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The three-wheeled Peugeot Metropolis is yours for P668,800

Need some quirky urban transport courtesy of an extra front wheel?

Your eyes aren't playing tricks on you—that's a three-wheeled scooter. PHOTO BY ANDY LEUTERIO

Three-wheeled scooters are something of a rarity on Philippine roads. Apart from the fairly exotic Can-Am Ryker, the last time a mass-market manufacturer tried to sell one here was back in 2015 when Yamaha launched the Tricity, a pint-sized version of the 847cc Niken.

Motostrada, which introduced the Peugeot brand earlier this year with the Django scooter, has just released pricing for the Metropolis 400i. An expressway-legal tricycle, the Metropolis is powered by a liquid-cooled, 399cc four-valve, SOHC single-cylinder motor rated at 36hp and 38.1Nm, and mated to a CVT. It goes for P668,800.

That looks comfy. PHOTO BY ANDY LEUTERIO

The front wheels utilize independent double wishbones suspended by a single strut. The parallelogram design enables the trike to tilt into corners like a conventional motorcycle, but with theoretically more front-end grip since it has two tires instead of one.

In case you’re wondering why bother, well, that’s because in Europe, you’re allowed to drive a trike with a regular full car license instead of going through the trouble of a more specific motorcycle/tricycle classification and corresponding tests.

Here in the Philippines, the Metropolis is classified as a “scooter” to simplify your licensing requirementand possibly to avoid confusing enforcers who understand “tricycle” to mean the type we use for short commutes. Anyway, no one’s going to confuse the Metropolis for a pantra.

It's fully featured with all the storage you need. PHOTO BY ANDY LEUTERIO

Aside from the intriguing mechanical layout, it wears stylish bodywork that stands out in a Skyway traffic jam. Peugeot’s signature floating grille is flanked by large, oblique LED headlamps. A big, adjustable windscreen helps shield you and your pillion rider from the wind, and the seats are thickly padded and shaped for long rides. The seats even have a small backrest for some lower back support. Storage compartments in front and under the seat should be enough for short rides, but if you’re going on a road trip, a “Station Wagon” version (P699,900) with a 75L top case and a full pillion backrest is available.

The black, multi-spoke alloy wheels add a touch of sportiness.

This is an expressway-legal scoot that's sure to fire up conversations at Starbucks. PHOTO BY ANDY LEUTERIO

A switch on the right grip pod lets you lock the front wheels from tilting over, and there’s an electric parking brake as well. A short test ride reveals that the Metropolis’s relatively high moment of inertia takes some getting used to once you’ve started a lean, but once you learn to trust the added mass and the grip from the front end, it does feel…different.

Hopefully, we’ll get to test a Metropolis for an extended highway and twisty-road run to see how it really stacks up against conventional scooters.



Andy Leuterio

Andy is both an avid cyclist and a car enthusiast who has finally made the shift to motorcycles. You've probably seen him on his bicycle or motorbike overtaking your crawling car. He is our motorcycle editor and the author of the ‘Quickshift’ column.



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