The Keeway RKV200 - Smart Choice 200cc Motorcycle

The Keeway RKV200 might not be the sexiest motorcycle you can currently buy, but after an afternoon on board the single cylinder 200cc bike it quickly showed it to be superior to some of its price level competitors, with a modern looks, backed up by a good performance engine and brakes. Like all Keeway motorcycles, the RKV200 is pretty modest when it comes to speed. But it's nippy enough around town, and will keep up with most stuff, as long you're not too ambitious with your traffic battling. It can also, of course, stay mobile when other, bulkier motorcycles can't make it through congested streets.

Out on the open road I did manage to hit a massive 120km/h when I tucked in like a jockey and kept the throttle cable pinned to stretching-point for a couple of kilometers. There's a bit of vibration to deal with when being pushed this hard, but most of the time the engine is smooth enough to get the nod of approval. It's even quite torquey and doesn't totally rely on the five-speed gearbox to maintain speed.

On hand to knock off speed are the competent brakes, which just get on with the job of slowing the lightweight without any drama. The suspension can feel cheap and choppy thanks to insufficient damping, but it's not exactly worth moaning about, also how suspension feels is really personal. Besides, it's more than compensated for by the very light steering which does a fine job helping you slalom through traffic.

The biggest plus-point of the Keeway RKV200, though, is its economy, which with these high fuel prices can only be good news. Keeway's claiming as much as 30km per liter, though I do think that is a bit optimistic – I'm more thinking of 23 to 25km per liter with regular riding.

The 200cc Keeway RKV200 is available at dealer around Thailand now at a bargain 59,900 THB (recommended retail price), which, for what the Chinese made RKV200 can do is great value. Its modern looks, cast wheels and comfortable riding position help it to look and feel good, and more like a proper motorcycle I didn't actually feel that daft wearing my protective motorcycle jacket to ride it.

It's no sportsbike, of course, but running around on one of these for a while will help you save enough money to get a bigger bike in the future, if that's what you want.