You have to be aware that the Piaggio MP3 scooter has "three wheels but can still fall over." That was the first bit of very helpful information given to me by Justin Watson, of Erico Motorsports, as he prepped me to take this three-wheeler for a ride.
Normally you think of three-wheelers, trikes if you will, as something that will not fall over. The difference is that a normal trike has three solidly planted wheels and steers like a car. In the case of the MP3, it uses what Piaggio calls "parallelogram suspension" to allow the two front wheels to lean, just like the single wheel on a normal motorcycle. While the two wheels may move up or down relative to each other, whether you're upright, leaning, going through a curve, the two wheels remain parallel. In fact, Justin said, because it is Italian, it is designed for Italian conditions, and that can mean parking with one wheel up on the curb, as you can see in that photo he shot for me in the slideshow at left.
Thus you have the best of both worlds: stability and lean.
I had wanted to try out this unique machine for some time and Erico's Tai Beldock was totally accommodating to my request for a loaner, just as she was when I wanted to try getting around solely on a scooter for a week. Thank you so much, Tai.
After Justin briefed me on operation of this 250cc scoot I headed out to put it through its paces. Justin had told me it was totally OK to take on the highway because it could hit speeds of 80 mph, but I wanted to get familiar with it on the city streets first. I found that riding it was exactly like riding a two-wheeler, for the most part, and you'd hardly know that second up-front wheel was there except for the added stability. As long as you're in motion you do have the stability of a trike; it's only when you come to a stop that it changes.
As I'm sure most motorcyclists do at times, when I'm sitting at a stop I'll sometimes try balancing on just the wheels, with my feet off the ground. I can't do it for long. I tried it on the MP3 and I could do it for longer but it was still going to tip. The bigger difference was that coming to the stop, it felt three-wheels-solid almost until it ceased rolling forward. And if you really want to be able to sit on the MP3 like a trike, it has a button you engage once you're moving at under 5 mph or once you're stopped and it locks the fork to keep you upright. Moving forward again automatically unlocks the fork.
So after awhile I did get on the highway, both to see how it did at higher speeds and also to get out west of town to the foothills so I could see how the MP3 climbs and how it handles tight turns. Lookout Mountain out by Golden seemed a good testing ground.
On the highway I can only say that I stayed in the right-hand lane. Justin told me the 250cc MP3 I was on had a top speed of 80 mph but I didn't see that. Maybe if you were going downhill. And while Piaggio also makes this scoot in 400cc and 500cc, those bigger engines don't translate so much into higher speeds as they do greater acceleration and more carrying power. But he said the 500cc model should hit 85 mph.
Lookout Mountain has some switchbacks and some good uphill grades and the MP3 handled them easily. Taking the switchbacks I just leaned into them the same as I would on either of my bikes but once again, there was that added feeling of stability that comes with having three wheels. Plus, there was a good bit of gravel on the curves, which would have made me very nervous on a two-wheeler, but it was not an issue on three wheels.
Heading back down gave me a chance to test the brakes a bit more, and you can believe they did their job. With two disk brakes in front and a third in the rear, this scoot has stopping power!
Then as I headed back to Erico I got caught in a downpour. My raingear was on my bike, parked back at Erico, so I got drenched. It's been a very long time since I've been that wet on a motorcycle. But once again, the stability of the MP3 showed through. There I was on wet pavement, going around curves and coming to stops, and it just did what I needed it to do.
I'm not going to be giving up any of my motorcycles any time soon in favor of a scooter, but I figure that decades in the future when I might be starting to struggle with a heavy bike I would figure to switch to a scooter, rather than a trike. But maybe the MP3 is the even better option. Best of both worlds, you know?
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