When is an MP3 not an mp3?

Okay, I haven't been blogging much lately, and I don't usually blog on the weekends, but I saw something earlier this week, and research dictates that it is deserving of a post-haste.

On the way home from...something - don't remember what - I saw someone riding what looked like a standard street bike, except it had three wheels in the front. I have been wondering for a while why no one has bothered making three-wheelers with the two wheels on front, so this caught my attention and curiosity. With a little bit of Googling, I found the following:

Piaggio 3 Wheel MP3 Scooter

Piaggio launched the first Vespa model — and with it the scooter phenomenon — in the spring of 1946. The scooter revolutionised 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 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. With its compact super-scooter size and exceptional manoeuvrability, the PIAGGIO MP3 is at home in town traffic. It’s a cinch to park: an electro-hydraulic suspension locking system means there is no need to put the vehicle on its stand.

...The Piaggio MP3 is type-approved as a standard two wheeled motorcycle.

...The three-disk braking system and exceptional front-end road-holding reduce braking space by 20 per cent compared to the best scooters.

...

The PIAGGIO MP3 is available in two engine displacements, 125 and 250 cc, both up-to-date 4-stroke, 4-valve, liquid-cooled units in line with Euro3 emissions standards.

The 125cc engine offers an excellent power output of 15 bhp/11kW, the legal limit when riding with a car licence. The 250cc, equipped with electronic injection, delivers a 22.5 bhp/16.9 kW power output, making the PIAGGIO MP3 capable of comfortably taking on long-distance rides.


So, for those of you with plenty of money who are wondering what to get me for Birthday or Christmas, you can add this to the list. It's probably not as much fun to drive as the Carver, but it's certainly not as expensive either.