While it has plenty of power, you do have to remember this is a scooter you are riding and be careful not to ask too much of it. On a few occasions I asked a little more of the Piaggio than it was prepared to handle and it had me reminding myself this is not a motorcycle with generous amounts of suspension travel and full size wheels. When pushed too hard the suspension can start to wallow at high speeds and get harsh when hitting substantial bumps on the road. At less than breakneck speeds however the MP3 was very composed. The Parallelogram suspension up front coupled with two dual effect hydraulic shock absorbers and adjustable coil spring in the back offered a forgiving ride on the road.

Thanks to the extra contact patch up front and three powerful 240mm linked disc brakes with twin piston calipers the Piaggio also comes to a stop in a hurry. You can get a little wiggle at the bars when you really stomp on the brakes and it can get a bit sketchy, but overall stopping power is quite good. I was able to apply the brakes while leaned over with no catastrophic effects, something that would surely turn ugly on most standard scooters.

The MP3 also proved to be quite comfortable. I rode in a small wind/sand storm along the coast and the tall windscreen and fairing did a good job of protecting me from the elements. The seat has abundant room for a passenger and suspension handles the extra weight easily. While many people are afraid to ride on a motorcycle it seemed nobody had any fear about riding pillion on the MP3 and I had numerous requests for rides as a passenger. 

One of the coolest and trickiest functions on the Piaggio is a locking mechanism that allows you to lock the font suspension while parked or at a stop light. When slowing down to come to a stop, a flashing yellow light starts blinking as you reach a slow enough speed letting you know that it is safe to hit the switch that will lock the front suspension into place. If timed to perfection you can roll to a stop without ever putting your feet down. When you are ready to gas it, roll on the throttle and the suspension unlocks allowing you to speed away without ever moving your feet. The switch itself is easy enough to use, the tricky part is remembering to put your feet down when you release the switch if you did not manage to stop perfectly upright. If you happen to lock the switch while the bike is at an angle it will lock in that position. When speeding away the bike can tend to fall over if you are not careful. I found it was safest to come to a stop by putting my feet down and then locking the suspension. It was too easy to come to a stop thinking you had successfully locked it into place only to find yourself falling over. I came close to tipping over more than a few times and decided to save myself the embarrassment by just hitting the lock switch once I was already stopped.

The gas mileage on the MP3 is great and assures that you will not be taking too many trips to the gas station. I drove the Piaggio for a full week before stopping for my first fill-up. This turned out to be a slightly bigger chore than I thought it would be due to the fact it took me 20 minutes to find out where to insert the gas hose. After about 20 circulations around the MP3 and crawling on the ground in search of the gas cap I finally gave up and went to start the scooter to go home. It was then that I discovered the fuel filler door was opened by turning the ignition key to the appropriate position. To my surprise a door popped open revealing the very secret hiding spot for the gas cap. I guess it might pay to read the owner's manual from time to time.

The Piaggio MP3 allows you to do more than the average motorcycle, much of this due to the insane amount of storage the scooter has.  Give the fob a little "bloop, bloop" and the rear trunk opens open. This is pretty high-tech to a farm boy who thinks tilt steering is still a pretty luxurious option. The under-seat area reveals more room than some compact cars. You could easily bring back dinner and a 12-pack in the trunk of the Piaggio, hell maybe even one of those mini-kegs. I thought it was odd that for some reason I could not fit an extra helmet in the trunk. It turns out I may be a little intellectually challenged as I have since found out you just need to turn the helmet upside down, visor first and you can slide not one, but two full-face helmets right in.

The great thing about the Piaggio MP3 is that it has all the fun factor of a scooter with none of the sissy factor. I even had a group of Harley riders ride up next to me at a red light inquiring about the Piaggio, commenting how cool it looked. It was a scene that looked right out of a commercial, six burly bikers pulling up asking where they could get one of these scooters. Talk about a wide market of appeal. Everyone from pimple faced teens to senior citizens seemed to have some interest in this Italian marvel.

In fact if I was Piaggio I would hire an army of sales representatives to grab a trunk full of business cards and go for daily rides around the city on the MP3, I must have been asked a dozen times a day where the MP3 could be purchased and how much they sell for.