2012 Piaggio MP3 250 Scooter Modif

The 2012 Piaggio MP3 250 is the perfect around-town and shorter distance bike. Peppy, sporty and fuel efficient, the under seat storage capacity and additional top case make it able to go grocery shopping or take a friend around town on errands. The dual front tires make corner stability unbeatable, while the automatic transmission and other creature comforts make use extremely easy. Now the 250 is perfect and will perform well at any distance - it's bigger brother the MP3 500 is the long distance touring scooter America's (and me, apparently) waited for to break the bike/scooter barrier.
Replacing the stock windscreen on the 2012 Piaggio MP3 is really very simple, with the most work being removing the  rubber grommets from the original and replacing them into the new screen. Once this is done, it really is  just plug and play.  I find that the Fabbri screen makes a huge difference as to the amount of buffeting I get now versus the stock windscreen. Sitting on the bike, I look 2 or 3 inches above the screen. I also purchased a Laminar Lip to put onto the Fabbri screen. As Laminar does not yet have a specific  model for this bike/screen combo, I ordered the 14-inch Cruiser lip and it is necessary to use a heat gun  to adjust the two side pieces to match the curvature of the Fabbri so that the double-sided tape fits  completely flush.

To install the lip properly, I had to carefully heat the center of it with a heatggun and then gently bend the  two ends together to pull the sides inward enough to fit onto the Fabbri screen. Additionally, it is necessary  to heat the the two side pieces in order to mold them so that they mate flat with the Fabbri along the length  where the two-sided tape goes to hold the lip onto the windscreen surface.

2012 Piaggio MP3 250

I chose the Gorilla 7017 alarm system for my 2012 MP3 250 as it had a good combination of features (remote  paging and multiple alarm trigger modes) versus price. The alarm is wired directly to the battery (not via  the Motor ON relay) and consists of the main siren/system box, a tilt sensor and a paging antenna.

2012 Piaggio MP3 250

At this point, the Comagination brake flasher still has me stumped. Whereas the install procedure is  simplicity itself (3 wires, you break the line to the brake lights, put the flasher module in between and  then connect the third wire to ground), I’m damned if  I can find a good place to intercept the brake light feed! The MP3 250 has two brake lights which (at some point and location) combine together. It is this location I have yet to find. I know that I’m looking for a White/Black wire, but not the best place to get to it.  Very frustrating!

Being 6’5” (198 cm) with long legs, I found early on that I really needed to sit back a couple more inches than the molded front portion of the stock seat allowed. I tried using an Airhawk cushion, and although  that helped, the backrest portion of the front part of the seat still dug into my posterior, so I contacted a local custom upholstery company (www.velocityupholstery.com) and discussed with them what could be done. We agreed that they would essentially extend the height of the rear portion of the seat all the way to the front of the seat. Additionally, I had them put a 1-inch topper of memory foam just under the new marine vinyl covering.

This makes a real difference and is much better than the original. I had them replace the two side pieces with a contrasting red vinyl and it is finished with contrasting French  stitching. Note that the shape of the plastic base portion of the seat makes it difficult to do too much  change, and I find that there is therefore not a lot of foam between the high portion of the upper back  seat area. Putting the Airhawk back on the seat totally solves this issue and I know have a seat that feels great to sit on and allows me to sit farther back.