Thoughts please

trackrat

trackrat

trackrat

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Joined
29 Dec 2004
Posts
839
Location
Halesowen
I am looking at buying a Paiggio MP3 500 cc 3 wheel bike, I did think about it 5 years ago but due to ill health i did not follow it up.
I did ride motorcycles when I was young but never got round to taking a test after I got my car license.
I am in my late sixties and thought about this bike as it can be used on a car license.
Has anyone got one of these bikes and how good are they.
They seem to get good write ups but I do not want to pay £7000 + on a bike to find it is no good.
Also would there be any training courses for this type of bike as I have not ridden a bike for 45 years.
Any advice welcome.
 
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I used to work with a chap who always had big (like 1400cc) bikes. His wife also rode bikes but fell off hers and lost the nerve, so he bought one of these 3 wheelers for her to get her back on the road again.
Long story short...he tried it out and ended up using it for 2 months and loved it, I think he would have carried on using it if his wife hadn't took it back from him.
Not sure if it was one of those exactly but if not then it was very similar.
 
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For the training course bit, definitely do a CBT - you can do one on a 125cc scooter if you don't fancy gears (as you need need to worry about gears on a trcity thing).

TBH riding the thing won't be hard, it's more the 'biker sense' you have to learn as although you can't fall over you're still as vulnerable as the rest of us.

Doing your CBT you may realise that you're happy with a 125cc scooter. What sort of riding will you be doing? Commuting I've guessing?
 
Is there any particular reason you want one? You get all the down sides of biking and none of the upsides really.
 
tom_e said:
Is there any particular reason you want one?
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He's already said, it's because you can ride them on a car licence.

tom_e said:
You get all the down sides of biking and none of the upsides really.
Click to expand...

I don't really understand this. It's a scooter that happens to have an extra front wheel, it leans into bends, it's narrow enough to filter, it's got plenty enough power to use on a motorway or to get past cars on A/B roads and it's economic, the two wheels give good front end grip in the wet, so what are all the upsides that are missing?

In terms of the downsides, you do tend to see a lot of badly ridden MP3s because they are being ridden by car drivers who've had little or no training. They seem to be a regular source of frustration for bikers in cities when MP3 riders don't want to filter but block other riders from doing so.
 
You can't filter in a car cos it's to wide? I bet you wouldn't filter on what the OP want either,it seems to wide at the front with the two wheels

Same for quad bikes
 
I've seen a few going in to Manchester city centre filtering like a good UN, they're no wider than big litre bikes at the front.

Only benefit I can see is in winter ID feel more confident when it's touch and go for being icy. Every other time a bike, its not like you need to balance much on a bike anyway :p

Quads are easily the dumbest things on the road
 
Kreeeee said:
Well duh!

You can't filter in a car, and what defines the difference between a car and a bike if not the licence required to drive it?
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If you look carefully you'll find that cars are a good 3-4 times wider than a bike, and that tends to limit their ability to drive down bike sizes spaces in the traffic.

Are you imagining there is some obscure part of the Road Traffic Act that says it's illegal for cars/trikes to filter, but legal for motorcycles? :p

The MP3's are no wider than a lot of larger bikes/maxi scooters, the twin wheels makes them look wide but you'll notice the bars still stick out past the wheels.
 
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I see them filtering quite regularly in London. Saw one filter past a police car and they did nothing about it so assume it's not high on their list of priorities.

On the subject of filtering in a car, when I was in Rome a smart car filtered right between me (in a rental ford CMax) and a great big truck. Was a bit taken aback but made us laugh.
 
OP you can only ride the LT versions of the MP3 on a car licence.
And that only applies if you passed the car test before Jan 2013, after that date you need a CBT and full bike licence to ride any trike.

The normal MP3 front wheels are closer together and they don't have a foot brake, as such they are classed as a bike/scooter not a trike so need a bike licence to ride them.
 
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cyclops12 said:
OP you can only ride the LT versions of the MP3 on a car licence.
And that only applies if you passed the car test before Jan 2013, after that date you need a CBT and full bike licence to ride any trike.

The normal MP3 front wheels are closer together and they don't have a foot brake, as such they are classed as a bike/scooter not a trike so need a bike licence to ride them.
Click to expand...

cyclops were you been dude :D
 
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