Friday, August 7, 2009
Three wheels good, two wheels bad
I'm a confirmed fan of four wheels.
Having seen the effects of a two wheeled crash involving my brother and his girlfriend at close hand, I have never much cared for the idea of nipping between the traffic or relying on two tyres to get me home in a torrential downpour.
But I love scooters (the iconic 60s variety that is) and always felt safe on the back of my boyfriend's beloved and tenderly cared for Vespa, a 1965 GS 150, as we pootled around on what my friends described as a souped up hairdryer.
Anyway, I recently spotted Piaggio's latest scooter offering and guess what - it's got three wheels – one at the back and two at the front.
Yes, it looks a touch odd when it's parked, but you should see it at full tilt. It carves round corners like any other two-wheeled monster and yet, it has the stability of a much weightier beast. It can tackle cobblestones, and wet patchy asphalt, and if you're in Sheffield for the weekend, it will glide over tram tracks as if they weren't there.
Now it doesn't, to my mind, have the grace and iconicism of the 60s models, but for sheer innovation (and the fact that there's a hybrid model in the offing) I think I'll give it the thumbs up.
Take a look for yourself at the Piaggio website.
Image © francescopozzi via Flickr, under Creative Commons licence
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