Welcome to the forum Tom! I'll not give you any advice about new or old as I don't own one but drive them most weeks at the factory....so my views might be rather skewed. There's a lot of information on here for you to pick up on the various issues that have cropped up.
They are huge fun and an interesting challenge for every day use in all weathers....but then I know guys who use a motorbike all year round to commute on. As V says....could be interesting in the snow....but then so is my Roadster and my main car, so I've bought a cheap narrow tyred Panda for such events!
