Maxxed Out: Yamaha TMAX 500 by Unikat Motorworks

Folks who ride motorcycles today often started out on scooters, especially in Europe. But Maciej Bielawski of Poland did it the other way round. “I’ve been riding motorbikes since I was a child, starting in the 80s,” he tells us. “But then I switched to scooters. Why? Because they’re easy, especially in the city where I live.” We can see his point. Some modern maxi-scooters offer motorcycle levels of performance, but with tons of extra convenience—especially for touring or city commuting. Maciej usually trades his bikes in after one season, but he did not want to part with his 2009...