[eon]

Can’t say I would have done anything differently. I bought most of my stuff at the local Honda store and was very, very happy with the service provided. Not knowing much of anything at that time I was glad to have knowledgeable people to speak with. I did end up getting my jacket and gloves online as the store did not have my size in stock and was unable to order up replacements in a timely fashion.

Sizing of all gear is important but I would say helmet sizing is the most critical and probably the hardest one to judge. How many people know if they have oval or round heads before getting into this? Therefore I would recommend buying your first helmet from a local store where you get to try it on and hopefully have a knowledgeable sales rep to talk with.

I disagree with the “dealer will rip you off” mentality. There is simply no way a local store can compete on price with a big box store out in the boonies that ships volume across the country. A local store will have higher taxes, lower volume and is expected to have knowledgeable staff. A lot of them also support your local MSF classes (at least round here they do). Yes, it will cost a lot more from your pocket but that does not mean the dealer is making a killing. Sometimes it is worth paying the price to get personal service close to your home, and when you are starting out, that might be the best time to cough up.

[eon]

I doubt there is any plan to produce these, I’m thinking it’s more of an R&D project for them. But this is just speculation on my part. Have to confess I had visions of *ahem*, slightly rotund people gliding round Wally World on these.

[eon]

I read PM before I took my BRC. It is a scary book but I took it to be forewarned is forearmed and I’m sure I was safer because of it. I certainly had no illusions I was embarking upon a safe venture but that there were ways and means to make it safer. The first few weeks I think I was trying to do too much though. I remember thinking I was looking everywhere but not seeing much of anything. After a while I started to focus on one technique and keep practicing that till it became 2nd nature.

[eon]

Welcome to the forum. Ask away with all your questions, we were all there at one time and for most of us that wasn’t too long ago so we can relate to what you’re going through

[eon]

Congrats on getting out and about, I think I would go crazy after a 6 month hibernation. In your shoes I would definitely take it easy as I’m sure there is plenty of gravel/grit around from treated snow. Not to mention being rusty. Hell, even though I ride all winter I know I get rusty as I don’t corner as fast in winter as I do in the summer (listen to me sounding like an old pro with 2 winters behind me ).

[eon]

I would love to hear your opinion on the MP3. People are always asking me how does it compare but outside training classes it’s the only thing I’ve ridden so it’s hard for me to do a direct comparison. I think once you get past the initial weird feeling it’s much the same but maybe needs a touch more force to start the counter steer.

[eon]

I have not ridden a Spyder but have ridden with those who do. Those things look like a lot of fun but not in a motorcycle kind of way. I would happily own one if I had the spare cash lying around. On one of my rides I had one behind me in the twisties. On this road there is one bend that is twice as sharp as the others and it can catch you out. After going around it I looked in my mirrors to see the Spyder come whipping round that bend at speed. The front wheels were planted but there may have been the tiniest rear wheel slide. Still, it took that corner much faster than I would want to on a bike. I think they are tiring to ride though. Where we counteract the centrifugal force by leaning into the corner those guys just have to hang on.

I took my ERC on my MP3 in order to get my 3 wheel license (a workaround arranged by the WA DOL). I was the only one who had to do the u-turn in the 20′ box as I was the only <500cc bike there. That seemed like an arbitrary distinction but all those hours of practice paid off and I can do it within that space with feet to spare. The hardest part I found was the swerve. I couldn't help but notice everyone else was already leaning into the swerve before they were through the gate. I didn't have that luxury as the gate was not much wider than my wheels. I made it okay but I certainly had to watch my speed, much faster than the minimum allowed would have been hard. Interestingly the instructor told us the cops practice this with large cones (ie. 2' tall cones). This means the back end of the bike has to clear the cone as well, not just the 2" width of the tire.

Other interesting part was on the emergency stop in front of the instructors assistant where I had the following conversation.
IA: Are you in first gear?
ME: ?….It’s a scooter.
IA: Yes, but are you in first gear?
ME: ?……….It’s….a….scooter. It doesn’t have gears.
IA: Oh, well I guess you have it easy then.

And I know some older scooters have gears but come on.

[eon]

One thing that’s been puzzling me is that the TV station obviously had no problem transmitting the video, at least after obscuring the officers face. If the whole problem was the video was illegally recorded why can the TV station retransmit it? That does not make sense to me.

For me the airing of the video comes back to identifying the officer, whether undercover or not. It would be all too easy to edit out the bits where you are a jackass and then just transmit the bit where you get a richly deserved ass whooping. Those officers could then be subject to harassment when they are in the grocery store with their families. That would be a legitimate concern to me.

