All Day Sucker

300 Miles on 3 Wheels. A Day in the Life

I'm not sure when it started, but the call of the open road has been a constant pedal point in my head for as long as I can remember. I just love being on the road. These days, that means running and riding. Being cooped up in a car, or a motor home with 3 grandchildren under age 5 can be rewarding, but this weekend it was about finding a stretch of road, twisting the throttle, and heading into the next mile.

Saturday morning dawned cool and foggy. I call in riding to Brigadoon, the Scottish town of the same name that is said to come to life only one day every 100 years.

First stop was to pick up my buddy Harry, a motorcycle enthusiast, pilot, and old friend. Harry has owned, and still owns, nearly every motorcycle that I have ever wanted to ride. His tastes mirror mine in almost every way. His wife rides a Vespa 250 so I knew we could have a scooter date, and I was sure that his impressions of the Piaggio MP3 would be interesting. Our agenda for the day was simply to get on the scooters and ride. We'd done this before on a variety of motorcycles and the goal was to see if it would be different on the scooters. It was, and it wasn't.

Our first stop was the hanger at Walgreen Field in Dixon, IL. The Board of Directors, a group of pilots, aircraft owners, and mechanics meet nearly every day to discuss planes, politics, and whatever else someone brings to the table. It is the classic gathering with good conversation over bad coffee. I expected them to be, at least, intrigued by the Piaggio MP3 and I wasn't disappointed. From the instant I rolled up until the adjournment of the meeting the hows and whys of the front suspension were the only topic.

It's important to understand that these are essentially airplane guys. Their knowledge of, and appreciation for, how things work exceeds even the most adamant motorcyclist. After all, if things don't work on a motorcycle you might have to walk home. If they don't work on an airplane, well, life can get ugly in a hurry. Once they got past the how does this work question the real issue seemed to be why would Piaggio do this. What was the point, so to speak. Beyond the engineering exercise was there any reason  have this configuration. We didn't answer the question, but we had a wonderful debate.

Then it was time for Harry and I to hit the roads. I explained that I wanted Harry to spend the day on the MP3 for two reasons. First, and most important, I wanted to get his riding impressions. Secondly, though I wanted to watch another rider on the Piaggio so that I could see what was going on and maybe learn a bit about how to ride it well. Our first stop, to fuel up, set the tone for the entire day. Every time we stopped, and sometimes even when we weren't stopped, people wanted to talk about the MP3. Seeing the two-wheel front end everyone had questions. Every stop turned into a conversation.

 
The longer we road the more I noticed the subtle changes in the way Harry was riding the MP3. Like everyone, he started by playing with the front end. As the miles went by he began to truly experience the whole vehicle. But rather than my telling you, here's what Harry had to say: I have owned at least fifty motorcycles over fifty years and have never met one that I did not like...except perhaps a Victor 441 that seemed created to provoke my shortage of vocabulary while trying to start the @#$%^&* thing.  This promised to be an opportunity to ride something “really different”

As a few miles rolled by, it became obvious that the idiot who was writing the supertitles need to be replaced.  This wonderful machine was NOT a scooter.  It is too heavy and “planted” to be considered in those terms.  In fact after a dozen or so miles of very curvy county roads, it began to dawn on me that I was not thinking in any known two wheel mode familiar to me.

In my humble opinion, the MP3 400 is a magnificent piece of engineering with cornering ability that could allow a good rider to humiliate a squid on a sport bike, especially when confronted with a less than perfect road surface with neither steep hills nor connecting straight-aways. Harry's full riding impression are at the end of this blog.

The surprise for both of us is that the MP3 is not a motorcycle, it's not a scooter either. It's, well, it's not anything LIKE anything else. When you try to describe something new the temptation is to compare it to something else, something you already know. The problem with the MP3 is that there isn't anything else against which it can be compared except, of course, another MP3. Beyond the mere look of the vehicle, way past the novelty and the bold styling, there is an absolutely fantastic piece of riding equipment. You don't see or feel it right away, but eventually it sinks in: This is special

The joy of riding backroads in America's heartland is that you never know what you're going to come across. The scooters are parked in front of what in my experience is the largest rock garden anywhere. It stands to reason, I suppose, that living in the vicinity of the Rock River that people would find all manner of things to do with rocks. This person certainly had. They had piled them up in a vast array of styles and shapes and figures the likes of which I had never seen.

The other grand joy in riding the backroads is in the riding, pure and simple. I long ago came to understand that as satisfying as it may be to quantify a ride with miles covered on a long strip of Interstate highway, it is every bit as satisfying to look at the quality of the ride. That quality comes in equal measures from the equipment you're riding, the company you are keeping, the care you take to be present for each moment, and your willingness to discard any thought you had of what the day might be.

For us. the day ended much as it had begun; talking to people. We thought we had found an out-of-the-way place to relax and enjoy a cool drink and to reflect on the findings of that day. That peace was quickly shattered by yet another couple of curious onlookers. These folks were motorcyclist. Classic, American, Big Bore, V-Twin motorcyclists. Their theory is that if it worked in 1950, it should work just fine now. But even their hide-bound attitudes towards motorcycling couldn't keep them from admiring the MP3. 


