<img width="200" height="127" class="floatleft" src="https://motorcycleinth.com/images/articles/The_All_New_2009_Triumph_Street_Triple_R_1.jpg" alt="" />The, two things strike me about the new 2009 Triumph Street Triple R. First, it's probably the most instantly, instinctively fun bike I've ridden. As my current poor old motorcycle struggles on the concrete road to gain some speed, I click down to first, pull our, twist the throttle and honk past in the traditional one-wheeled salute. Pointless, hilarious and oh-so-easy for a first attempt.

I line up the next dangerous turn onto Ratchada from Rama 9, a crossing with bad memories. Ridiculously how many cars are on the road and I find myself quickly in a tight spot between two cars. Strong Nissin 4-piston radial front brakes do their thing and the well-spring upside down forks dive just the right amount. Letting off the lever, one of the most agile, light-steering chassis I've ever felt tips us in with near-zero effort.

And that's when the second realization hits: what a huge shame it is that so many riders whose adrenal glands would be beautifully tickled by the new Triumph Street Triple R won't ever ride it.

<img width="200" height="161" class="floatleft" src="https://motorcycleinth.com/images/articles/New_Suzuki_Skydive_125_Fuel_Injection_1.jpg" alt="" />With its thumping four-stroke 125cc engine, with continuously variable transmission (CVT) and fuel injection the Suzuki Skydrive 125 provides a cracking ride and is the second CVT scooter with fuel injection on the Thai domestic market.

Acceleration is brisk, feeling only a shade off the way a imported Suzuki Sixteen 150 takes off, while the chassis is more than capable of holding the whole plot in line. For the development of the Suzuki Skydrive 125's body Suzuki designers looked clearly for ways to make the Skydrive more aerodynamic. Top speed is impressive as the engine keeps on revving, developing its full power around 7500rpm mark, keeping you safely ahead of the traffic flow on all but the fastest of roads.

The Honda CBR-150R, looks like this could very well be one of our best ride ever. The Honda CBR-150R, one of the most loved full body motorcycles in Thailand. The CBR-150R is a motorcycle which was introduced back in 1999, and even today the almost 10 year old single cylinder, DOHC 4-valve150cc liquid cooled engine is very capable.

The Honda CBR-150R is the ideal tool to ride in the busy downtown Bangkok traffic. The suspension set-up is so well sorted out that you don't feel a thing on bumpy corners nor mid corner bumps threaten to unsettle your chosen line, enabling the rider to hardness the CBR-150R's complete potential without falling prey to cardiac arrest or vital organ dysfunction.

The Honda CBR-150R isn't designed to be a scaled down supersport bike but is targeted at being a complete bike with great performance, rideability and mega fun factor.

<img width="200" height="168" class="floatleft" src="https://motorcycleinth.com/images/articles/The_Aprilia_Shiver_750_Pure_Italian_Bike_1.jpg" alt="" />When it comes to building naked bikes. Aprilia have had more success than most. Five years ago, their Tuona single-handedly lifted the expectations of unfaired machines out of the gutter and onto the racetrack. It's the Godfather of naked sportbikes.

Despite its huge impact and sales success, the original naked sportbike has always had a bit of a problem. Basically, the bars are so upswept and on such huge risers that they force the rider to sit up, making it difficult to load the front in the same way that you can on either a KTM Super Duke or a Triumph Speed Triple.

Thankfully, the Aprilia Shiver 750 should have no such trouble, as it's new from the ground up.

<img width="200" height="144" class="floatleft" src="https://motorcycleinth.com/images/articles/Suzuki_GSX1400_meets_Yamaha_XJR1300_1.jpg" alt="" />Real man's bike that. So I keep hearing, buddy. In fact, I've heard little else in my first few days on Suzuki's GSX1400FE. It's like a pre-programmed response: a big retro, air-cooled naked? 'Real man's bike.'

The Yamaha XJR1300 gets largely the same response, though with marginally less attention. Could be the subtle black paint causing less of a fuss than Suzuki's timeless blue-and-white. But what is it about riding either one of these that makes you anymore 'real' a man than if you'd hopped off a Suzuki SC650 or Yamaha R6?

The fact that you're dealing with more engine than Suzuki SV650 and Yamaha R6 combined, for a start. At 1251cc and 1402cc, respectively, the Yamaha XJR1300 and Suzuki GSX1400 are little more than engines with ancillaries. These are motorcycling's primitive core, but the Suzuki has the hairier knuckles.

