Piaggio MP3 for riders with poor balance?

[sivikasi]

Hi,

I've always wanted to ride but my balance is too poor. I found even crawling along on a 2 wheeler impossible.

I've been looking into trikes as possibly being the answer as they have better stability. I would imagine that the "proper" wide rear-wheeled trikes like the HD tri-glide would be ideal but I can't afford that right now.

I was wondering about the Piaggio M3? Is it noticeably more stable than a 2-wheeler? Does it still need balancing at higher speeds?

Any help or advice is gratefully received

[Riejufixing]

[pinkyfloyd]

Everyone finds crawling along on a 2 wheeler wobbly. Motorcycles become more stable the faster they go, its the gyroscope effect, much like rolling a coin. The faster it rolls the straighter and stable it is.

I'd avoid the 3 wheel one personally.
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[M.C]

[MarJay]

As I understand it, because the MP3 leans over, it's no more or less stable than a two wheeler.

Nobody has good balance at first, but it's something you can learn on a bike, and you get faster and you get better at balancing.
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[M.C]

[Riejufixing]

[M.C]

Maybe this is what he meant: This allows the LT400 variant to be driven on a standard UK car licence rather than the motorcycle licence required for the original versions.

Also: 'The suspension lock can only be activated manually, at low speeds or at a stop' so I assume you can still fall over?

Anyhoo all the models appear to be over 200kg (even the 125), so a bit like the BMW C1, heavy and you'll get mocked by your peers

[sivikasi]

Hi all thanks for your replies. Just to clarify while I'm sure there is an inexperience element to my balance problems with bikes there is also an objective medical reason too why my balance is poor.

Yeah I can see why a trike or something like the MP3 might get a lot of laughs from everyone else but for someone like me it's that or nothing (ok you might say go with nothing then lol). Trust me I'd love to get a Bonneville or something but unfortunately it's not an option

Thanks for the advice

[Riejufixing]

[Teflon-Mike]

Point of pedantics: There's no such thing as a 'Bike' licence, or a 'Car' licence. We have a "Driving Licence".... which has different categories of 'entitlement', which includes groups for Cars, and the different classes of motorcycle; trailer entitlement, small-goods vehicles, tractors, lawn mowers etc etc etc.....

The MP3, 'leaning' trike.... is not actually all that novel an idea.... BSA did it oooh, almost fifty years ago, and badged it the Ariel 'something' or other.

Licence 'anomolies' with Trikes, however abound, and this 'idea' you can drive a trike on a car licence is one of them.... you cant..... you gain 3-wheeler entitlement on passing a car test.... see pedantics above...

There have been a number of dodges folk have tried to apply over the decades, to exploit loop-holes of legislation; Top of the list is Del-Boys Reliant Regal (it wasn't a Robin!!!), 3-wheeler, which at one time, was classed as a trike, which meant that 16 year olds could drive one on L-Plates. There was then controversy over 3-wheeled cars being allowed the licence and tax breaks they did, if they had a reverse gear... and variouse others, like folk chopping the back end off a wrecked Jaguar XJS and slapping motorbike forks on the front of the V12 engine.... which NOW are just, if not more confuddling, with the trike entitlements of the licence, including quads... which have four wheels, and classing them by weight as well.....

Oh.... and you can no longer take a UK driving test on, either, a side-car outfit or trike.... though I think there's still loop-hole under regs for vehicles adapted for the disabled..... which mean you 'might' if you have a registered disability.

Back to the Piagio MP3.....

There was some controversey about these when launched, in that they used the 'idea' you could ride one usual car-entitlement, as it was a trike.... as they were under 125cc and other LEarner-Legal regs, you could ride them on L-Plates on the 'Provisional' entitlement of a UK driving licence; so it wasn't far wrong, but you did have to take a CBT.... and the question of whether it was/is a trike remains, and you get into a bit of a tangle with the C&U regs, which deem it a motorcycle if the track width is less than a certain width.... which the MP3's was, so it was most definitely a MOTORCYCLE not a CAR as dar as licence catagories are concerned.....

Oh.... but Piagio sell one that is registered as a 'Trike'... meets the C&U regs as such.... ah, well, yes....... they added spacers to the wheel hubs to kick the track out the required number of mm to make it a 'car' not a 'trike'...... and that was how it was type-approved.... only dealers went and retro-fitted the spacers to make ... well a mess of things!... if the spacers fitted, before registration, it was a trike, and registered as such. If not.... it was a motorcycle, and would remain so, no matter how many spacers you added, until it was re-registered as a modified vehicle..... essentially.

Mean-While.....

If you cant ride a bike, you cant ride a bike.... if you have recognised impairement/disability, and think you would like to ride a 3-wheeler... then talk to Driving-Standards about it, see if you can take a side-car test, on, I dont know, a side-car I suppose.

If not.... then no reason you cant take proper motorbike tests like any-one else...... and very very good reason to NOT try and exploit the legislatory loop-holes to try dodge them.

The MP3 still leans. It is to all extents and purposes a 'motorcycle', not a trike, and like most trikes and side-cars it has some peculiarities and quirks all of its own... like leaning!!

To my mind, if you cant get the licence for an 'ordinary' vehicle, like bike or car, then trying to dodge tests for one, with an automotive anomaly is PROBABLY not the best idea in the world......

Which is food for thought.... whether you'd be any better able to balance a toppling trike than a leaning bike, or not.
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[Ste]

Can you ride a pushbike?

[pinkyfloyd]

[sickpup]

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[M.C]

[MarJay]

[M.C]

Which had already been established and acknowledged as wrong. I do wonder why I bother with this place sometimes.

[Jmoan]