Piaggio X9 review

The Kansas City Vespa blog has a good, indepth rider review of Piaggio's X9.
I've blogged a little about the X9 before, but have yet to have the chance to test one. I don't really see it as a scooter I'd consider owning, but it does provide a great alternative for those who want maxi-scoot power, with some of the strange styling points found on the stretched out Japanese maxis.

After I made my way home, I told the girlfriend what I was up to and she put on her gear, hopped on the back and we were off towards the Country Club Plaza. I was anxious to see if the neutral handling remained with a pillion passenger. On most bikes, the addition of a pillion not only increases your braking distance, but makes accelerations slower, and turning a pain as it can require more effort to get the bike leaned over. The X9 passed my test with flying colors. It remained neutral throughout, with just a touch more braking pressure being required of the Brembo calipers when stopping at stop signs and traffic signals. Getting ahead of traffic was a continuous surprise as weaving in and about slower moving cars was very easy! I wasn’t expecting that since streetfighting is next to impossible in moderate traffic with the X9’s competitors, especially the big Burgman and Silverwing. Then again, the X9 isn’t as big as those maxi-scoots either.
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The predictable cruiser acceleration got me to 60mph with no surprises, but by the time I looked back down at the speedometer, I had somehow arrived at 85 MPH in an instant, and it still felt as if I only was going 60! Even heading into the wind, the bike kept pulling, its windshield and fairings sending all the turbulent air around me and keeping me comfortable and in control. I won’t post how fast I was going before I decided to stop breaking the law, but I will say the machine has power to spare!