Riding in the wet is inevitable in the Thai raining season. But crashing to your death in the wet isn't. Give yourself the best chance possible to not only stay upright, but to enjoy riding in the wet as well.

Even if we stretch our imaginations to the very limit, we pretty soon have to face the reality that the raining season is soon up on us. So, considering we all know that the raining season is coming, it's surprising to still see people being caught out when the inevitable rain comes. By taking a few precautions you can minimize the chances of it upsetting your ride.

It's not being cocky looking at weather forecasts, it's being sensible. Everybody does it when they have a trackday coming up, so why not when you have to ride to work? Choose yourself a reputable forecasting website and make it you homepage, that way you'll always know what to expect. When it comes to the physical aspects of wet weather road riding, again, think about how you treat a trackday, you think about being relaxed, you know you shouldn't fight what the motorcycle is telling you and you're constantly looking at your lines and how to make the most of the available space. This isn't too dissimilar to how you should treat the road when it's wet out. Swap speed for smoothness, trade lean for forward planning and keep an eye out for oil rather than knee down opportunities and you might find you end up enjoying yourself.

Getting to your destination in one piece should be your primary goal. There is less grip when it's wet and if you have to brake hard and quickly, there's less margin for error, so roll the throttle a bit. Screw the car drivers, forget them, forget what they think about your low-speed wobbling.

Yes, that's right. The company that is known for its red high performance motorcycles has announced to the world that it's looking for a buyer – and some smart money out there reckons that Volkswagen (VW) might just be having a sniff at this.

Well, this is a motorcycle turn up for the books. News just came out that Ducati was up for sale. Incredible but true... the company that has just turned out the motorcycle that international test riders are claiming is the second coming (the Ducati 1199 Panigale), and a year after it debuted the incredible Ducati Diavel, is looking for a buyer.

Details were suitably scarce as we publish this article so there's a good chance that you know more about this.

The day started as normal: kitted up, helmet on, opened the garage door, go in, wheel motorcycle out, get on and ride away. It was at a traffic light where all things went wrong. Nobody likes to see a motorcycle on its side, but the scene that greeted me yesterday morning had my motorcycle rudely exposing its underbelly, with the left-hand side of the handlebars firmly wedged into a Honda CBR150R's faring. Luckily the Honda had escaped punctured engine casings, but had in turn been pushed onto an older Yamaha Fresh motorcycle that had been on the other side of the Honda CBR150R.

Luckily all motorcycles caught up in this bizarre game of motorcycle dominoes had narrowly missed a brand new Honda scooter.

According to Honda, the Honda NC700X is the answer to all our prayers. Research commissioned by Honda motorcycles found that most people rode below 140km/h using precious few revs, so have built the NC700X to fulfill that remit. Parallels to the car world are easily drawn – after all the new NC700X engine is effectively half an Honda Jazz engine. So all the launch presentation highlighting the R&D of the engine, advanced techniques and developing unique solutions sounds a little far-fetched.

The Honda NC 'platform' in Thailand comprises this, the NC700X, and the Honda Integra. They both use the 670cc engine, (dual-clutch (DCT) gearbox, share chassis and components and only differ in form and perceived function.

If we look at the technology used by Honda you can't find anything wrong. One of the biggest positive sales point would probably be the fuel economy, and given it burns 2.94 liter fuel for every 100km this is almost uncharted territory for motorcycles – or rather a lack of it. It's fine for a commute or as gentle tourer, but if you're looking for excitement then you might want to look for some other motorcycle.

At the end of 2011, when the motorcycling world was going crazy over the new Ducati Monster 795, the well-known Italian boutique motorcycle manufacturer gave the Ducati Monster lovers their biggest Christmas gift ever – a amazing chance to win a Ducati Monster 795!

In a photo contest hosted by Ducati at the end of 2011, Ducati enthusiasts from nine Asian countries (Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, the Philippines, India and Vietnam) were given an opportunity to upload pictures on Ducati's website, expressing the way they would love the dream of riding a Ducati Monster 795.

