Scooter Review

Benelli Velvet 125

Out on the streets you need a scooter that fits you like a glove. Enter the Benelli Velvet...

Words by JEREMY BOWDLER, photography by BENELLI

Many scooters on the market today are little rippers. Sweet, petite and very neat. But then again they do say the good things come in small packages.
Hmm, there seem to be a common thread running through that last paragraph and, like many scooters on the market, it’s small. What about me? It isn’t fair. I’ve had enough and I want my share...

I want to be like all the other scooter riders I see out there, neat, stylish, looking like they belong on their scoot, looking like their scoot belongs under them. Unfortunately I’m not one of them. I don’t look like I belong on a scooter and very few scooters look like they belong under me. In fact, one unkind soul whom I shall refer to as Kevin Magee, since that’s his name, went so far as to describe me riding as a spider on a toothpick, only he was talking about motorcycles. Given that scooters are smaller, by and large, than motorcycles, I shudder to think what he’d say about me on, say a Honda Today or one of the other smaller t&gs.

Good thing, then, that I managed to score a Benelli Velvet 125 for a day. When I’m riding scooters of a smaller stature I am faced with a choice: do I ride with my legs apart in the classic Roy and HG “hello Boys” pose? Or do I do the knees together slalom like I’m schussing down the ski slopes. Neither is ideal, but each is better than getting my knees stuck under the bars and being unable to put my foot down. Elbows decent sidestands do not make.

So back on target. Benelli’s Velvet. Excuse me while I stretch. The reach to the bars was a pleasant stretch, the seat was a comfortable height and there was room for me to tap my feet to the Northern Soul soundtrack playing through the iPod without my knees hitting the ‘bars and sending me off for some unscheduled panel-beating. It was a most pleasant surprise to find a scooter that fitted without being a compromise ... or a maxi.

The rider’s seat is scalloped to make it narrower at the front for those with shorter legs (even if the nominal height is a tallish 818mm) and rises to a reasonable pillion perch. The feeting arrangement, too, is as generous as the seating arrangement, with long flat running boards either side of the centrally mounted fuel tank, plus panels inside the legshield for that feet-forward cruise position. Pillions score foldout pegs so as not to get tangled up playing footsie with the rider.

The central fuel tank makes the scooter feel larger since your feet are spread by its width, and the between the feet fuel cap means you’ll never fill your underseat storage with petrol (unless you’re really, really unlucky) but it does mean there’s limited carrying capacity apart from under the seat or the reasonable rack on the back.

The instruments and controls are pretty much as you’d expect, though the ammeter which gives information about battery charge seems like overkill, it balances the fuel gauge on the right which adopts a belt and braces approach by incorporating a fuel reserve light in addition to the gauge. I appreciated the clock, but missed a separate, cancellable tripmeter. The underseat storage is longer than in many scooters, thanks to the fuel being stored between your feet, but is shallow enough only to accept a jet-style helmet. That said, it should take a helmet, jacket and gloves which is very convenient when riding in Summer. The seat latch is operated from the ignition switch, which is handy, while the fuel cap is operated by the key, which is not.

The wheels and tyres match the Benelli’s larger frame, being 120/70-13s at the front and 130/70-12s at the rear, and the disc brakes front and rear were more than up to the job. On the road, the scooter felt solid, reliable and strong and, although Benelli don’t claim power or torque figures for this scooter, you’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of general riding for which it won’t meet your needs. Largely impressive and impressively large, all at once.

As published in TW SCOOTER MAGAZINE - 1/02/2009
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