I watched a guy riding one yesterday, Vespa I think, and noted that he did lean into turns and he did put his feet down when stopped. I’ve wondered about that and now I know. But what I don’t know is what’s the point of three wheels? Looks kinda cool once you get used to it, but what else.
Peace,
mangeorge
You mean as opposed to having two wheels? A three-wheeled vehicle won’t tip over when it’s at a complete stop, for one thing.
So it’ll lean just so far then stay there? It could be set up to remain upright at a stop, and the guy just likes to put his feet down.
I was thinking maybe also a braking advantage.
It was probably just force of habit.
Was it 2 wheels in back, or 2 wheels in front? The latter are supposed to be much more stable.
I know someone whose balance is so poor that she cannot safely ride a bicycle. She rides a tricycle. I guess if she wanted something powered, a 3-wheel cycle would be her logical choice.
Sorry, I wasn’t exactly specific. It was two in front, like a Vespa.
The leaning three wheelers are suspended so that they will stay upright without a rider. This prevents dropping it when stopped. They also don’t fall over when parked due to kick stand sinking into hot asphalt.
Very similar. I was behind it most of the time.
I see you needn’t put your feet down or clutch, which is cool running around town. Stopping and starting are the most awkward parts of city riding, I think, because you have to go so slow.
I won’t be getting one, because I’d miss the raw power of my Burgman 650. 
Isn’t the Piaggio a Vespa product?
Story is that the maker of the scooter named it “Vespa” because it sounded like a wasp, which it does. the story goes on that his daughter said “Daddy, it sounds like a wasp”. It is Italian, so that could explain the romantic story. 
BTW; I just happen to be the proud owner of a 1965 Honda 50 Cub, “The World’s Greatest Motorcycle”.
There are two versions of the MP3, one that has hydraulics and can stand upright on its own, and the cheaper version that can’t.
I don’t know about other countries, but in Greece you can ride the one that doesn’t tip over with your regular car driver’s license.
Checking the Piaggio website at http://www.piaggiousa.com/scooters.html I’m mystified that 500cc could move so little bike so slowly. With that much displacement any modern crotch rocket could do more like 150mph, not just not-quite-90. Sure, it could be governed down, but then I would not expect to see the top speed dropping more or less *pro rata *from the 500 to the 400 to the 250.
Why would a regular car driver’s license cause a scooter to tip over?
I should probably apologize for that.
Other way around. The parent company is Piaggio. The first model was produced by Piaggo Aero following WWII. The 2 wheeled / commercial vehicle business was spun off into a separate company in the 1960s. That company has several divisions besides Vespa, including MotoGuzzi:
That article doesn’t attribute it to the daughter:
A couple of years ago I noticed one or two of these Piaggio MP3 things around here. I was briefly intrigued by the idea of getting one to zip around locally on, but decided not to.
My Suzuki 650 Burgman’s 638cc motor will just get it up to 100 mph. Suzuki’s GSX650F claims a top speed of 135 mph. That’s a 35% increase for just a few more cubes.
It’s my guess that scooter riders aren’t all that interested in 100 mph plus speeds. If they (we) were they’d get a crotch rocket.
Prices of that motorcycle and the top Burgman are pretty close.
Agreed.
But that 500cc’s-worth of power goes to either top speed or to acceleration. Or else it’s a really detuned 500. None of those 3 alternatives make much engineering sense for a scooter’s mission.
I suspect what’s really going on is that the 250 is plenty of power for the scooter mission, but the marketing department figures a line of 3 engine sizes will sell better. I’d also bet the incremental cost of the 500 engine is less than the incremental price of the 500 scooter. Win-win for them.
I’m not suggesting this is evil; merely the same marketing approach used in lots of other motor vehicles, … and TVs, and …
The mistake (such as it was) in my first post was approaching this as a purely engineering issue.