Rider: Rebecca

Location: Burleigh Heads, Gold Coast, Queensland.  Weather:  Warm, sunny with light cloud.

Usual transport: Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa.  Transport Today: Piaggio MP3 400

Sunday 10.30 am: Time for a few shopping errands before I can escape the hustle and bustle of the Gold Coast. Perfect opportunity to take the MP3 scooter, because of its under seat storage. First stop, Gold Coast’s massive Robina shopping centre.

Needed shampoo & conditioner from the health shop. A savory scone from the bakery will be part of my picnic lunch. Not quite a quick getaway though…as a little boy stops me for a photo for a  project he's doing at school.

11.20am: Off to fuel up. Scooter showing close to empty, but $9.80 filled it to the brim. I’m liking this already!

11:30am: Head off through Mudgeeraba, gateway to Springbrook Road, the popular tourist and bike riders road. Tight, decreasing radius corners, snaking uphill through verdant rain forest. This road is often damp and slippery on corners that have overhanging rain forest. No problems on the MP3, those twin front wheels will keep me upright.

I tag onto the back of a blue sportsbike and a nervous rider on a Superduke. Pass both bikes further up through the tighter corners and they become small dots in my mirrors…strange! This MP3 handles better than I thought! Maybe they’d do better to get onto a couple of scooters…

Stop at the top of Springbrook for a couple of pics and a drink. I have a small esky under the seat with bottled water, lunch and every other "just-in-case" article I could think to bring. The sportsbike and Superduke take the turnoff near by and all they can do is stare…maybe they are trying to work out what new prototype has 3 wheels and preys on sportsbikes???

12.05pm: The MP3 is even better on the winding down hill section heading out to the Numinbah Valley. I’m really enjoying this sleek, smooth, silent big brother to the 250. It's made for these roads, although a little stiffer in the suspension would not go astray. Some of the rougher sections are a bit jarring, although I'm riding faster than I should be.

But the front wheel grip from the twin tyres is addictive, I can't help but push it through the corners. Gravel on the road does not deter the MP3, as its sure-footed dual front wheel setup gives better stability on uneven surfaces. It reaches highway speed quite quickly and remembering it is a 400cc, makes a surprisingly good effort when I compare it to other 400’s of genres, in either two or three wheels.

12:20pm: Numinbah turnoff and parked across on the other side of the highway is the blue sportsbike and the Superduke. The boys have their helmets off and I give a brief wave, but they just stand bewildered… Not far down the road, I see an old timber bridge crossing the river. So beautiful and quiet out here when you can’t hear any other traffic or the howl of the sportsbikes. One of the nicest pieces of biking road I have travelled.

A bit of exploring down a turnoff leads to a dead end and a farmers front yard, so I back track to Numinbah valley and towards the NSW border.

1:15pm: Past the Numinbah Correction Centre…odd place for a gaol, but I can think of worse locations to be locked up… and now looks like I have picked up another sportsbike on my tail through the speed limit zone. It’s a late model Suzuki GSX-R. After the bridge I decide to gas it up on the MP3 as the sweepers are faster and more flowing. I expect the sportsbike to fly past but we are moving at a good clip and the GSX-R sits behind. Maybe he is admiring my rear end…the scooter looks as unique from the back as the front!

I turn off at Natural Bridge rest area and the GSX-R follows. Natural Bridge is a natural rock archway. At the back of the rock formation, the mountain stream fed waters of Cave Creek form a waterfall which plunges through the roof of a cave into a sparkling pool below. This then flows into the Nerang River and down the Numinbah Valley. Interestingly, this area also supports the largest glow-worm colony in Australia.

The carpark is pretty busy, and I park up near the restrooms. Whilst making a call on my mobile, a flock of foreign tourists crowd around the MP3. They motion that they’d like to sit on the scooter and take a pictures, so I sign OK. I finish my call and they bombard me with broken English questions about the MP3. They have never seen one before! They tell me they are government officials on holiday. With plenty of laughs and smiles, more picture taking, its time to get rolling. GSX-R man has gone.