Of around a million entries received, the one to win the maximum votes and the chance to receive a brand-new Ducati Monster 795 came from Vietnam. The second best entry came from India. The first entry from Malaysia came on the fifth place, and the first entry from Thailand ended on the 92th place. The first entry from Indonesia ended on 17th, and best from Singapore was on place 20

Yamaha Factory Racing riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies kicked off their one day visit to Jakarta this morning with a special visit to meet potential racing stars of the future. They shared some of their valuable knowledge with up and coming racers in the Indonesian Yamaha R Series Cup as part of a unique Yamaha Coaching Clinic. The MotoGP stars gave tips on rider positioning, cornering and overtaking to the delighted local riders.

Following the morning coaching session Lorenzo went on to help Yamaha Motor Indonesia launch the new Yamaha Byson motorcycle to an audience of over 3000 Indonesian Yamaha Dealers at a special event just outside Jakarta. The 150cc Byson street bike is Yamaha’s star new machine for 2012 in Indonesia. Spies was due to co-host alongside his team mate however a bout of food poisoning unfortunately meant he was unable to participate.

Honda plans to sell in Thailand the Click 125i, the new 125-cc sports scooter based on the Thai-manufactured 110-cc Click-i, starting in January 2012.

The Click 125i is the first model to be equipped with eSP, Honda’s newly developed 125-cc global engine for scooters, which boasts improved durability, quietness, and high fuel efficiency.

The Click 125i presents a sporty design with aggressive and innovative looks based on the image of the new engine featuring cutting-edge technology and an exhilarating ride, while inheriting the “slim & sharp” concept of the Click-i.

Ever since some car manufacturers proved that four-wheel-drive cars had the edge – in rallying at least – over their two-wheel-drive predecessors, people have wondered whether powering both the wheels on a motorcycle would be as significant step forward.

But now, 30 years after the car world was convinced by Audi, it's still virtually impossible to answer the question: Does two-wheel drive work on a motorcycle?

While you can go and buy a two-wheel-drive motorcycle – search for a Christini-converted motocrosser, or maybe one of the handful of Yamaha WR450F 2-Trac machines made five years ago – the chances are, you'll never get to ride one. That' a surprise, since virtually every major motorcycle company has, at some stage, developed a two-wheel-drive prototype. Honda, Suzuki and KTM all came close, between 1980 and 2000, to making such machines, but all opted against the idea.

Once again, the question is why? Yamaha's development work, done with Ohlins over a period of a decade, resulted in dozens of prototypes, ranging from scooters to superbikes, along with occasional, tempting hints that the idea was proving just as workable on Tarmac as off road. American pioneers Christini also saw good results with their prototype two-wheel-drive super single race bike, saying “corner speed and exit stability upon acceleration are dramatically improved” even on Tarmac.

Just as motorcycles have developed with time, so too have riding styles. Racers have been a massive influence in this department, often dictating trends which riders the world over have worked hard to replicate on both road and track.

One of the first recognized styles of riding was the tidily tucked in, elbows straight fashion which Geoff Duke mastered. Come corner or straight, he'd remain perfectly central on the motorcycle as if he was a part of the machine itself. Success and popularity meant everyone wanted to ride like that and so it became the norm in the '60s until John 'Cooperman' Cooper cam along with his gangly stance and created a new fashion; hanging off.

Cooperman was the first motorcycle racer to intentionally move his body off his motorcycle through corners, for necessity and comfort more than anything, but before long it became the adopted style of racing.

No price, or information on when Yamaha Thailand will have it, but spearheading the Yamaha assault for the next years is a new Yamaha YZF-R1 that comes with six-stage traction control as standard.

Yamaha has a fair few new options in the range for next year, but unless you're a MotoGP wannabe or off-road enduro legend you'll struggle to find much to get overly excited about.

The big headlines will undoubtedly be grabbed by the Yamaha YZF-R1 which for 2012 looks pretty much the same as the current model (we will have to wait until late 2012 to see the next-generation face of the flagship Yamaha) but does get new-look headlights and lower fairing, a new ECU brain for smoother throttle action and better low to midrange power, cosmetic tweaks to the exhaust heatshield and end can and a new top yoke.