Scooter Review Benelli Adiva 150 Benelli’s out in front with first enclosed scooter to be seen on the Australian market. This could be the start of a good thing
Photography by CARLOS ALZAMORA Watch your head inside the Adiva. Or at least with the canopy closed. I’m around six foot and that canopy proved to be an obstruction at emergency stops, with my helmet clouting the top of the screen. Apart from that the whole enclosed motorcycle thing was a really creepy experience. It feels like you’re in a small car yet you can lean around corners and it fits between the traffic. It sort of has the boot size of a small car, too, and I’m sure if I wanted to it would fit my dog in the back.
The Adiva comes in 125 and 150cc variants* both of which have Piaggio-sourced motors. The engine is as capable in this mini “maxi-scooter” as it is in the other scooters with the same motor. It may suffer a little in getting the bike up to speed, but barely, yet when it gets going the difference in performance is minimal. Weighing around 30kg more than the retro-bodied scooters the Adiva, at 135kg, is one still one of the lightest maxi-scooters around. The low seat height helps to get rid of the feeling of a heavy bike but you can start to feel its weight when things are scraping. And, by the way, you have to do some pretty vicious cornering to make the thing scrape.
 Obviously, the roof is the main point of the scooter. It tucks nicely away into the boot – which removes storage space, of course – yet, when the roof is up, there is enough room to store a week’s groceries for two. The roof latches on at the front and latches tightly away when it’s removed. It operates on a hinge mechanism that will make you watch your fingers if you get it wrong once, believe me. Opening and closing takes all of 10 seconds and, in the rain, I can only foresee minimal spray affecting the rider. Obviously boots and legs will get wet when you’re stationary as they protrude from the canopy’s cover. The windscreen wiper makes seeing out the front easy in the rain.
 Comfort isn’t an issue on the Adiva. Plenty of variations as to where you put your legs and you can move around the seat a fair bit. Two-up comfort is terrible, however. As the boot occupies most of the rear section of the bike there is little room for an extra rider. Basically there is a two-up facility just avoid using it for anything other than short hops.
The Adiva might just mark the start of a new breed of practical inner city transport. You can do everything and more on the Adiva that you’d want from a scooter with the weather protection of a car and the convenience of a motorcycle.
*150cc shown
As published in TW SCOOTER MAGAZINE - 22/02/2006
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