Scooter News  ADVERTISEMENT  Mp3 250 i.e. Sunday's Courier Mail takes a good hard look at the Piaggio MP3. Good to see it hit the spotlight and coming out on top.
News.com.au A REVOLUTION is about to happen in the two-wheeled world. In fact, we may soon refer to it as the three-wheeled world.
The catalyst for this revolution will be the three-wheeled Piaggio MP3 scooter that leans like a normal two-wheeler.
Despite looking rather odd, it is actually a very clever invention that is likely to take hold – at least in the world of scooters.
You see, this three-wheeled scooter is a very practical idea and people tend to buy scooters for practical reasons. (If you bought a motorcycle for a practical reason, you have made a mistake and should have bought a scooter.)
I had the MP3 for a couple of weeks and found it a revelation as well as a revolution.
Even on the first ride home, it revealed its many talents.
I often take a treacherous little detour around the Bowen Hills railway station where the road is lumpy, littered with manhole covers and has steep off-camber corners.
The MP3 simply soared through, unperturbed by the many obstacles in its path.
Down the hill I scanned the approaching traffic for a break to make a right turn and didn't check the surface of the road as I darted around the corner.
My heart leapt into my mouth as I noticed a sand spill, yet the MP3 merely twitched, slid a little in the front then back, and kept on going. Any other bike would have immediately low-sided.
It makes me ponder what this concept would be like on an off-road bike.
At the first red light, I flicked a handlebar switch which locks the independent front wheels and prevents the scooter falling over when stationary. So there I sat with my feet up and the bike vertical.
(This is a fun game to play, but be careful as you tend to wobble as you stop and you can easily lock the wheels when they are not straight or the bike is on a lean. Then, when you throttle on and the wheel lock is released, the bike will wobble a little dangerously at first.)
Across town it glided across potholes as if they weren't there and on the 100km/h Western Freeway it kept pace with the traffic and gave no impression of instability or skittishness.
The front wheels are connected by a wishbone-style linkage, but the two wheels work totally independently. You could ride up a kerb and not know it until your back wheel hits.
This truly is an amazing machine.
It wants you to push hard into corners, bank it over in rain or shine, and take aim at potholes.
But I can't agree with some reviewers who claim it feels like a normal bike.
The extra contact patch on the front gives you far more confidence in corners, but it also slows turn-in. It simply doesn't feel nimble at the front end.
I was also constantly aware that it has two front wheels because of its immense stability.
I don't advise it, because it's illegal, but take your hands off the bars midcorner and it doesn't immediately stand up or wobble. It's that stable.
And if you do forget you are on a three-wheeler, the looks on the faces of passersby will remind you: women smile and laugh, while men just look quizzical.
Then there is the fact that I constantly feel like I'm riding an electric wheelchair or some incompetent who can't handle a normal bike or scooter.
Yet the scoot really is great fun in traffic and even on the Sunday strop through the hills.
Mine was the 250cc model, costing $10,990, which is a bit steep. The 400cc costs $11,990 and the sporty Gilera Fuoco 500ie fuel-injected scooter is $12,990.
The 250 is pretty nippy, though, hitting 60km/h in seven seconds and 100km/h in 15. That should keep you out of harm's way from pursuing tin-top traffic.
The electric-start, single-cylinder, water-cooled, 250cc four-stroke engine and Constantly Variable Transmission (automatic) MP3 is also powerful enough to get you a serious speeding ticket on the highway.
At 100km/h it is doing 7000rpm and it redlines at, well who knows? I never got anywhere near the highest posted revs of 12000rpm.
Yet it sips fuel at 4.3 litres per 100km.
And it's a practical two-people-and-luggage carrier with a fat seat and enormous under-seat storage that will take a full-face helmet, full backpack and jacket.
Petrol tank is under the front floor, where it belongs and where a spillage won't ruin your luggage.
The cockpit is a little cramped for my 187cm frame and I spent a lot of time sitting on the back seat. A few centimetres of extra foot space would be great.
It comes with a handbrake and a centre stand for parking, but you can just lock the front wheels on any incline or over a gutter and it will stay vertical. I also found that I could lock the front wheels and back it out of my steep driveway with my feet up. The neighbours were quite amused.
Piaggio MP3 250
PRICE: $10,990
ENGINE: 244.3cc fuel-injected, liquid-cooled, four-stroke, single-cylinder
POWER: 16.5kW @ 8250rpm
TORQUE: 21Nm @ 6750rpm
FUEL: ULP, 12-litre tank (1.8L reserve)
ECONOMY: 4.3l/100KM
COLOURS: blue, silver, black, burgundy
SUPPLIED BY: Scooters Scooters in Fortitude Valley, www.scootersscooters.com.au
published 11/02/2008 |