This is Misty, my Piaggio Liberty 125 scooter, bought new in July 2024. She was my first venture into the world of motorbikes, and I instantly fell in love! She's now for sale as she's getting replaced.
I've only had Misty for a little under a year, but I very quickly fell in love with her and the whole motorbiking thing. I genuinely never thought I would, fall in love with motorbiking that is. Sure, I've spent most of my life on two wheels, but they've always been the human powered variety. At no point had I ever thought "I bet this is more fun with a motor".
Well, OK, that's not strictly true. I did at some point think "I bet this is easier with an ebike". But that was mostly for practicalities; doing a Lidl shop on a regular push bike was just a PITA, and getting to places hot and sweaty was always annoying. But the idea of getting a motorbike was never in my head. Until it was.
I spend a lot of time in Spain. I don't own a car there (they are silly expensive), so I've always used a bicycle for transport. Which is fine, but limiting. I toyed with the idea of getting an ebike for Spain. But I'd have to get two, as often my wife is there with me. And ebikes are expensive. So, I started thinking about a motorbike. Or scooter to give them their more specific name.
In the UK/Ireland you can only ride a 50cc without taking tests etc. But in Spain you can ride a 125cc bike on a regular car licence. So a bit of research later and I'd bought Misty. And she was brilliant. Up and down the hill to the beach. Getting to go further afield to different beaches. Trips to the local shopping centre, it was all possible now without ending up hot, sweaty and knackered.
Best of all, my wife absolutely loved riding pillion. We were both skeptical that she would, but after a few miles she was a natural. Leaning into the corners and generally enjoying the wind in her hair.
But while misty was great when it was just me on her. When she was carrying the two of us, and enough kit for a day at the beach, she struggled. In Spain we live about 40KMs from Malaga city, and trips like that, along the motorway were out of Misty's capabilities. So I decided to start taking my motobike test back at home and to upgrade Misty to something with more cc's.
And so now, here I am, several months later about to take my final motorbike test (there are three!).
Misty now has a replacement. I decided I really liked the Piaggio brand, so opted for a Piaggio Beverly 400. This is her in the showroom when we bought her.
She is rather lovely, and comes with a MASSIVE top box, so loads of space for beach days! She's also 400cc, opposed to Misty's 125, so plenty powerful enough for motorway cruising, yet still agile and small enough for nipping around the traffic on the coast (a total godsend come high season when the roads are rammed with tourists).
The new bike isn't named yet. I pick her up next week, and will no doubt take photos and blog about her once I've gotten over the excitement of riding around on her :-)