> They sure know how to make motorscooters over there.

Piaggio, the Vespa's manufacturer, continues to improve his offer to the Italian market, but actually here we have a LOT of different brands of scooters and motorcycles (other than Piaggio and Benelli, there are Ducati, Garelli, Moto Guzzi, Aprilia).

Moto Guzzi is one of the oldest (I have some pictures of my grandpa going over a mountain path with the Guzzi 275cc model of 1924), my favourite one is the 750cc of the Seventies: its design is now a classic (but has so much power and is so nervous that is recommended only to experienced drivers).
Ducati produces real road monsters (the most famous is the 900cc model); Aprilia has a wide range of products and participates also to bike races in all the categories (125, 250, and 500cc).

BTW, I've a friend who works for a car and motorcycles magazine here in Milan, doing the road tests and writing the reports...

AP.