Benelli Car-Bike Hybrid offers best of both worlds

Then there's a throttle and the CVT offers the equivalent of an automatic transmission, so as far as mastering the primary controls, that's it.The disks and fat little tyres of the scooter offer another bonus - great power and good road-feel when stopping under crash conditions. It really does brake quickly - as good as a motorcycle and it's never going to be going more than 100kmh anyway, which will help.

Transforming the motorcycle from roofed to unroofed is a ten second, one-handed job. The only disadvantage of taking the roof off is that it cuts luggage space in half - from cavernous to okay. That's actually a trap with the bike - you can load up so much stuff into the boot, that you may not be able to put the roof away if you don't pack things carefully.

The other space problem is the height of the roof, which makes things very cramped if the rider or pillion is taller than 185cm. One question which was asked of me at least once a day while I had the bike was "How much does it cost?" Most people see the obvious benefits of the machine as a commuter, and wish to assess its viability as a transport option. The answer of AUD$9950 seemed to disappoint a lot of people.

Perhaps that's because most people were non-motorcyclists and had no idea how the price-point compares to other two-wheelers.

Personally, it was a great experience to ride the bike - it was very safe, very comfortable and very economical transport, with the added advantage that it brought celebrity status whenever it was parked.