The Suzuki GD110HU is the quintessential commuter motorcycle – comfortable and efficient. It’s aimed at urban commuters with an eye on fuel efficiency. We’ve been consistently getting a figure of around 60 kilometers for a liter of fuel. This 113cc, single-cylinder, air-cooled engine is simple and reliable.

The engine revs quite freely which makes it easy to build speed. Low-end torque is adequate but we would have liked more, especially when there’s a pillion onboard.

Despite its humble positioning, the Suzuki GD110HU can teach a thing or two about refinement to competing motorcycle of its class. Rev it and you will be greeted by a nice exhaust note and no vibration. Feels nice when cruising around as well. The clutch isn’t too sharp though and you need to coax the engine at the beginning to get it moving. But the motorcycle feels light and agile.

Continue Reading

Honda combining its expertise in adventure bikes and scooters, the new Honda X-ADV crossover motorcycle is the brainchild of Italian Honda designer Daniele Lucchesi, whose aim was to take an easy-to-ride, nimble and frugal city commuter, give it some genuine back road ability and throw in a hint of off-road potential for good measure.

After some initial hesitation, Honda finally gave the green light for the project, and the first crossover motorcycle or adventure scooter, whichever way you want to look at it was born. It sounds outlandish, but in a way it makes a lot of sense: if you can have practicality and ability in the same package then why not? But is it a motorcycle or a scooter, and most importantly, what’s it like to ride?

It takes a while for me to take it all in as I stand and stare at the Honda X-ADV. It’s not only the concept of a crossover motorcycle that needs some processing, it’s also all the detail jumping out and demanding your attention. The angular, almost origami-like design has so many surfaces and intricate details that you could look at the motorcycle for hours. The build quality is just superb; every panel and component joins together with incredible accuracy.

Continue Reading

Honda’s commitment to bringing new riders into the motorcycle fold has never been more evident. From its lovable MSX125 to the commuter-centric NC750X, Honda’s rang of novice-friendly models cover the gamut. Now, Honda aims to stroke the fire of the young and restless with its all-new 2017 Honda Rebel 300 and Rebel 500, a pair of bobber-style models with a cool minimalistic look and attractive price.

Both Honda Rebel models share identical styling and chassis components. A low 690mm seat height, mid-mount foot pegs, and low-rise handlebar – all providing a balance of style and control. Backing out of a parking stall is light duty, as is low-speed maneuvering. Handling is light and neutral with easy turn-in feel and a very good sense of stability. Cornering clearance is adequate for a bit of spirited play but grounded in cruiser roots when pushing the pace.

Ride compliance proved up to the task of soaking up some of Bangkok’s more battered roads, and the 43mm forks offer good support under hard braking. The brakes provide ample stopping power with intuitive feel with the ABS, though a longish reach to the nonadjustable clutch and brake levers may prove a stretch for youthful and female hands.

Continue Reading

The first thing you notice when looking at the Moto Guzzi Audace is that it has immense road presence. There is no way it can be missed. It is audible and has magnetism in its appearance.

The most important desigh element in any cruiser is its engine. Of it’s not substantial and beautiful enough, it can ruin the whole style completely. A cruiser’s engine is its brawn and its heart at the same time. And it is all the more prominent in the Moto Guzzi Audance.

The transverse mounted V-twin engine with the two cylinders protruding at either side is Audace’s biggest visual impact and there’s no two ways about it. This arrangement makes everything else big and wide as well. The fuel tank has to be wide enough to heep the proportions right. When everything is put together, the front-half of the Moto Guzzi Audace looks big and wide, highlighting its mechanical beauty. The drag-bar handlebar and shorter mudguards add muscularity to the design.

Continue Reading

The new Suzuki GSX-R150, which is essentially a completely newly developed fully faired 150cc sportbike. When we looked at the engine specification on paper we had doubts about the performance, the engine is the smallest, only 147.3cc, compared to the Honda CBR150R and Yamaha YZF-R15. When we first rode the GSX-R150, we came back impressed. The 147.3cc single-cylinder, DOHC valve, liquid-cooled engine was smooth and revved freely, while the chassis resulted in a motorcycle that handled exceedingly well.

The designers of the Suzuki GSX-R150 have clearly borrowed some design futures from the latest Suzuki GSX-R1000. Just looking at the motorcycle and you will directly see that it’s a GSX-R family member the DNA is unmistakably present.

Continue Reading

Let us suppose you’ve ridden motorcycles all you life and, apart from needing shopping transport to the local supermarket, the idea of straddling a scooter has never entered your head. So how can this thing – Yamaha Tmax DX – cost 529,000 THB?

