Benelli Car-Bike Hybrid offers best of both worlds

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This speed creep happened a lot in the early stages of getting-to-know the Adiva because the speed of the Adiva can increase without the engine speed increasing. On a bike with a conventional transmission, the cue to a change of speed is a corresponding change in engine revs.Once I got used to the Adiva, the speed variation problem was easily overcome by frequent glances at the speedo, though there's one thing you will never get used to on the Adiva, and that's the attention you get.

This humble scribe has been involved with testing motorcycles and cars for 25 years and in that time, I've driven and ridden most everything of note and NOTHING spins heads like the Adiva with the roof on.It is laugh-out-loud material - people point from the footpath as you ride down the road, and it isn't an isolated incident to see large groups of people turn in unison as one of their throng exclaims loudly upon sighting the Adiva. Park it in a built-up environment and you suddenly have people around you asking questions.

Everyone notices the Adiva, making it safe to ride because everyone watches it until it is out of sight - no kidding! The motorcycle-car hybrid aspect is actually quite a good way of looking at the Adiva - during the photographic session, photographer and rider trolled two-up around several suburbs for several hours, discussing various locations, commenting on different aspects of the Adiva, and - we were almost finished when it occurred to us that we'd been having a normal conversation, just as we would in a car, and we hadn't had to shout or ask anything to be repeated.

The windscreen and roof completely eliminate wind-roar around the helmets and allow good communication with the pillion, or - we suspect there'd be no problems with a hands-free mobile phone, or sound system. The speaker covers are already installed in the Adiva dashboard, and there is a nacelle designed to accomodate a radio/sound system too. Many people asked during the test whether the bike was top-heavy or clumsy - it may look it, but it's not.

Indeed, apart from being slightly more susceptible to side-winds, the windscreen and roof appear to make no difference to agility or handling.Acceleration of the bike is comparable with most modern cars up to 60kmh after which the car can accelerate past - the main point to make here is that the Adiva is transport for a built-up environment.

It will happily cruise at 100kmh, and can handle freeway conditions, but it doesn't have anything more to give once it has reached 110kmh and you'll only see 120kmh down a slight gradient. Around 60kmh and 80kmh zones, it is in its element, but despite the excess of luggage space, don't go expecting to go touring on the Adiva - it is a city machine which will make light of commuting duties, maybe even delivery duties, but not the open road.

Potential buyers who are considering a scooter because they don't want the mechanical upkeep of something more performance-orientated, will be delighted to know that one of the primary design criteria for the Adiva was low-maintenance requirements. The Adiva is new to this country but experience overseas suggests Benelli has achieved those goals and it should be hassle-free for the inexperienced.

The Adiva should also appeal to people looking at it as a commuter on the basis that it is easy-to-ride. It has a very small turning circle - so small that it makes light of stand-still traffic snarls, even though it is marginally wider than your average two-wheeler. It is extremely manoevrable, and can be ridden by anybody who can ride a bicycle - the brakes are both hand-operated disks, and are exactly the same as those on a bicycle - right-hand front and left-hand rear.

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