Modern Vespa

I had a Harley pull up next to me on Friday, and the guy asked, "What is that thing? And does it lean?" I was happy to tell him that my ride was a Piaggio, and indeed it does lean 40 percent.

A light bulb moment just came about....... what happens at 41 degrees? Has anyone gone into the void? Or will I and my machine pass on to the 5th dimension? (With or without Marilyn Macoo?)

I believe at 41 degrees sparks fly and your rear wheel starts to feel as if it's not making contact with the road anymore. I could be wrong though.

At 40 degrees, whichever foot of the centerstand that is inside of the turn contacts the ground. It makes a distinctive loud dragging sound and the foot will get a bit beat up but will not affect its function. It is not difficult to drag the centerstand; that noise is a warning to get a bit more upright (since this most commonly happens at slow speed, typically this includes goosing the throttle a bit). On a conventional motorcycle, this role is typically served by a bump protruding from the bottom of the footpegs, which like the centerstand are spring-loaded; if those harley riders lean too far over, the bump begins to drag and make a noise (and vibrates the rider's foot), but because they are spring-loaded it is unlikely that the footpeg will actually snag the ground and cause a crash (unless the rider ignores the noise and attempts to force a further lean, of course).

Because the centerstand lies along the scooter's centerline, this is true regardless of strut compression. If you have added something that projects sideways beyond the scooter, consideration must also be given to the fact that centrifugal force will compress the inboard suspension strut, so something that appears to be at less than 40 degrees can still contact the ground before the centerstand when executing maximum lean turns at higher speeds (add-on footpegs are an example).

If the centerstand is removed, or (according to others on this forum) larger tires are installed, it bercomes possible to lean slightly more than 40 degrees, in which case the muffler guard or engine casing will contact ground first. Since they are associated with things more important mechanically than the centerstand and not spring-loaded, that's presumably not a good thing. There is also going to come a point where you have maxed out available strut compression (which would mean if you lean any further, instead of having two tires on the ground in front you'll have only one, with the other hanging in the air), but because the MP3 has a remarkable amount of strut travel you will have long since dragged the centerstand, muffler, or something else. I imagine it's possible to lose contact with one wheel during a maximum turn on uneven terrain, but as the picture below proves, on flat ground all tires will remain on the ground at maximum lean and maximum strut compression.

The new MP3 hybrid has a rather large electric motor protruding from one side of the rear wheel, and it has been speculated that that motor (or more specifically, a steel tube that encompasses it) will be the first thing to contact ground when leaning to that side.

Well said rjeffb

There is a picture posted here somewhere of one leaned far enough to raise the outside wheel off the ground.

Someone also shortened the rubber bumpers on the center stand raising it higher to get a bit more lean. Changing the setting on the rear shocks will affect how much lean is required to hit it. I ride on the third setting and rarely scrape the center stand, but if I lower shocks to the first setting I surprise myself hitting it unexpectedly.

I have taken a left-hand curve at a rate which, I believe, had me experiencing the whatif scenario. Combined with a drop shoulder and a deep ditch, I can say it was exciting. But I merely eased off the throttle, scrubbing enough speed before I got to the shoulder that I reduced angle and pulled through at the edge. However, for a moment it felt like the rear tire lifted and I was oversteering toward the ditch. It wasn't sudden and dramatic - very 'controlled' in one sense. But I had found the outer limits...

Here is a photo of a wheel off the ground on one side. Center stand must be off, and it looks like the variator housing might be dragging.

will be nothing that flat-twin BMW riders haven't dealt with for ages... 8)

I've only been riding a couple of years and I don't ride *very* hard, so it's a frightening thing when the stand drags, but it hasn't actually caused me any effect but 'worry' yet - no catching or anything.
Thinking about it, it *must* be designed with that 'intention' in mind.

Personally, I would like a pair of protruding 'noisemakers' of some sort so I know when I'm approaching the scrape. Some like plastic doohicky that sticks on somewhere *shrug*

Someone needs to figure out how to install these on the center stand. Watch the video.

http://gmanindustries.com/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=132

Those seem a bit expensive. Here is the skateboard version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJF5LoixFQE

http://taildevil.com/ Only $7.95 + shipping. Pry off the individual "buttons" and apply with JB weld. You'll have extras left for when you eventually rub them off.

"Holy Knee Fire, Batman."

On the motorcycle crash technology show a couple weeks ago the test rider said the reason for dragging a knee is it lets the rider know how far the bike is leaning. Just get a knee slider and have at it. Not that expensive or high tech.

How about it O.A.D. is this the truth?

BTW, Not recommended if wearing shorts.

WHOOOOO thats cool!!!!!

I would by riding on each night scraping that thing like a maniac!!!!

>On the motorcycle crash technology show a couple weeks ago the test rider said the reason for dragging a knee is it lets the rider know how far the bike is leaning. Just get a knee slider and have at it. Not that expensive or high tech.

No, what you need to do is glue some of those sparkler knobs to the kneepad and THEN go kneesliding. WHOA-WEE!