[loonymoon]

Winter 2010/11 I went through the whole winter on the scoot, only didn't ride on the snowy days. Didn't even feel that cold thanks to heated grips and good gloves plus my Tucano Urbano jacket which is unbeleiveably warm.

However after coming off in Sept 2011 I then completely lost my bottle and haven't ridden the scoot at all into work let alone through the winter!! Amazing how you can change isn't it! Mind you having a nice new car and the traffic being relatively good (excepting the odd accident queue) has meant that the incentive to get back on the scoot just isn't there. At the moment I can get in to work as fast in the car as on the scoot if not faster somedays once gear-changing time is taken into account.

[tallpaul]

I've have for the past five years, unless its snow then I get a lift in if I can.

[mac65]

Yeah did commute all last year except for about 5 days. But it wasn't that bad a winter compared with the year before. Having said that I did come off on the ice. So might be more careful this winter.

[Data]

Mac, if your avatar is an 'actual' photo of you and your scooter, you really shouldn't have fallen off as it has 3 wheels!!...

[Data]

Winter 2010/11 I went through the whole winter on the scoot, only didn't ride on the snowy days. Didn't even feel that cold thanks to heated grips and good gloves plus my Tucano Urbano jacket which is unbeleiveably warm.

However after coming off in Sept 2011 I then completely lost my bottle and haven't ridden the scoot at all into work let alone through the winter!! Amazing how you can change isn't it! Mind you having a nice new car and the traffic being relatively good (excepting the odd accident queue) has meant that the incentive to get back on the scoot just isn't there. At the moment I can get in to work as fast in the car as on the scoot if not faster somedays once gear-changing time is taken into account.

loony, you need to get her out! Fully understand why you haven't used her...a negative experience has been had etc. But getting back on the horse that threw you can work wonders, that confidence will come flooding back for sure. You'll experience that magic freedom again that only a bike gives...go on, do it! You wont' regret it.

[loonymoon]

loony, you need to get her out! Fully understand why you haven't used her...a negative experience has been had etc. But getting back on the horse that threw you can work wonders, that confidence will come flooding back for sure. You'll experience that magic freedom again that only a bike gives...go on, do it! You wont' regret it.

I have been out for a couple of hour long rides but I guess I just got a reminder of the vulnerability especially in the commute roads. I landed face down on the road after sliding on diesel on what was thankfully an empty roundabout with the scoot skidding away from me. Possibly broke my big toe (loads of bruising but I never went for an xray) but I was lucky as it could have been so much worse. it brought home how bad some of the near misses I'd had could have been!

I've only missed being on the scoot a couple of times in the last near year. I hadn't really ridden it for pleasure in a long time even before the accident and my commute is horrible roads, definitely not a pleasure ride and at the moment not really much advantage to using the scooter once the changing time is factored in, other than fuel economy. I've also been sharing lifts with my hubby lately so we get a bit more together time which is nice and that helps with the economy too. I guess I'm actually quite enjoying driving my new car as well :shrug:

If I lived more in a place where I wanted to nip into town etc and had more pleasant roads to ride I'd probably get a Vespa GTS as I love them.

[StephenC]

yep all year round

Even in snow and ice?

Me too. 10,000 miles + a year.

I will ride in bad weather but not if snow is actually falling (you never know how bad it will be) and I try and avoid going out if it is sub-zero after a snowfall. I live on an untreated sideroad, so my simple test is can I make it to the main road 200m away? If I can, then fine. If not, then sod it.

[Zed]

I commute all year around.

Mostly it's fine: rain cuts your visibility as does snow, and the double-glazing pin-lock visors help a lot; wear clothing appropriate to the temp and conditions; ride sensibly.

In winter i wear good quality warm stuff, which cuts down fussing with over layers or rain suits. Instead of heated grips i use Keis heated gloves, which worked really well: http://www.maxi-muppets.co.uk/forum/vie ... 12&t=10154
The rest of what i wear: Rukka all-year trousers, removable liners, gortex. Hein Gericke Master V jacket, again warm and dry. Neck buff, and if really cold a balaclava. boots plus one or two pairs of socks. I don't usually wear under layers, but i've got merino wool ones which are very cheap and warm.

I don't ride if there's actually ice on the ground, but thats very rare, and mostly in London the gritters keep things moving. Snow is fine to ride on if careful, and just being aware of stopping distances and being sensible etc and it's all good.