After a day riding one round Bangkok and its environs, I have an answer. It looks like a scooter, but it functions like a thin car. By that I mean it’s a two-wheeled vehicle with about 85 percent of the short-distance advantage of a car (comfort, capable or operation without thought, tech overkill, no great need to wear special clothing), and 90 percent of the advantages of a motorcycle (acceleration, filtering). Why would you buy a halve a million baht scooter? Well, if you can afford it, and you want to get to work on time, why wouldn’t you?

The first Yamaha Tmax came along in 2001. Since then Yamaha have sold 250,000 units, mainly to south European countries, where it’s a consistent best seller. The uptight north Europeans are proving slower to catch on, partly because of the colder weather. In Thailand the whole idea of maxi-scooters is also slowly picking up, partly perhaps because of the big bike culture is a little way behind than that of some other countries.

Continue Reading

It’s almost 4 years, KTM predicted the future of small-capacity performance motorcycles in Asia and the rest of the world by inventing one- the KTM 390 Duke. And thanks to its class-leading power-to-weight and useful performance, it didn’t take KTM much to become a brand respected by sport and touring enthusiasts alike. While the fun and manic KTM 390 Duke is yet to come across a true rival of caliber, it seems KTM isn’t resting on its laurels.

Leadership and learning are intricately connected to each other and KTM, the leader in its segment, has mastered the trick of relentlessly improving its motorcycles and staying ahead of the pack. And this time too, it’s no different. KTM has taken its inimitable 390 and made it even better, and that’s what we talking about here; the 2017 KTM 390 Duke. More orange than before, this 2017 model could easily pass off as an extensive upgrade, but KTM insists it has completely revamped the motorcycle and this one is the second generation KTM 390 Duke.

Under the scorching sun, that catchy KTM orange looks even louder, and thanks to all the styling updates, the new KTM 390 Duke has an even more aggressive stance. But before we head out onto the tarmac, here’s a quick check on what’s visually new. There’s the dashing new split-LED headlamps similar to the KTM 1290 Super Duke, bigger 320mm brake disc up front, an intuitive TFT display, longer fuel tank cowl that now hides a bigger fuel tank, updated trellis frame with bolt-on subframe, wider and better cushioned seats, and a conventional side exhaust.

Continue Reading

The Suzuki SV650/A has been the standard against which the majority of modern members of the 600 to 650cc segment can be measured, and in support of that theory, I’d like to take you back to 1999 for the introduction of the first Suzuki SV650. This trip down memory lane reveals a motorcycle with a 6545cc, liquid-cooled, eight-valve, DOHC, 90-degree V-twin in a narrow chassis that rode on a 41mm traditional Kayaba preload adjustable front fork and a non-adjustable Kayaba rear shock. It had two-piston Tokico calipers and 290mm floating rotors at the front, and a single-piston caliper squeezing a 240mm rotor at the rear.

This is all going to sound very familiar when you reference the included specifications for the 2017 Suzuki SV650/A, because those are the same specifications as the current model, with exception that the Kayaba suspension company is now called KYB and the rear suspension now being adjustable for preload, while the front forks is no longer. The 2017 Suzuki SV650/A does produce a few more horsepower, what with its dual-spark engine, revised internals, freer-flowing exhaust and electronic fuel injection.

To be fair, though, most of those changes were made to the platform over the intervening 17 model years, not exclusively for this 2017 iteration. In actuality, the outgoing Gladius is the predecessor to this new motorcycle, as it’s the one that got the majority of upgrades when it split off from the SV-DL family tree – upgrades that Suzuki SV fans had long been hoping for, but which instead went to the Gladius line.

Continue Reading

The Suzuki VanVan 200 – a small, powered by a single-cylinder 200cc, air-cooled engine, lustrous, faintly ridiculous, massively entertaining and attractive package of fat-wheeled fun and joy.

There is not hint of artifice here, from the fuel tank shape and candy-colored paint, so the fat tires, single headlight and speedo, mini ape-hanger handlebars and wide over-upholstered banana seat, it fair bloody screams Seventies ’chopper bike’. It was desirable and well-found then, and so it is today.

Of course the Suzuki VanVan is not completely new for Thailand, we already had the VanVan 125, but with the Suzuki VanVan 200 and the extra performance the motorcycle finally has become the fun bike it always wanted to be.

Continue Reading

The BMW F650GS Dakar is the best choice, and the most comfortable when sticking to the road with just a dash of gravel.

Despite bearing the Dakar name the BMW F650GS Dakar offers a much softer approach to single-cylinder trail bikes. It’s the adventure version of the standard GS, and comes with a Dakar paintjob, taller screen and seat, spoked wheels and longer suspension.

Continue Reading