Hi BeeFarmer,
When I saw your "handle" in this thread, I immediately thought of another 'alternative' vehicle which I have wanted for quite some time. It's the "Ape" made by the Piaggio company in Italy. As you are probably aware, the word
ape means "bee" in Italian, and these little vehicles sound like bees when they go by.
A link to a representative picture is
{HERE}. When I was living in Italy, they were everywhere, licensed as "motorini" (a.k.a. scooters). They are used by farmers, restaurant owners, bakers, construction, you name it. It is a 3-wheeled vehicle, with handlebars inside the cab, and a robust 2-stroke 50cc engine. Piaggio also makes larger vehicles, like the Ape Tm, sized closer to the vehicles discussed in this thread,
{HERE} . They have cab, too, but have 4 wheels and a steering wheel, not handlebars.
I have imported a few new 2-wheeled scooters from Italy on my own, but have not yet tried to do it with an Ape. The red tape/$$ with the scooters was considerable, with required freight consolidators, US Customs representative, etc. etc. However, as they say, where there is a will, there is a way.
