2009 Piaggio BV Tourer 500 User Ratings

I have a 2007 BV500 and I ride it every day be it to work around town or even long day trips. I have even taken a 200 mile ride with some Harley's where I was the only one riding two up and had no problem keeping up. The scooter will do an honest (GPS tested)100 mph even with two up and cruise all day at over 80 with no vibration in the foot boards or the mirrors. I find the scooter to be a great compromise between the smaller 250's and the bigger 650 units. I have other riding friends with 400's, 500's and 650 scooters and the Piaggio is smaller in size than any of them. I find the size of the Piaggio to be more comparable to the 250's in size but with more power. I wanted to keep the smaller size and the 500 Pioggio was the ideal scooter for that. It is great for around town being easier to manuver than the bigger scooters. One friend (an X H-D rider) has a 250 Honda scooter and a 650 Suzuki scooter and will only use the 250 around town as the 650 is too big for local errands. It is more like a big motorcycle, something I wanted to get away from having had many H-D, Yamaha, Honda and other large motocycles in the past. My only complaint is the initial roll on. I have tried different rollers but not found anything I like. Get them too light and it will limit top speed but still not help low speed that much. The scooter will also move around some at higher speeds like any smaller wheel based vehicle but nothing that makes me uncomfortable. I will give that advantage to my larger wheel based riding friends. The brakes are great. The best I have seen on a scooter with the left lever controlling the back disk brake and one of the front disks as well. It makes for a strong stopping scooter that will not slide the rear wheel or lock up the front. The right lever controls the other front disk and even in the rain I feel very comfortable using the left lever any time without fear of slidding. It is a poor man's ABS. The motor seems to need more RPM's to reach it's power band thus the slower roll on but it offers acceptable rolling acceleration. I would recommend this scooter to anyone that wants a small package that is easy to manuver and still be able to take it on the interstate for light touring. The only thing in my book that keeps this scooter from being perfect for my use is the low speed roll on but everything else is ideal for me. I have been riding motorcycles and scooter for many years and anyone looking to move from a motorcycle to a scooter or just moving up in size should check this one out. It is fun and something I look forward to riding every day. I like the Piaggio so much I finally got rid of my other more recent motorcycle, a Yamaha VMAX 1200. If you have ridden a VMAX you know how addictive they can be but it was a bear in the rain and I found I was having more fun on the Piaggio. Try it and I think you will be surprised how fun it can be.