<img width="152" height="170" class="floatleft" src="https://motorcycleinth.com/images/articles/The_Honda_Click-i_with_PGM-FI_1.jpg" alt="" />The Honda Click-i is a surprisingly nimble machine, packing an impressive punch even though the capacity is only 110cc. The secret is the light all-up weight, a well-designed chassis and sharp handling.

Honda scooter products are not just generic copies of other models. Each is a ground-up creation and because of this has many features unique to the Honda Click-i. The Honda Click rides very well and the rock-steady road holding is such that you have to keep looking down to make sure the wheels haven't been removed.

The liquid cooled 110cc scooter holds the road like a much larger machine and is among the best in its class in this department.

<img width="200" height="140" class="floatleft" src="https://motorcycleinth.com/images/articles/The_New_2009_KawasakiNinja_ZX-6R_1.jpg" alt="" />To truly push the envelope, a rider needs a calm yet responsive sportbike with precision control feel and confidence-inspiring manners. That machine is perfectly embodied by the new 2009 Kawasaki Ninja ZX6R. Thanks to an extensive overhaul by the Kawasaki engineers; weight shaving, improving mass centralization, refining engine and chassis behavior, adding a revolutionary front fork design; the new leaner, more precise Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R delivers the elusive calm and confident handling that top racers need.

Fine-tuning the chassis and tightening its mass centralization resulted in lighter handling to make it even easier to tip this Kawasaki ZX-6R into a corner. To optimize front-rear rigidity balance, the engineers revised frame stiffness around the swingarm pivot and the rear engine mounts. The engine was rotated around the output shaft to offer a steeper cylinder bank angle and raise its CG by 16mm. A new exhaust layout with a short side muffler lowers the weight previously located under the seat and an exhaust pre-chamber further contributes to the new Kawasaki ZX-6R's mass centralization.

What can I say about the Yamaha Fino? Basically, I was never fond of riding a scooter. They never suited me. My introduction to biking was on a 250cc bike and thus looked upon lower capacity bikes with disregard, forget scooters. But in Thailand we ride all types of two-wheelers, they're efficient and most of the time more easy riding in downtown Bangkok.

I recently got the keys of my second long-termer in form of the Yamaha Fino Sport. What makes it special is that I got it the day my daughter was born. Hence the Yamaha Fino is very special and I hesitate in giving it to others even for a short while.

The Yamaha Fino surprised me as I rode it for the first time with its quick acceleration and I was taken aback at its quick throttle response. Whack the throttle open and the 115cc scooter zooms ahead with a definitive surge.

Let me start by saying the new Kawasaki Kaze Hit is a remarkable little commuter-style little motorcycle but one that is seriously less popular then comparable motorcycles from Honda. And let me say that this is a crying shame, especially when I could mention the Kawasaki Kaze Hit's strong, willing 112cc engine, which matches instant punch with a decent top-end rush.

Or the rear suspension system that gives you a magic carpet ride, even over cobble stones. Or the fact that the big wheels give you amazing stability - even at an indicated 100km/h. Or that the Kawasaki Hit's Dual Piston Caliper front disc brake together with the Rear drum brake was an absolute revelation.

Then, perhaps, I'd finish by mentioning the fact that as a step-through motorcycle you feel like riding your most comfortable sofa around. But none of you would listen. Would you? You'd continue to use the bus, MRT or skytrain - or perhaps - you enjoin the endless rush-hour traffic jams.

The only French motorcycle manufacturer is offering the Voxan Black Magic on a limited scale, for some time now.

The engine is in-house 72-degree 996cc V-twin. This engine is capable of producing about 100horsepower. The Black Magic, Voxan's take on classic cafe racer styling, and quite different form the existing faired 'Cafe Racer' and 'Street Scrambler'.

Styled by Sacha Lakic, the Voxan Black Magic certainly looks the part, a seductive combination of black and stainless steel, without a hint of chrome or carbon. Clip-on-like bars, rear-set foot-rests and what appears to be a single seat (which it isn't, there's a tailcover that can be removed if you find a brave enough pillion, and you'll also need to fit the optional pillion pegs) add to the cafe racer style, completed by large analogue clocks and high-level exhausts.