Bolwell Firenze 250 Review

Overall Rating

Well finished, good lights, stops well. Underseat storage is good. Nice and comfortable to ride even for a 6 ft person. Pretty economical. Lots of fun to ride.

Would really get a 10 out of 10 apart from a small occasional problem with acceleration (see comments below). Other people have complained about mirrors and I have found they also have blind spots but a small convex blind spot mirror on each one fixes it.

Initially I was looking around at smaller 125cc scooters to travel about 30km one way into work every day, but 3/4 of this is on a highway with lots of log trucks. Saw the Bolwell Firenze on the floor of the local dealer and was immediately impressed even though it was more than I was thinking of spending.

From first ride I was hooked and things just keep getting better. I now use this bike as my primary means of transport.

Fuel economy has been pretty good so far and I average around 4.5 - 4.7 l per 100km. Doesn't seem to matter whether I use standard or premium ULP in it for economy.

Most of my riding is at 100 - 110kmh and it travels pretty well at this speed. I weigh nearly 100kg and have some pretty big hills to navigate. Will slow down to 100 or just under on the bigger ones.

Going to and from work a lot of my riding is also in the dark and high beam is more than adequate to deal with traveling at these speeds. Low beam is certainly bright enough but to be safe on an otherwise unlit highway I need to slow down a bit. The 'foglights' help a lot with expanding out the side vision.

We have been having some pretty bad weather over the last month since I got the Firenze, and I have been struck with a lot of high winds whilst traveling and this has taken a bit of getting used to. But now I know the bike isn't going to get swept off the road by wind or a passing truck I feel a lot more comfortable. It does get buffeted a bit but generally stays on line. The only time I get buffeted as the rider is when the wind is coming from the side. Getting a smaller scooter would have been a mistake for my type of riding. In calm weather it is an absolute joy to ride and can't wait to take this on longer trips.

Ventured onto a dirt road the other day, was a bit tentative at first but it handled really well.

I fitted a Sym top box and with the underseat storage is more than enough for general use. I even had to take it out to the airport the other day because my car wouldn't start and managed to fit my backpack under the seat, a laptop in the top box , and a suitcase strapped to the seat with no problems. I think the car is feeling a bit neglected because I now ride the Firenze everywhere.

My only complaint so far has been that occasionally it will lose acceleration for apparently no reason. It is usually after I have slowed down and am trying to pick up speed again, and is very infrequent. After about 5km it picks back up to normal. I am hoping it is just a running in thing but could be bad batches of fuel, or even the gearing isn't selecting correctly on some occasions - I know it is a CVT but it still has to be in a correct ratio. It doesn't run rough, just won't rev.

Even so, most of the time it runs pretty well, and will accelerate even when sitting at 100 or 110 providing I am not riding into a big head wind.

I would recommend the Firenze to anyone looking at the 250 size scooters.

Members' Comments onpmul's Review

• pmul on 9th Oct 2007

  Jut thought I would add a comment regarding the intermittent power problem I have experienced with my Firenze. Looks like it is all fixed now. Turns out it may have been a vent blockage in the fuel cap. There is a small washer on the inside of the cap which seems to have been placed in wrong. I pulled it out, replaced it and no problems since. In fact the scooter seems to have more power than ever and is improving each day.