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Piaggio's MP3 scooter has been around in various forms for a while now, but not many people have seen one. That's probably why the guy driving an old Camaro was ogling the machine obsessively as I made my way along the 91 freeway in L.A. First he'd pull alongside, then he'd jet ahead to check out the MP3's front wheels in his mirror, then he'd drop back to take in the rear three-quarter view. Eventually he brought out his cell-phone camera and took a picture.

You can just see the guy showing his friends the image and saying things like: "The scooter had, like, three wheels, man. There were two mounted close together on the front, and the bike could still lean! It was weird."

And it is a little weird. But thanks to the fascinating quadrilateral linkage that allows the dual suspension and steering systems on the front wheels to articulate independently, it's an ingenious way to put more rubber on the road at the front of the machine, thereby providing more grip for cornering and braking. There's a photograph in Piaggio's training materials that shows the bike cornering across tramlines with one tire squarely on the slippery steel rail and the other firmly in touch with the asphalt. It speaks volumes.

Another cool aspect of the leaning tandem front wheels is the electro-hydraulic locking mechanism that can be activated via a right-side button at near-stationary speeds (with the throttle shut) to keep the bike upright. There's no need to use the center stand on the MP3 so long as you lock the front bogie

Piaggio MP3 500ie: The Italians Trike Back