(I’ll be leanin’ ’round the mountain when I come!)
My favorite quote is this one I found on DNAIndia:
“It’s an absolutely new product which we hope will excite customer interest,” said Piaggio chief Roberto Colaninno, who is hoping the new model will be a big hit on the streets of Europe as well as in Asia and the United States as the price of oil soars to an all-time high.
WHAT?! WHAT DID HE SAY?! UNITED STATES? Seal the bridge! (oops… sorry my favorite line from Episode I got tied up in there… uh hmm… I mean…) SWEET!
The bad news is that while the 250cc version will go on sale in Italy next month (for around 5,000 euros), the exported version will be released some day and will initially be a paltry 125ccs.
All the 3-wheeled Piaggio goodness you can stand can be found at www.mp3.piaggio.com. (or at least all that’s available). You can also check out the press shots over at our friends site www.2strokebuzz.com (Bryan! Curses! You beat us to the punch again!)
Here’s a bit from their press release.
PIAGGIO Group – News: articolo: “Piaggio launched the first Vespa model – and with it the scooter phenomenon – in the spring of 1946. The scooter revolutionized personal transport, giving Europeans a sense of utter freedom.
Sixty years on, Piaggio has come up with another revolutionary product: the PIAGGIO MP3, a totally innovative three-wheeler with two front wheels. The PIAGGIO MP3 provides safety, road grip and stability levels that no two-wheeler can match. Power, performance and ease of use make for a very entertaining ride.
The two front wheels of the PIAGGIO MP3 re-define the very concept of ride stability to provide an unprecedented riding experience.
The front assembly, with two independent tilting wheels, is far more stable than any scooter. The PIAGGIO MP3 grips the road even when tailing other vehicles, providing top performance in total safety.
The full extent of this three-wheeler’s stability can be tested on wet asphalt or tough riding conditions that would sorely challenge a traditional two-wheeler.
In town and city traffic the PIAGGIO MP3 has no equal in terms of safety. It takes on cobblestone streets, patchy asphalt and tram tracks with the greatest of ease, remaining safe and stable all the while.”
I don’t know if I’d get used to not putting down a kick-stand, but I can’t wait to give it a test ride! My only complaint right now (besides the 125cc export) is the name! (Google Personalized Results 1 – 10 of about 1,170,000,000 for mp3)… ONE BILLION, one hundred seventy million. They should have stuck with X2 or even called it X3, but they didn’t want it confused with a souring movie franchise… please make the last one good!
***UPDATE 5/14/06***
I did a little conversion and here’s what we got for speed…
The 125cc MP3 Top Speed? 65MPH
The 250cc MP3 Top Speed? 77MPH
sigh… now I sorta wish they came in a 300cc and a 600cc. Se la vie!
11. May 2006 at 7:58 pm
Steve, I wouldn’t really say you were scooped on this, given that even Two-Stroke is getting their info from an official Press Release.
I can’t wait til tomorrow to see if say the Wall Street Journal picks this up — otherwise the largest channel of information through to the US about scooters is virtually all online.
Patrick
11. May 2006 at 10:19 pm
What morons. They simply don’t understand the USA. In most parts of the country, you can’t get from HERE to THERE without a stint down the highway. If this is intended to be sold as a ‘commuter’ it needs to have at least a 500cc twin-cylinder engine. Anyone who lives in the suburbs and commutes to work takes the highway and rush-hour traffic is brutally fast.
12. May 2006 at 7:26 am
A lot of folks in NYC (and other really large cities) will probably snap it up on account of its bling value.
12. May 2006 at 2:20 pm
In response to the comment “what morons:”
The people at Piaggio have a huge percentage of the scooter market er… elsewhere… ie Europe, for which this bike is obviously intended.
Europeans speak “scooter” fluently, and though it’s not a given the bike will succeed, Piaggio most certainly did not design the bike assuming it would take the US by storm.
They know well enough that Americans already have a hard time comprehending anything other than 4-wheeled transportation.
Europeans currently face wicked fuel prices. And all over Europe, gentlemen and ladies ride scooters TO WORK through inclement weather for most of the year.
For the executive commuter who wants to extend his scootering season more safely, the MP3 may resonate ‘loud and clear.’
It’s a bold and risky solution that may solve a serious drawback of 2-wheeled scooters.
Certain Americans, but certainly not all Americans, might be grateful that Piaggio has the where-with-all to bring the MP3 to the US.
It’s not for every Tom, Dick and Bonehead who is as open-minded and world-wise as a rock.
15. September 2006 at 6:22 pm
Since I currently do 100 mile day trips on my Whizzer, the MP3 looks like a real usable form of transport. After work recreational runs and trips to stores in Ann Arbor, Michigan I never need to go past 50. Back roads still exist and can be more fun than the highway. Riding along next to the Huron River is ten times better at 20 than at 35. Lots of folks buy second or third vehicles just for recreational use and the MP3 looks like a weird snowmobile anyway, so it should fit right in Michigan.