Contributor Ted C. just spent some time in Rome and was kind enough to share some of his favorite finds. Let’s see what he encountered! I wish Moto Morini sold bikes in the US still…
The Rome Moto Show – Open Every Day!
The Romans were pretty famous for their roads. Parts of the Appian Way are still in existence, and there are still remnants of Roman road in the UK. They also built some pretty cool buildings – think Coliseum, Castel Sant’angelo, and, oh yeah, that big church in Rome, St. Peter’s. But they didn’t plan on Rome becoming so popular and congested, and never got around to building parking garages. So parking is really at a premium in Rome.
Sure, you can get a Smart Car…
Yeah, they are a little dorky, but hey, they do make a sporty version…
But there is still the issue of traffic. Since the climate in Rome is pretty benign, the obvious solution is 2-wheeel traffic, and the perfect answer is a Scooter. You can zip through traffic, split lanes, and park pretty much anywhere. So, scooters are EVERYWHERE in Rome…
And there a plethora of shapes and sizes. If you want to be cool, it’s really got to be a Classic Vespa:
But maybe you want a little bit more reliability or power – Well, you can just go with a newer version…
Same cool style, but under that seat is a huge storage area, and it has the nice top box. In fact that top box, as you will see, is pretty much a ubiquitous feature on ALL the bikes in Rome.
There are dozens of manufacturers making all sorts of scooters these days, from the classics to modern Suzuki Burgmans. They’re very popular with businessmen. Another very popular one is the Piaggio MP3 three-wheeler. It’s a very clever design. The 2 front wheels provide twice the traction, a nice feature especially in Rome where there are a LOT of cobblestone streets that are very slick when wet. It is also very stable – the front wheels can lock when stopped, so the bike will not fall over. There is lots of protection behind that big fairing, especially if you put a leg-cover blanket on it.
Or how about a Scoot with a roof? There are still some BMW C-1’s out there…
It seems like it should have a been a huge success in Europe, but they never really took off. But enough about scooters – all real men want to ride big macho bikes, right? OK, gotcha covered. Top of the line and way overkill for the urban adventurer is, of course a BMW GS. You will want to skip the side bags for filtering, but keep the huge top box:
Too macho? Or just too tall to get your feet down in traffic? OK, how about a K-bike or a Standard Beemer?
Still got those top boxes. OK, not cool enough? Just go with a new R9T, but you’ll have to wear your backpack.
Yeah, but those Beemers are so traditional. I want to stand out a little, plus I don’t have that much cash laying around. Well, in Europe they have all sorts of cool bikes, some of which never made it big in the US, or never made it to the US at all. They are all really practical, do-everything bikes, and you see them all over Europe and the UK: Yamaha TDMs, Teneres, Honda Transalps and Africa Twins.
The Italians even make some: Aprilia Caponords, Moto Morini Scramblers…
Still not sporty enough? All right, damn it…then ride your MV Agusta Turismo Veloce! But you really need to get out of town and up the mountains on that thing:
Italy really is a motorcyclists heaven. I haven’t even touched on the sportbike scene. You’ve heard of that brand Ducati? That’s a whole future story by itself. Ride safe!