Piaggio X8 400

Piaggio reckons its fuel-injected 400 is the quickest machine in its class, able to punt the X8 to claimed top speed of 155km/h - something backed up by our own time with the gadget. It supports our current theory that the 400 class is where it's all happening at the moment, when it comes to maxi scooters.

Across a number of brands, the 400s seem to be the best compromise between the sometimes overly heavy monster maxis and the slightly underpowered 250s in this class. Suzuki's 400 Burgman is another good example of the breed.

What you get is plenty of performance for the open road (or simply hosing the traffic away from the lights) and acceptably nimble handling around town.

The maker of this device reckons it has spent a bit of time reworking the clutch and transmission - certainly the feel is good and there's a nice amount of engine braking when you back off the throttle.

Since we're talking about stopping, the twins discs up front offer good power and feel, matched well enough to the rear item. All up the braking works well, with good stability when you're really hard on the picks.

Suspension is acceptable - it can still feel overwhelmed over choppy road surfaces, but performs just fine under more forgiving circumstances.

Overall the steering and handling works well, as the package inspires a fair bit of confidence - it can be punted quite quickly through a set of turns.

Storage is reached by opening the seat, and the rear boot, both of which have an electronic release (with a keyless remote for the latter). However only the boot has a manual back-up, which is an oversight as we had trouble with the seat release on this model and the previous 250 X8.

The space is wide and long rather than deep. It will accept open face helmets but not full-face lids.

Fuel consumption is remarkably miserly, given the size of the bike. We had no trouble getting 22km/lt, which gives a potential 240km-plus range from 12-litre fuel tank.