While a normal pair of pliers can be had for a few hundred baht, good quality pliers cost a good amount more. At first, I was skeptical that they'd be worth the steep price, but since adding the set of good quality pliers to our toolboxes a few months ago our other pliers have gone mostly unused. Moreover, I' m ready to buy a few pair to gift to friends.

The pliers we not have are precision-made in Japan from hardened steel, the pliers have molded elastomer handles that feel good in your hand and won' t slide off like the rubber-sleeve grips on lesser quality tools. Spring-loaded jaws make for easy one-handed operation. I use the pliers for everything from grasping fasteners and cutting wires to crimping electrical connectors.

With electronic rider aids such as traction control, ABS and selectable power delivery quickly becoming standard on modern motorcycles, the next step in the digital revolution appears to be smart suspension systems. Imagine ECU-controlled suspension that makes damping adjustments on the fly to cope with changes in road surface conditions.

BMW's new HP4 S1000RR already has it. In fact, the BMW HP4 is the first production motorcycle to be equipped with what fully active suspension, Dynamic Damping Control. The Ducati Multistrada's new Sachs Skyhook system functions in much the same way as BMW's DDC, although the Italian company refers to it as semi-active. For contrast, BMW's ESA II simply allows the rider to select settings electronically, but it isn't reactive.

Swedish suspension manufacturer Öhlins is bringing semi-active suspension to the aftermarket with its new hypersport Mechatronic shock. The first application is exclusive to the 2011 ~ 2013 Kawasaki ZX-10R, with fitments for additional models to come. Unlike BMW's DDC, which senses suspension motion, among other factors, the Öhlins Mechatronic shock is semi-active in that it continuously changes damping settings dependent upon the aggressiveness of riding. Preload is still adjusted manually.

Lots of people want to order quality replacement bolts for there motorcycle but don't understand how they're measured and which materials are best.

Bolt sizing is pretty straightforward. Modern Japanese motorcycles all use metric bolts. The most important thing is the shank diameter – that's the distance across the main threaded shaft of the bolt. It's measured in millimeters and they're generally preceded by an 'M', which stands for metric. The common sizes on a motorcycle are M5, M6 and M8. The shank length is often given in millimeters too.

Bolt heads mainly come in two forms. Traditional hex heads are measured in millimeters, again from flat side to flat side. The common sizes used on motorcycles are 8mm, 10mm, 12mm, 13mm, 14mm, 17mm, 19mm. Quite a lot of motorcycles use some Allen bolts. These are measured by the width of the hexagonal hole, flat to flat. The common sizes are 4mm, 5mm and 6mm. Some bolts head have a star drive – these are generally ones you're not meant to tamper with.

The compression ratio of your combustion engine – around 14:1 is the optimum for performance and economy, although it's usually lower to prevent knock at high temperatures.

There's another huge compromise here. The compression of a piston engine might be 14:1 when the throttle is wide open and the cylinder is being completely filled with air and fuel, but whenever you close it – even a fraction – you'll start to create a partial vacuum inside the cylinder. It simply won't be able to fill during the intake stroke, so there's less mixture to compress during the compression stroke. That means that when you're not on full throttle, the engine's compression ratio is lower – there isn't as much air and fuel being squeezed.

On turbo or supercharged engines, it's even worse: because mixture is being forced in under pressure at full throttle, the actual compression ratio much be lower to make sure it doesn't detonate, typically nearer 8:1. But at lower speed, when the turbo isn't blowing, you get hit with a double-whammy: not enough mixture to fill the cylinder, and an intentionally low compression ratio. The result is a serious lack of power – hence the 'flat' feeling of turbo engines when they're off-boost.

Big Piston Forks (BPF) – what are they? When the oil flows around a conventional 'cartridge' fork under compression or rebound it enters a separate chamber through a sub-piston to flow back to the opposite side of the piston from where it started.

Big Piston Forks simply do away with this extra chamber and instead the oil flows through a bigger piston (hence the name) and a single chamber that is located between the fork leg and slider – the whole fork leg becomes a cartridge instead of containing a separate cartridge unit.

All of the major motorcycle clothing companies now offer some form of 'riding shoe' or ankle boot within their urban motorcycling collection. The RS Taichi RSS007 Delta Boa Riding Shoes is one of the first such product from RS Taichi, though, and it's surprisingly technical for a casual-style item.

There is impact absorbing ' honeycomb' material in the heal, and the sole was designed by hiking/running specialist Vibram, so the RS Taichi RSS007 Delta Boa Riding Shoes should provide good walking comfort.

The end of the rain and mild climate is coming, and there will be times when full leather motorcycle suits are just a bit too sporty (and hot) for your purposes. What you need instead is a classic leather motorcycle jacket that protects you, and looks timelessly cool, without making you feel as though you're in 'must rider fast' mode.

As implied by its name, and backed up by its looks, the Dainese Santa Monica jacket is the kind of motorcycle jacket that wouldn't be out of place on a beach-bound jaunt along one of Thailand’s beautiful beaches.

It's not only dry clutches that rattle, all clutches rattle. It' s just that most modern motorcycles run 'wet' clutches and the oil cancels out some of the noise. The rattle comes from the clutch plates bouncing against one another.

Inside a clutch is a stack of metal plates which act like bells as they vibrate. When the clutch is engaged they are pushed against each other, but when the clutch is disengaged they are designed to become unstable. Each clutch plate has a small metal nick in the outside edge so that when the clutch is pulled in the plates are destabilized, helping them separate and disengage the clutch.

Every motorcycle sold in Thailand – whether a gearless scooter, an economy commuter or a fancy sportsbike -comes with two side-view mirrors as standard equipment. Why then do a large number of riders remove these from their motorcycles?

Granted, these side-view mirrors are not the most attractive parts of the motorcycle; they appear to be mostly afterthoughts and no real consideration seems to have been given to make these as attractive as the rest of the motorcycle design. However, there is no denying their utility and the essential role they play in safety.

The X-Lite X-802R is the top of the range X-lite helmet and it has a spec list that stands up to close scrutiny. For starters it has a five-year warranty, which speaks volumes for the Italian-made motorcycle helmet, allied to measured weight that is 20 grams out from the claimed weight. It really weighs only 1321 grams which is about 200 grams less then other tops helmet brands.

There are three carbon-Kevlar fiber outer shell sizes and six fitments. There are as six types of cheek pads for a perfect fit available too. And, obviously, a replaceable, washable inner liner. In fact, X-Lite claims its fabric and foam inner aids the wicking away of sweat and the 'elasticated microfiber' foam means a snug and stable fit.