Piaggio MP3: the hooligan scooter?

A couple of things we didn’t get around to mentioning in our Gizmag review of the Piaggio MP3 three-wheel 250cc scooter - that may be of some interest to the more… ahem, spirited owner. Firstly, while we praised the plucky little carver’s huge braking power, we didn’t tell you that the twin front contact patches offer more than enough grip to lift the heavy weight-biased rear of the bike off the ground in a rather jovial manner when provoked.

What’s more, the front-end cornering confidence has to be felt to be believed - allowing cheerful riders to grind the centrestand down even at carpark-slalom speeds:

And finally it’s worth noting that the triangular wheelbase makes feet-up rolling burnouts a joy, the bike balancing unflappably beneath you as it smokes up a charm.

There’s a 400cc MP3 and a 500cc to be released as the Gilera Fuoco coming soon. I wonder if they’ll wheelie to complete the hooligan trifecta?

It’s not the sort of bike I expected to have such a good time with, but the three-wheel carver concept holds as much fun for experienced riders as it does security and confidence for newbies. Grab a test ride, you’ll see what I mean! We’re looking at chopping a video together of our MP3 test, more as it comes to hand.