1:35pm: The road from Numinbah valley winds up through the mountain range, farms on one side and a steep tangle of rain forest on the other. Over the cattle grid border into NSW and down along a narrow mountainside road that at times resembles a goat track. Not far down the road, I’m in heaven….hundreds and hundreds of sweet smelling freesia’s growing wild on the side of the road! One of my favorite flowers and I cannot resist temptation, so I stop. The occasional bike whizzes past checking out the scooter on one side of the road and a woman in bike gear picking flowers on the other side.

My next stop is not much further when I spot a sign for fresh oranges and macadamia nuts. A partially blind red Kelpie dog hobbles out to greet me, scurrying chooks around the yard. The farmer’s wife is a trusting soul from a generation of Australian’s almost gone and she reminisces that she rode motorcycles in her younger days. She crushes a macadamia with a brick to crack the shell and hands it to me to taste. The macadamia nut is delicious, so I buy a bag and stow them along with the bag of oranges.

Heading further down the mountain range towards Chillingham, the scooter is as smooth as silk through the fast paced sweepers and cranked over for the tight switchbacks, occasionally catching the centrestand. Nothing to worry about though. I idly wonder why this scooter has a centrestand, as the front wheel locking system negates the need for a stand at all.

2:15pm: I cannot pass through Chillingham without stopping at Crystal Waters handmade soaps. Made from all natural ingredients, they smell fresh and natural, not chemical and overpowering like supermarket soap or perfume branded soap. This scooter ride is turning into a long range shopping expedition!

2:50pm: Getting hungry now and it must be past two in the afternoon. I head out to Tyalgum hoping the local pub will have some live music as it so often does on a Sunday afternoon. The ride is out past farmland with barely a vehicle on the road. The pub is quiet, so after answering some more questions from bemused locals about the MP3, I travel further out and find a quiet spot to sit and admire the view. The day is golden and I am soon greeted by a tall dark stranger who doesn’t say much, but shares an apple with me. We sit quietly, sharing the lazy afternoon and contemplating the day.

4:25pm: Time to head for home. A bit of backtracking to Chillingham, then on towards the cane fields at Murwillumbah. The sky is dramatic and brewing a thunderstorm. Looks like I’m going to get drenched and I have not a thread of wet weather gear to be found! Poor preparation when I think about all the under seat storage room and not a very good move considering the weather is often changeable throughout this area. One of the most “striking” features of south-east QLD and northern NSW are the spectacular lightening displays over the cane fields.

4.45pm: I push on as the skies darken over the mountain ranges and the air takes on a sudden chill. The wind has dropped and everything is silent except for the purr of the scooter. It is 5pm as I cross back over the border into QLD. Tomewin Road, another popular bike road winding its way through lush rainforest, is deserted. Home is getting closer but far enough away to get very wet. The air crackles around me and I see flashes of fork lightening in the distant ranges, but not a drop falls.

If only the day was longer. I have enjoyed every minute on the MP3 with the dramatically beautiful backdrop of the Gold Coast hinterland. I smile to myself and enjoy the feeling of riding something new and exotic. It has been a surprising insight into a new technology that has made the humble scooter even more appealing.  As I sit at the traffic lights a block away from home, a hotted up Holden ute pulls up beside me and I hear the teenage girl comment to the young guy driving, “Don’t know what it is….its not a motorbike or a scooter”

5.:15pm: I pull into the driveway unscathed by the weather but touched by the MP3.

About the MP3 400

* 400cc fuel-injected liquid-cooled four-stroke engine

* Electric start

* Dual independent front tilting wheels providing a lean angle of up to 40 degrees

* Electro-hydraulic front suspension locking system that keeps vehicle upright without using the centrestand

* Rear and underseat lockable storage space

* Analogue dash with speedo and large clock

* Three-disc braking system

* Handbrake for parking

* Low-emission, Euro 3 compliant

* Two-year unlimited kilometre warranty

About the Rider

Rebecca is an ex A Grade road racer, having raced both 250 and 600cc motorcycles with some of Australias best racers. Other motorcycling exploits have seen her compete for several seasons in off-road enduro competitions, drag race a 7 second Pro Stock motorcycle, and enter and finish the Finke River Desert race.

Having toured the length and breadth of Australia on road bikes, Rebecca currently spends most weekends test riding motorcycles and scooters with Motoaus.com and Scooteraus.com. She spends her weekdays working in a Gold Coast motorcycle shop.

Test bike supplied by Revolution Scooters Gold Coast, Thanks guys!