WHAT exactly is this??

[FatNakedGuy]

 

[johnny80s]

Piaggio Mp3

 

[MotorToad]

In polite circles, those guys are called "homosexuals."

 

[hotbike dave]

WTF?

 

[madmike2]

I'm starting to see more and more of them used as commuters and weekend errand runners in the Sacramento area.

More power to them. The more folks we can get on the road in "other-than-cages" the better it will be for all of us who ride motorcycles.

In the Good-old-bye-God-Yew-Ess-of-AYE we tend to look down on the scooter riders as some sort of sub-class. I think that Europe and the rest of the world probably view things differently. Because of the tiered licensing requirements, the "scooter",and the machines of that type, born from those factories, are more popular. At least that's my opinion based on the pictures I've see of the local towns and metro parking areas that are replete with scooters.

IMO we need a change of attitude, on this continent, that appreciates the co-ed riding a scooter to college, the mother or grand-mother who uses one to run errands, the commuter dad or whatever should be accepted as 2-wheeled brethren in the war for space and respect from the average car driver. The more divergent family members on "our" type of machines the more acknowledgment and recognition we might all gain from the cagers we share the roads with.

YMMV (and your opinion).

 

[Allnight]

I see one or two of those things routinely on I-880 somewhere around Fremont or Milpitas. They really look...wrong.

I had been wondering how they turn though. Seeing this pic scares me though...how far over can it lean and still have a suspension between those two front tires? The right side is extended a good 4 inches farther than the left...what happens when it bottoms out?

 

[Geezer]

Based on the helmet and lack of other gear, I'd say it is some new American made cruiser.

 

[user 6393]

I wonder what it'd be like with a car tire on the back?

 

[Solo]

What little reporting the press has done on the Mp3 indicates that these scooters have exceptional front end grip. Plus, if I remember correctly, as you come to a standstill you can lock the front wheels upright so you don't have to take your feet off the floorboards. Maybe these kinds of features will encourage more people to try riding, which would decrease the number of folk who "just don't get it," as another current thread on the forum points out.

+1 to what madmike said. We need to attract as many people as we can to the sport of riding. Even if it is on a scooter. Heck, I started out on a 50cc Suzuki in 1965 and I quickly moved up to larger machines. Maybe we will see the same from scooter riders. And if not, at least they understand what we face on the street, but also the joy of being on 2 (or 3) wheels.

 

[stealth1]

It looks more appropriate than a 2 wheeler when you park it in the handicap space.

 

[BwanaDik]

Can you "legally" split lanes with this? (Don't start the NEPRT on this). I mean is it a "bike" or classified as a "cage"?

 

[user 6393]

I mean is it a "bike" or classified as a "cage"?

Looks like a speed bump waiting to happen

 

[FJRONAMISSION]

I'm starting to see more and more of them used as commuters and weekend errand runners in the Sacramento area.
More power to them. The more folks we can get on the road in "other-than-cages" the better it will be for all of us who ride motorcycles.

In the Good-old-bye-God-Yew-Ess-of-AYE we tend to look down on the scooter riders as some sort of sub-class. I think that Europe and the rest of the world probably view things differently. Because of the tiered licensing requirements, the "scooter",and the machines of that type, born from those factories, are more popular. At least that's my opinion based on the pictures I've see of the local towns and metro parking areas that are replete with scooters.

IMO we need a change of attitude, on this continent, that appreciates the co-ed riding a scooter to college, the mother or grand-mother who uses one to run errands, the commuter dad or whatever should be accepted as 2-wheeled brethren in the war for space and respect from the average car driver. The more divergent family members on "our" type of machines the more acknowledgment and recognition we might all gain from the cagers we share the roads with.

YMMV (and your opinion).

======

Chant................ MM for Governor .....MM for Govener .....

B......

 

[FatNakedGuy]

...and can anyone tell me who that is on the trike? (big celebrity)

 

[Crash Cash]

...and can anyone tell me who that is on the trike? (big celebrity)

ODOT?

 

[worldbound4now]

...and can anyone tell me who that is on the trike? (big celebrity)

Michael Jackson?

 

[SkooterG]

In polite circles, those guys are called "homosexuals."

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

I wonder what it'd be like with a car tire on the back?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

 

[JamesK]

It's a bit of an abomination IMO but it does look like it can at least pretend to lean, and certainly looks like it can lean a lot better than many cruisers out there. I think MM2 makes a good point though.

I have to say i've seen the delivery guys in Tokyo who often ride these Honda Gyro scooters achieve some impressive looking leans on these, they typically have the cargo, ramen soup, etc suspended on a spring loaded basket/tray & soft/stretch cover type of thing so it remains reasonably level with the road despite of the lean angle on the scooter.

And then you have this, what Yamaha calls the 4-wheel motorcycle:

Yamaha is set to reveal a whole new class of four-wheel recreational machine at the Tokyo Motor Show that looks to combine motorcycle performance and maneuverability with four wheels worth of traction and road-holding capability. Details remain sketchy on the Tesseract hybrid four-wheeled motorcycle – ostensibly a four-wheel version of the Vespa, Piaggio and Vectrix three-wheelers with tilting mechanisms (dubbed “dual-scythe suspension”) at both ends making it a carving four-wheeler that retains the advantages of narrow width roughly equivalent to a two-wheeled machine. Powered by an electric hybrid liquid-cooled V-twin, the Tesseract promises ample torque and a top speed that will be theoretical everywhere but a racetrack, and when at rest, the machine will remain upright without the need for a stand via a dual arm-lock system.
Visit Transport2.0 to read the full story and see more images of this extraordinary machine.

Transport2.0

Can a motorcycle have 4 wheels?

 

[RadioHowie]

Can a motorcycle have 4 wheels?

Well SURE! We've all seen that a car can have 2 wheels.