We arrived at the track to see this kind of action going on:
One of the many riders that was there Sunday was my very good friend and very talented and experienced rider, Rusty, Jr. Some of you may remember him from this picture that was posted sometime last year:
After he had ridden for a while in the A Class, he came over and asked if I would be interested in seeing the MP3-500 run on the track. Well, my response was "Well, HAIL YEAH!!". Now Rusty has a good bit of experience on MP3-250's since he is the former parts manager at Vespa Of Baton Rouge. So we proceeded to start taping up The Beast.
After everything was secured and taped up, Rusty decided to warm up a little bit in the parking lot since he never ridden the 500 before:
Then it was off to the range officer for a safety inspection:
And then off to the races!!!!!!
Well, as you can imagine, one of the first questions on the Rocket Maddness Forums was "How did it do?". Here in Rusty's own words is his ride report:
Quote:
The handling on the MP3 was outstanding , I have ridin them alot on the streets but never been able to put one through its paces like this befor . After a few laps of getting the feel of the new 500 it was time to go. Turn 1 was all out never lift , indicated 90+ on the dash and cilmbing headed into 2 , trail brake slightly going in 2 half throttle , pined it at the apex to round 3 at full , this is where the outstanding braking comes in , full on brake from roughly 70 diving into 4 back to full on through 5+6 , the 5,6 dips were no problem at all on three wheels, 7 8 9 were a clear shot to run flat out , 10 is where it got intresting , I found to go faster I had to get more off the bike , WAY off to try not to completely remove the center stand , trail braked late through 10 and hard on goin into 11, rounding 11 half throttle to three quarter at 12 , in 13 was a lite lift to set up for full on to 14 an let her eat down the straight .
Braking - This was one of the most confidence inspiring braking systems I'v seen . The feed back from the ground to the hand was out right excellent.
Traction - Ever drive on velcro? You cant break this thing lose , I tried.
Power - Well lets face it , you can always have more.
Weight- I think this was the only thing that was a downer. It is a lil sluggish from half to full throttle on the exits. On the up side of that , you go full on much much sooner.
Rideability- The center stand has to go. BUT , the more I think about the ride and look at pictures , it seems to be a saftey feature as well as a tool . With out it would I have over
rode the edge of the tire? Hmmm....
Suspension - Very smooth without giving up feel , this was impressive. The bumps and dips were sucked up and it tracked straight and true .
Fun factor - WEEEEEEEE , that was fricking awsome.
All in all I give it a 9 outta 10 for a sweet all around play toy , the only downer is the amount of mass it has to pull around . Although I didnt catch the tard I wanted to I never stopped grinning .
Thanks Ed , thats one Ill never forget.
Braking - This was one of the most confidence inspiring braking systems I'v seen . The feed back from the ground to the hand was out right excellent.
Traction - Ever drive on velcro? You cant break this thing lose , I tried.
Power - Well lets face it , you can always have more.
Weight- I think this was the only thing that was a downer. It is a lil sluggish from half to full throttle on the exits. On the up side of that , you go full on much much sooner.
Rideability- The center stand has to go. BUT , the more I think about the ride and look at pictures , it seems to be a saftey feature as well as a tool . With out it would I have over
rode the edge of the tire? Hmmm....
Suspension - Very smooth without giving up feel , this was impressive. The bumps and dips were sucked up and it tracked straight and true .
Fun factor - WEEEEEEEE , that was fricking awsome.
All in all I give it a 9 outta 10 for a sweet all around play toy , the only downer is the amount of mass it has to pull around . Although I didnt catch the tard I wanted to I never stopped grinning .
Thanks Ed , thats one Ill never forget.
There is also a video here that you can download and see some of the action:
http://lahsta.com/videos/NPROCT08.wmv
More pictures from Tiger Track Day October 12, 2008 can be seen here:
http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c204/EdInBTR/My%20Pics/Tiger%20Track%20Days/2008-10-12/?start=all
So far I have uploaded about 200 pictures and I still have about another 150 to go.
I shot all of the stills and thanks to Chappy for the video.
Rusty and I will be interested in hearing all of your comments. He is also a member here at Modern Vespa and will be glad to answer any questions that anyone has.
Enjoy,
⚠️ Last edited by EdInBTR on UTC; edited 1 time
