Aprilia, the Italian motorcycle manufacturers, are all set to enter the Asian motorcycle market by the end of 2013 or early 2014 and it seems that the company is already working on an all-new 250cc motorcycle to compete with the likes of the Honda CBR250R and the Kawasaki Ninja 250.

No details about this new 250cc Aprilia motorcycle are available at the moment, but we can tell you that this motorcycle draws its inspiration from the company's flagship sportsbike, the RSV4. It will sport similar styling, but will be equipped with a 250cc engine.

Yamaha Motor Co recently bought a 33.4 percent stake in the well-known suspension brand, KYB or Kayaba. This means that KYB will now be shifting its operation to more Yamaha specific products.

Also it has been said that production will be moved to India, close to the new global Yamaha production facility near Chennai, India.

It's really easy to get sucked in to racing a rival at a trackday. It doesn't take much to push just that little bit too hard. Maybe it's a show of a wheel, or perhaps just hearing a constant noise from behind, it's all you need to push hard. If you're behind and having a dice with another rider, then you're putting a lot of trust in that rider. He could be a cracking racer or an utter numpty on the edge. You just don't know, so it's good to be wary of getting sucked in.

If it all goes wrong with the rider in front, or even if they have a buttock-clenching moment, then it's bound to affect you – and if you're right up someone's chuff, then you could suddenly be sucked in to someone else crashing. But now's the time to keep your cool and to concentrate on where you want to be, rather than gawp at the misfortune of others.

The BMW Group can add another chapter to its successful history in the red dot awards, with BMW Group Design taking home four of the internationally renowned distinctions in the red dot award: product design 2013 competition.

The BMW R 1200 GS motorcycle was granted the red dot design award in the “Automotive and Transportation” category in acknowledgement of their excellent design quality. The award will be presented at the red dot gala, taking place in the Aalto Theatre in Essen, Germany on 1 July 2013. The guest list is expected to include more than 1,200 international figures from the worlds of industry, politics and media.

Last week we reported about KTM Boss buying Husqvarna, and now some more inside information. After buying Husqvarna at the top of the market, BMW has ditched the rand after only four years and considereable investment in the business. Although the German firm recorded record sales in 2012, the firm wants to maintain sustainable growth in its core markets – Tarmac based motorcycles.

Husqvarna sold 10,751 motorcycles last year, up 16 percent on 2011, but still BMW has decided to consolidate and shave costs rather than compete for a bigger share of a smaller pie in the off road world.

The buyer of Husqvarna is interesting in many respects. As we told you last week, it is Pierer Industrie (AG), effectively Stefan Pierer, the boss of KTM – and also the owner of Husaberg. It is easy to imagine that there could be a conflict of interest here, so it remains to be seen how the KTM board react to this. We'll be watching with interest....

Honda Thailand recently showcased a 400cc version of their new 471cc parallel twin engine that serves the CBR500R, CB500F and CB500X. This new engine variant is de-tuned and Honda say that they have specifically developed this engine for the Asian market.

The physical appearance of the de-tuned version is exactly like that of the 471cc engine. Only the stroke length has been reduced to 56,6mm, which has brought down the capacity to around 400cc. The bore size remains the same as in the 471cc engine, though. On thing that still remains a mystery is the power output of this de-tuned engine. We can safely surmise that this engine will produce around 40 horsepower.

Husqvarna, a Swedish motorcycle manufacturer until recently owned by BMW Group, has been bought by Stefan Pierer of KTM. Pierer's company, Pierer Industrie AG, and the BMW Group recently finalized the deal and made it official, though the purchase amount has not been disclosed as yet.

Following this deal, KTM boss Stefan Pierer holds the majority percentage stake in Husqvarna, though he has not made an announcement about the merger of KTM and Husqvarna. He reveled that in two years new Husqvarna models would roll out of Indian Bajaj motorcycle manufacturing facilities.

Honda today unveiled the Honda CTX700N naked model and the Honda CTX700 model equipped with cowls at the International Motorcycle Show in Chicago, USA, as the first motorcycles embodying Honda's new CTX (Comfort Technology Experience) concept.

The Honda CTX series was developed from the new "Comfort Technology Experience" concept dreamed up by Honda. The Honda CTX delivers maneuverability and comfort brought by coupling a low center of gravity with less tiring low-vibration characteristics to realize an uninterrupted stress-free ride even as the distance adds up. Excellence in both stability and cornering offers users quiet and stable high-speed cruising. On top of this, the super-controllable engine characteristics found in the CTX series realize a smooth launch, speed changes and decelerating combined with smooth power response. Honda has thus achieved a level of comfort never experienced before through its pursuit of super-controllability accomplished by the best-fitting engine characteristics for every condition.

The Honda CTX styling inherits Honda's own "horizontal motive design" from its flagship model, the Honda GL1800 (GOLDWING) - a model enjoying high acclaim worldwide. From the overall styling all the way down to the very details including the seat and silencer, the horizontal motive design melds harmony with functional beauty.

When it comes to fuel for our motorcycles we discovered that a lot of myths cloud the truth. Gasoline companies like to pretend that their gasoline is better than the fuel from the station down the street. It isn't necessarily true. Your local petrol station may sell fuel refined by Shell, PTT, Chevron,BCP, Esso or Petronas. Actually most fuel in Thailand regardless with petrol station you stop is using petrol that was refined by Thaioil Group, which produces about 275,000 barrels per day. Suppliers also share pipelines, storage and other resources so they all use the same fuel. The only difference between one brand and another is the additives that they put in the refined gas – and there additives are mostly cleaners that reduce engine deposits.

There are different blends of gasoline. The typical fuels that people are familiar with are regular and premium-grade, but there are many ofter different blends – of which E10 or gasohol, E20 and E85 are the most controversial. E10 or gasohol is a blend of 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline that is sold everywhere in the country. All motorcycle manufacturers approve the use of blends of 10 percent ethanol or less in their new motorcycles. However, motorcycles will typically go 3 to 4 percent fewer kilometers per liter on E10 / Gasohol than on straight gasoline. The regular gasoline, known as benzine in Thailand is a blend of 5 percent ethanol and 95 percent, therefore the difference between gasohol E10 and Benzine is in reality about 1 or 2 percent fewer kilometers.

Not so long ago the Southeast motorcycle press went could not stop talking about Rudhy Siswanto, President of PT Global Motorcycle Trading, the distributor of Triumph motorcycles in Indonesia, as he was quoted saying that Triumph Motorcycles were developing a 250cc machine, which would be produced at their new facility in India, early 2014.

Mr. Siswanto also said that the Indian operations would focus mainly on producing small engines, which would be exported to Southeast-Asian and other Asian countries.

Recently we found out, contrary to popular belief the 250cc motorcycle will not be a single-cylinder one, but a twin-cylinder engine. We suppose that the small capacity Triumph motorcycle would be inclined more towards ride comfort and will not have a overly radical riding stance, keeping the demand in markers like all over Asia in mind.