I’m not talking specifically about this case here as I think the cop did overreact and the authorities were heavy handed in dealing with it, but I can at least understand the need for some type of protection for them.

[eon]

Why are you posting someone elses rant? There may be some merit to some of the argument, but it is still just a rant. If this is what you believe then you would make this board a more interesting place if you put this in your own words and argued your case. Just copying/pasting it makes it appear you are trolling for reactions.

You seem to do a lot of linking to other articles. I would like to hear more about you and your experiences. That’s what makes this forum interesting I think, having a healthy discussion on motorcycle topics where not everyone is always in agreement but are always respectful of others point of view. Having BBM as a catalog of links to other websites would make make it a very stale place I think.

[eon]

I want to point out that a lot of the discussion points in that video are around the LT version which is not available in the States. The LT was specifically designed to get around European motorcycle licensing laws so that you could ride it with a car license, something I would strongly discourage anyone from doing. So the versions available over here have the original distance between the front wheels (closer than the LT) and no foot brake. As far as licensing in the USA goes most States require a regular motorcycle license and a few require a 3 wheel endorsement (such as my own WA). Only California gets away with a regular car license but that is more of an accident than by design (and it’s kind of a gray area). There is also a 500cc version available (which is what I have). In Europe it’s branded as the Gilera Fuoco but here they just called it the Piaggio MP3 500.

Just to clarify, there is no manual clutch or shifting in any of the models. I know what Jeff meant but his comment could be misinterpreted. My take on it is the 250 model is fine for in town use. If you think you will be doing longer journeys you will be happier with the 400 or 500. If you do go for a 250 be aware only the newer models have a 14″ rear wheel. Earlier models had a 12″ wheel and folks were only getting 2 to 3 thousand miles on that. A 14″ (which the 400 & 500 have) is good for at least 6k.

This I think is a better review.

[eon]

Wow, quite a change in style there. So you have two bikes now? Or do you still have the Blast as well? Good looking bike.

To change the size after the “img” tag specify the width you want. I find 660 is a perfect fit. So it should read something like “img width=660 src=…..” . Hope that helps. If not lemme know.

[eon]

First thing to learn is not to give a rats ass what anyone thinks about what/when/how you ride. The only person who matters in this is you. There was a quote on here recently that I liked, “You don’t show your maturity by how you ride, maturity starts by what you ride” (I’m sure I’ve mangled that quote but I hope the meaning comes through).

Second, I think you are worrying too much about Harley riders being obnoxious. I ride a 3 wheel scooter wearing yellow gear and no-one has ever given me crap about it, Harley rider or otherwise. If they did, I would give back as good as I got. On the contrary I’ve had nothing but interest shown in my strange ride. Admittedly if I was riding a small displacement cruiser I’m thinking I would get some wise ass making comments but like I said, give back as good as you get. Then pull a u-turn and sit back and watch them duck walk the bike around (and 9/10 of folks will walk the bike around).

As far as shifting goes, try not to worry about it. The gear pattern is simple. Press the lever down to shift down and lift up to go up. Neutral is always (I believe) between first and second. If you have never driven a manual car then it may take you a little while to get the hang of it but it just takes time.

Good luck with your journey onto two (or three!) wheels

[eon]

That thought went through my head.

[eon]

Hmm…I’m torn on this one. Yes, the officer looked like a jackass but I’m sure he is used to seeing squids flee, creating potentially life threatening situations. Is that enough to warrant pulling his gun? In this case I don’t think so considering he was in plain clothes in an unmarked car and did not identify himself immediately. I would expect the first thing they need to do is identify themselves as police. This is based on my extensive knowledge of police procedures gained from watching tv shows

I think they are more upset that the officer would have been recognizable on the online video. If he was taking down a drug dealer would it be okay for them to wear GoPro’s and post the video online? I think not. If I was a cop I wouldn’t want my mug broadcast online. Use of the video in a court is one thing, posting on YouTube is something else.

But now the cop and the whole legal system look like heavy handed assholes.

[eon]

Speedometers always read on the high side, somewhere around 10% too high. Not sure why this is the case but I think it is something to do with legalities.
i.e. if you are stopped for speeding you will not be able to claim your speedometer was saying you were doing the speed limit.

Not heard that odometers are wildly inaccurate but then how many wheel revolutions are in a hundred miles? Quite a lot I would think so I guess it’s hard to be 100% accurate. SCR, have you measured the bikes odometer against the GPS? I’m curious now what kind of difference you would expect.

[Author]

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