Benelli Car-Bike Hybrid offers best of both worlds

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The Benelli Adiva is one of the most interesting new concepts in personal transportation for many years - a two-wheeled cabriolet scooter offering more collision and weather protection than any other available two wheeler, yet all the parking, accessibility and agility advantages of a small motorcycle. In European cities, where parking and road space is limited, this type of car-scooter hybrid is beginning to get a lot of attention as commuters are exploring new, more convenient types of personal transport.

Bringing immense credibility to the cause of the enclosed scooter is the BMW C1, designed by BMW specifically to solve the space problems of European cities and the inherent two-wheeled disadvantages of weather and crash protection.The C1 is remarkably similar to the Adiva in appearance, and comes complete with crumple zones, roll-cage and a crossover seat belt system, which BMW warrants make it is as safe as a car in a head-on collision.

Bikes such as the C1 BMW and Adiva are plentiful on roads in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, and are marketed there with a variety of accessories including sound systems, heated seats, sunroof and mobile phone holder. Unfortunately, disagreement on ADRs is likely to prevent the C1 from reaching the Australian marketplace. BMW designed the C1 to be ridden without a helmet, and Australian ADRs will not budge on its requirement that it is technically a motorcycle and must be ridden with a helmet.

Accordingly, the C1 is unlikely to ever come to market in this country. So if you like the concept of the enclosed motorcycle, the Adiva is the only game in town at present.For the experienced motorcyclist, by far the most significant difference between the Adiva and anything else on two wheels, is the protection from the elements - when it rains, motorcyclists and their passengers get wet in two main ways - the rain they sweep in front of them as they traverse through the air, and the rain that falls on them when they are at traffic lights and stationary.

The Adiva largely eliminates both types, and although there's some limited splash from around the sides of the windscreen and adjacent road-users (when the road is really wet), the problem of getting wet is largely eliminated.In keeping with Benelli's policy of innovative two-wheeled design in recent times (watch for an upcoming feature on the Benelli 900 roadster), there is far more to the Adiva than meets the eye.

The motor is a 150cc overhead cam four-stroke, which offers good economy, thanks largely we suspect, to the Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). That's right - the engine operates in a narrow rev range and the transmission ratio varies.

That way, the engine can continuously operate at high efficiency, and hence the good fuel consumption figures. Overseas test reports suggest 25-30 kml (75-90mpg in old terms) can be achieved by the Adiva, but few magazines outside Italy have had their hands on an Adiva, and we suspect the figures were helped by the lower speed confines of Milan and Rome. We averaged around 20 kml (60mpg), which is still far better than you'll achieve in anything with four wheels, but not as much as we'd hoped for.

We rode the machine between the 500 km and 1000 km range of its life, so perhaps once the still-tight motor beds in a little, the Adiva's figures might get even better.

Riding a motorcycle without the wind in your face and with a CVT is an interesting experience. You look down at the speedo, note that you're travelling at the legal limit, and go back to riding. Next time you look back, you might be doing 80kmh - in some municipalities of the world, that's a lose-your-license offense.

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