That's my take-away lesson of the day. When you decided to do something new - whether that's run a marathon or design and build a scooter with two front wheels - people are going to be curious at first but will not really buy into the idea. To be a marathon runner, or to be a rider on an MP3, takes a bit more courage, a bit more attitude, than sitting around and letting your life pass you by. And in the end, that's the part about riding the Piaggio MP3 that I'm enjoying the most.


Waddle on,

Guest Commentary

Harry is many things: former professor, entrepreneur, businessman, pilot, and motorcyclist. He appreciates all things mechanical and seemed like the perfect person to ask to spend a day on the Piaggio MP3. What follows is his description of that day.

A Day on an Piaggio MP3: Riding Impressions and more.

Submitted by Harry Spell

On Saturday, last, an old friend came calling, asking me to ride something really different and give an opinion.  Fine, so far, as I really enjoy John's company and do not have the opportunity to spend nearly enough time with him and his lovely wife, Jenny.  Jenny was busy as was my wife, Karly so we had the day to enjoy a new Piaggio MP3 400 and, to provide a foil, my wife's two year old Vespa 250ie.  I was somewhat familiar with the MP3 as I had ridden a 250cc model while my wife was finishing up the paper work for her new Vespa.

Hold that thought....

John said, “how about we spend the day on the two 'scooters', you on the MP3 and me on the Vespa?”.  Done!  I have owned at least fifty motorcycles over fifty years and have never met one that I did not like...except perhaps a Victor 441 that seemed created to provoke my shortage of vocabulary while trying to start the @#$%^&* thing.  This promised to be an opportunity to ride something “really different” (MP reference intentional).  My supertitle scrolled “SCOOTER” as it did not look like a motorcycle, had a “step through” frame, small wheels, and no visible clutch.

  Back to the first paragraph thought...

The first impression, with my svelt porcine physique, was that, at least, it was large enough that I would not look like a gorilla on a tricycle.  The suspension made a great impression considering city traffic and obligatory potholes, but alas, the power delivery was closer to that of a simeon on a velocipede.  After being reminded by the salesman that I was riding double before the exercise began, I returned to my second analysis of the MP3, the engineering is simply riveting.  You just want to crawl under to see how the front end works.  My wife reminded me that she had just taken possession of a stunning new red Vespa and to stop ogling images of algorithms and parallelograms.  I put the notion of having a MP3 out of my mind but the engineering sugar plums kept dancing in my head.

So, off we go with me thinking “scooter” with motor.  As a few miles rolled by, it became obvious that the idiot who was writing the supertitles need to be replaced.  This wonderful machine was NOT a scooter.  It is too heavy and “planted” to be considered in those terms.  In fact after a dozen or so miles of very curvy county roads, it began to dawn on me that I was not thinking in any known two wheel mode familiar to me.  You see, I approach every motorcycle/scooter from the front wheel back.  What is happening to the front wheel determines the whole day.  It is that feed-back of grip, stability, push, turn-in, understeer/oversteer, etc. that establishes the basic nature of the machine.  I know, for some it is all about the motor; but, in my humble estimation, the motor is not very important if it cannot be manipulated down an exquisite path with an ever-widening grin.  Here is the dilemma, the MP3, little by little, inspires such confidence in the front-end that I began to stop thinking about it.  Hold the phone, this is huge; fifty plus years of riding, with all the baggage that goes with it has to be re-evaluated.

In what terms?!

I began with “scooter”, moved to a faster pace that whispered “motorcycle”, and suddenly entered the world of “sports car”!  Now what?  There is an interesting thing about preconceived notions; they are usually based upon anecdotal rather than empirical evidence.  They can also get you into things that require studied consideration; usually requiring a bit more time that a mid-corner correction allows.  It is all about definitions and categories.  I am reminded of the conundrum that must have confronted the first writer seeing a 1921 Ner-A-Car.  What is this?

Bottom line.

In my humble opinion, the MP3 400 is a magnificent piece of engineering with cornering ability that could allow a good rider to humiliate a squid on a sport bike, especially when confronted with a less than perfect road surface with neither steep hills nor connecting straight-aways.  If this suggests that a bit more motor would be nice along with more legroom, I plead guilty.  But then what is the target audience?  The MP3 is a bit heavy, for a beginning rider, especially if that rider is not adept at triggering the lock that allows feet on the floorboard stops. It also is too “pricey” to attract many first time customers.  At the end of the day, I was not tired, most anxious to talk about this great machine, and would welcome the opportunity to do it all again.  I love to carve corners without worrying about that pesky front contact patch.  Bravo e gratzie Piaggio!!

P.S. This is the abbreviated analysis.  This wonderfully executed engineering masterpiece deserves an article or at least a poem.  If I had to ride on unfamiliar roads in the rain, this would be my first choice of everything other than a chauffeured limo.

HS