Modern Vespa

Just spoke to my rep from piaggio yesterday, he says that the 3 wheel will be late march or april arrival. I was told in long beach that it would be Jan. 07. Sorry for the mis -information. dr

Oh great I can't wait that long, I am off to Piaggio Tech to ride one then!

2 stroke buzz has some good info

called MP3

cost 6999

coming mid marchish


leaning back toward the mp3...will get the 250 and maybe update to the 400 if it ever comes...if i need the extra speed

or the GTV...will have to ride both as soon as they arrive

the GTV looks better, but leaning into turns looks to be a blast with the mp3...looks vs lean...will have to ride to see which is more important

g

I just talked to my local Vespa dealer here in St. Louis today and he said the US version would now be called a "PT3" and wasn't sure when they'd be getting one :?

PT3 = Possible Tires 3? Potential Turned-heads 30million?

I'm lost now thanks to all the potential/confirmed name changes. If I ever come across one in real life I'll probably assume its just some sexy mod, like adding a disco ball topcase! *shiny*

Just got a Piaggio e-mail...they cleared the use of the name "MP3" for the states and it will be delivered in late March. But we've got a demo here now and I just can't get my butt off the thing.

If you're in the area, come by and take it for some serious riding while we have it. Not to rub it in for those in cold climates, but it's sunny and nearly 70 degrees again today. Perfect MP3 weather!

Well its sunny and 75 here in Riverside, clear and great riding weather. But No MP3 , btw, i still like the idea of naming the MP3 instead of a letter/# series
DR

Just came in from sled riding in the moonlight with my five year old--keep your 70! (It'll get here soon enough).

Sledding????

Tell me that you have a Flexible Flyer (the long one) and we'll have to talk trade!

I have heard that Piaggio USA is sticking with the name MP3, but I like the other name someone suggested X3.


Jon

BMW is already using that one.

We have a Speedy 40", a Rockst Plane 50" and a Flexible Flyer 40" (and a 6' all wood toboggan). All vintage and all orig. (NFS sorry!) And some plastic stuff too.

Well, its been fun reading this. I will brag a bit. Its about 60 degrees and sunny in San Jose right now. I figure I should take our tester mp3 out to lunch for about an hour or so..
bragging


Serously, its cool and I wish everyone had a chance to check it out. David, didn't you ride it in Texas?

Yup I rode in tx. but i wanna go down the streets of riverside plus nyle wants to see if he can handle one. dr

I'd love to see a bunch of MP3s getting raced on a track. Actually, I'd love to participate in that.

Irish Tim: Those are some sweet sleds. Do you stack the whole family on them horizontally and bomb down the hill?
David: Call Nick Q and get one of these MP3s b-4 they go away.

No way. I usually just careen down the hill after my daredevilish youngest dauhtger and end up laughing in a snow covered heap at the bottom!

MP3 is on the Piaggio USA web site.

Tim

Yeah, after they ran the bike at the IMS as the MZ3, they confirmed they finally got the MP3 name cleared.. 'tarded.

When they start shipping the 400 (if they do) it would be a very hard to say no. Any word on if they will have a 400cc version?

Us bound? Probably in a year or two, but not this year. BTW and OT: How do you like your FJ? Is the electronic shifting handy or is it gimmicky?

The shifting is really sweet and to be quite honest I can't imagine why all bikes won't be moving that way at some point. At first I thought it would be a great way to speed shift but quickly realized on my first run at full throttle through all of the gears that would not be the case. Maybe someday but not on this model. You really can shift fast but you do need to come off the throttle a 'bit' in between shifts.

I ran her up to about 140 last night but it was a little too windy for my taste and came off the gas but there was room left and looked as if she would top out on or around 155-160mph. I of course did this in a safe place and was alone on the bike. There is one more thing that is a turn-off for guys who like to rev the engine; it's not a good idea to do this since you are in gear!. Neutral is at the bottom and there is 5 gears up. At a light you pretty much keep the bike in gear because it will not move until you go above 1300 rpms. This make slow speed turns a little hard until you are very use to the throttle. It can be a little 'twitchy' when engaging at slow speed and tight turns and I am still not as proficient sa I would like yet... With a clutch it is a piece of cake but there is no way to 'feather the clutch'.

When it hits the sports bikes (and it will) I am sure you will be able to speed shift but with 145 HP do I really want to speed shift? I guess if I were on a track I would but for touring it is anything but gimicky. I just bought the Audiovox Cruise Control unit last night and that should prove to be an interesting install since the only place to put it on this bike is way up under the tank (won't work under the seat on this model!!). Wish me luck and I can't see any reason why this would not work on a Vespa but I would defer to the mechanics in the goup...

The MP3 has always looked like a snow machine (snow mobile) on wheels to me.

It would be cool to see a clever conversion kit, swapping out the wheels for skis and adding a track drive to the rear for those living in the frozen north.