Si Nanowire (NW) field effect transistors (FETs) were fabricated on hard Si and flexible polyimide (PI) substrates, and their electrical characteristics were compared. Si NWs used as channels were synthesized by electroless etching method at low temperature, and these NWs were refined using a centrifugation method to get the NWs to have an optimal diameter and length for FETs. The gate insulator was poly(4-vinylphenol) (PVP), prepared using a spin-coating method on the PI substrate. Gold was used as electrodes whose gap was 8 μm. These gold electrodes were deposited using a thermal evaporator. Current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the device were measured using a semiconductor analyzer, HP-4145B. The electrical properties of the device were characterized through hole mobility, Ion/Ioff ratio and threshold voltage. The results showed that the electrical properties of the TFTs on PVP were similar to those of TFTs on SiO2. The bending durability of SiNWs TFTs on PI substrate was also studied with increasing bending times. The results showed that the electrical properties were maintained until the sample was folded about 500 times. But, after more than 1000 bending tests, drain current showed a rapid decrease due to the defects caused by the roughness of the surface of the Si NWs and mismatches of the Si NWs with electrodes.