LAST month, I rode the Gilera GP800, a scooter with motorcycle performance; this month, during a thunderstorm in Turin, Italy, I rode the new Aprilia Mana, a motorcycle with scooter performance.

Has the world gone mad? Not quite - the Gilera scooter doesn't have motorcycle performance (although scooter riders would be well impressed) but the Mana, with its scooter-style twist-and-go transmission does a very good job at taking the best from both worlds.

The Mana shares the same 90 degree V-twin engine as the GP800 (76bhp and 57ft/lbs of torque) and the same transmission, but the package works so much better.

The Mana's not just a very practical and stylish bike with ample storage facilities; it's also an ingenious attempt to incorporate the ease of automatic transmission normally attributed to scooters, whilst maintaining sequential gear changes by manual selection from controls on the handlebars, or via the traditional pedal. Confused? You won't be. It's actually very simple and more importantly, pretty effective. In a nutshell, you have two options.

First up, the manual system, which has seven pre-selected ratios in its continuously variable transmission. Gear changes are by button on the handlebars, or a traditional foot-operated lever. They feel uncannily smooth and instant, there's no shutting or blipping of the throttle needed. In fact, the changes feel (kinda) like the quick shifter on a MotoGP bike (use your imagination).

Then there's the automatic setting. Just like a twist-and-go scooter, except you have a choice of three completely different mappings - touring, sport and rain.

Straddling the naked street bike for the very first time seemed familiar enough until I started to pull away and my fingers flapped aimlessly for the missing clutch lever. I wasn't the only one - a gaggle of journalists had all done exactly the same thing. Although initially alien, it didn't take too long to get used to.

And unlike Yamaha's clutchless FJR 1300, the Mana behaves remarkably well in slow-speed manoeuvres and initial take-off. There's no need to dab the rear brake in an attempt to settle the bike, it's instantly steady and ready to go in all modes. Negotiating the chaos that is Turin would be a test of both ability and bottle on a high-performance motorcycle. Hence Italy's most common two-wheeled vehicles are scooters and naked bikes.

The Mana's a combination of both. With the horrendous weather showing absolutely no signs of lifting, I selected the rain' mode and set off. Not bad the ease of scooter' riding meant I could slide between the traffic queues effortlessly and avoid cramp in my left hand from grabbing the clutch in stop-start traffic.

In sport mode, the engine feels relatively taught, shut the throttle and the bike responds just as you'd expect from a big twin. It scrubs off speed with plenty of engine braking. Touring mode is similar, but the characteristics are slightly more diluted.