1955 Piatti
1955 Piatti
When I bought the Maico Mobil there was this very rare Piatti standing next to it. I just had to have it to brighten up our livingroom!
When I bought the Maico Mobil (see below) there was this very rare Piatti standing next to it. I just had to have it to brighten up our livingroom! And that is where it has in fact been for a few years.
It is one of only 805 made in Belgium. The British made one is much more common. My Piatti is believed to be from an unsold lot of 12 that remained in the factory for many years. They were all sprayed green (originally they were only available in grey). Mine had only 31 (!) km on the clock and I only about doubled this during my ownership. I sold the bike back to its former owner a few years back.
After I got the scooter riding for the first time my wife made two short video clips that have been on YouTube for a while now.
- Riding my 1955 Piatti scooter for the first time part 1
- Riding my 1955 Piatti scooter for the first time part 2
In fact, it was these clips that led the former owner back to me as he had lost my contact details!
Originally I never intended the scooter to be made roadworthy. But on a scooter meeting I met a guy that was writing a book on the Belgian Piatti and he challenged me to ride the Piatti on a rally for unusual scooters that he organised in Belgium. The “Toys of the fifties run” it was called. I bet I decided to take on.
So I pepared the bike for the road and wrote to the, still existing (!), factory to get some paperwork for the registration test. This proved to be no problem, the guys at the testing station just could not believe the shortness of the wheelbase… they measured it three times!
The rally itself was very nice and I was glad to have at least ridden the bike once. But once it was as with its 7″ wheels and very steep steering angle it is a rather dangerous bike to ride, especially on Belgian cobble stones.
