Thursday, December 9, 2010

A New Glove Set-up

A lot of people have told me that after I acquire my first set of heated gloves or grips, that I will want to kick myself for not having done so sooner. And No, I haven't done it (yet). My reasons, all with various levels of invalidity are as follows: 1) I am Cheap! The grips or gloves are expensive. 2) If I ask Jayna to spend more money on "scootering", she is liable to have a different idea or suggestion. And she is frequently right! 3) I am a bit afraid of messing with the electronics on Max. It would probably be fine, but I sure wouldn't want to screw something up. I am a firm believer in the adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". 4) I really do not need them very often. I have survived quite well in temperatures down to freezing. Below that, I have had some issues. 5) My commute only takes me about 15 minutes. I figure I can stand cold fingers for at least that amount of time. The rest of me stays mostly comfortable. 6) I have a level of insecurity about fiddling with the electronics. I would want to do it very right the first time. Ideally, I would want a device where I might want to plug in various devices. Maybe heated grips, maybe heated clothing, maybe a GPS, maybe a Christmas tree, maybe a Blaupunkt. And I am certainly too cheap to pay someone to do this for me (reason #1). But recently I found an old pair of gloves with a fleece liner. I removed the liner and am now using the liner with my regular winter gloves and it has resulted in a vast improvement. It is sort of a tight fit, and maybe a little less feeling on the controls, but much better than what I was doing last winter. I laugh sometimes about the clothing and gear I used that first winter. It was a process of experimentation as I discovered what did and didn't work very well. The 2nd winter was better and the clothing and gear experiments are ongoing. Two years from now maybe I'll look back and think about what an idiot I must have been. Live and Learn, I guess. I keep telling myself that someday I'll be really smart.

3 comments:

  1. Dear CPA3485 (Jimbo):

    It is a good thing you own a scooter with extremely limited farkle options, or you and the Missus might not be on speaking terms for years. I dropped over $399 for electrics and I have yet to give them a good workout. Yet that is certain to happen this weekend. I too would hesitate to fool around with the limited wattage at your disposal.

    Fondest regards,
    Jack • reep • Toad
    Twisted Roads

    Fondest regard

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  2. I'm still figuring out the hands, too. I'm good to the low 20F's, then it gets not so good. I decided to order the genuine Hippo Hands to go with some snowmobile gloves. I have the gloves, but am waiting for the Hippo Hands to arrive. Wish me luck.
    ~Keith

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  3. I hate electric gimcrackery but an electric jacket liner ahywhere north of Orlando would be a necessity for me these days I think. Or you could called scooterswest who advertise on Modern Vespa and find yourself a pair pf handlebar muffs and a lap apron and take advantage of riding a step through motorcycle...Or move to Key West.

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