SO the summer has finally arrived and you can at last look forward to sitting in your four-wheeled cage in stifling heat, winging kids in the back, engine and temper overheating in the front and the nastiest traffic jam in the world right in front of you, writes John Gilbride.

Sadly this is the reality of summer on British roads, too many cars, not enough road space.

The answer according to the government is to get everyone onto public transport which, to those of us who have had course to to use it, is at best awful and at worst diabolical.

Inner city areas are by far the worst and what no one yet seems to have cottoned on to is the fact that two wheel transport is an obvious solution.

Get commuters on two wheels and you cut pollution and solve a lot of city-parking problems at the same time.

Most of the big name manufacturers have at least one run-about in their range and some have a complete family, from 'street cred 50's' through to 'superscoot' tourers.

Currently trendy with the European jet set business man is the latter of these two, the 'superscoot' or maxi scooter, so called because of its ease of use around town as well as its ability to hustle with the best of them out on the open road.

Yamaha's version of the maxi scoot is the YP250 Majesty a liquid cooled 250cc single which, in the face of stiff opposition from the Suzuki Burgman and Piaggio's Hexagon, has had a complete chassis up face-lift for 2000.

The tubular steel frame has been reshaped to take the fuel tank which is now repositioned between the rider's feet to allow a massive under-seat storage area, big enough to take almost a weeks shopping or two full face helmets, whichever you prefer.

On the inside of the front fairing there is a tardis-like compartment, described in the brochure as a glove box, but more like a car boot. There's even a smaller cubby hole for your mobile phone.

On the move the scooter pulls very smoothly. The quarter litre engine is no tearaway but acceleration is quite brisk, vibration free and the Majesty is quite happy cruising at 70mph.

Disc brakes at both ends make for reasonable stopping power but with very little feedback through the levers you'll need to grab a great handful to bring the plot to a stop in a hurry.

Riding position is upright and comfortable and the riders seat has a built-in backrest which is fully adjustable to allow more legroon at the front for lankies. The screen is excellent and now has a built-in airduct which, when opened, cuts out turbulence at high speed.

In traffic the Majesty is extremely composed. With its low centre of gravity it slips in and out of traffic with ease and parking is a cinch. Which brings me to my first point.

Consider this. If 50 per cent of commuters took to two wheels instead of four there would be no congestion. You could park around five Yamaha Majestys in the same size space as an average family car and in most big towns and cities motorcycle parking is free.

Back to the bike, I think Yamaha are on to a winner with the Majesty.

Sure there is strong opposition from its rivals but the Majesty is every bit as good as the others in most respects and wins hands down in the luggage department.

With a host of optional extras like heated grips, taller screen and top box on tap the Majesty is a real all-rounder capable of taking everything from commuting to touring in its stride.

FACT FILE

Yamaha YP250 Majesty

Price: tbc on the road

Engine type: Single cylinder SOHC liquid-cooled 4-stroke

Displacement: 250cc

Bore & Stroke: 69.0 mm x 66.8 mm

Compression ratio: 10:1

Transmission type: V-belt automatic

Overall length: 2,140mm