The Yamaha FZ1 doesn't get the marketing attention it should have, because of that the FZ1 hasn't caught the imagination of the Thai big bike buyer. But the Yamaha FZ1, powered by a YZF-R1 engine, is a top motorcycle.

The Yamaha FZ1 is evidence that motorcycling can turn full circle. Its rivals are all reactions to Japanese hegemony, but now have become more conventional and it's this new breed of naked Japanese motorcycles that provide a refreshing change.

Not that you'd know about this quiet revolution. Amid the boisterous behavior of its rivals the Yamaha FZ1 is like in a class of its own. The Yamaha FZ1 initially shunned the limelight, preferring to keep its powder dry for when the fireworks were really about to explode.

But it's hard to keep a ballistic inline four 998cc engine under wraps for very long. The Yamaha engine may belong to the FZ1 now, but it seems to remember its days when it was powering the Yamaha YZF-R1. Sure, it can politely make progress through town or quietly keep up with the morning traffic on the Bangkok other-ring-road but before long it vents its frustrations by delivering a hit of acceleration that its rivals simply can't match.

Suzuki Nex the 113cc scooter that's stirring up a new wind in the ASEAN market. Suzuki Thailand has made a bold new entry into the ASEAN scooter market with the Suzuki Nex, a 113cc model that's generating excitement with a combination of high fuel economy (56km/l), low weight (87kg), compact size, high power, and an attractive price.

Demand for scooters is booming in ASEAN countries, Suzuki set out to expand its share of the growing market by developing an unbeatable new kind of 113cc scooter; one that's easy to ride for anyone in the family and great for urban commuting. To get ahead of the competition, Suzuki set the bar higher by designing the Suzuki Nex model to be exceptionally fuel-efficient, light, compact, powerful, and affordable. As a result, the Suzuki Nex is everything today's ASEAN scooter customers need.

Yamaha introduced the new Yamaha T-Max 530 Mk4.Yamaha's engineers and marketing people started at the introduction by reminding us of the evolution of the Yamaha T-Max since the original 40 horsepower parallel twin was launched back at the turn of the century; Yamaha added an extra front disc and 4 more horses with fuel injection in 2004, then they gave it an aluminum chassis and a complete makeover with sharper styling all round and an up-swept exhaust in 2008.

The forks also got progressively bigger from 38 to 43mm as did the wheels, from 14 to 15 inches front and rear. The resulting Yamaha T-Max Mk3 was a mighty fine machine but, as I discovered when I rode one some time ago, it's still a big, heavy beast when you put it alongside any serious sports motorcycle.

It actually weight more than a Yamaha YZF-R1 or a Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade, with less than a third of the horsepower, but that's like comparing apples and oranges.

The Yamaha T-Max 500 Mk3 is still lighter than all its twin-cylinder scooter rivals and more T-max scooters have been sold in worldwide markets than all the Honda Silver Wings, Suzuki Burgman 650 and Gilera GP 800 together. In fact, nearly twice as many, since, on average, 65% of all the twin-cylinder maxi-scooters sold in the world over the past ten years have been a Yamaha T-Max.

Reluctance to attend a Kawasaki 150cc launch proved just how short-sighted I've become nowadays. It's clearly a combination of being spoilt from all the fancy stuff I've ridden, and an inability to realize just how special a 150cc motorcycle can be for a first time rider. But when I knuckled down and considered the Kawasaki KLX150's merits in a proper context, I got a much better impression. In the end I gave it a teen-viewed thumbs up.

Bombing through gaps between dawdling commuters in town proved its worth straight off. As well making solid, time-efficient progress the Kawasaki KLX150 also keeps you longer away from the petrol stations. No matter how much you reckon the little enduro lacks exotic looks, it more than makes up for it in the sensibility and economy stakes.

Being of more ample dimensions, the Kawasaki KLX150 is a bit on-size fits-all, and even near 195cm present had no reason to main from cramped limbs. Good styling helps its attraction, and though the build quality looks a little bit cheap here and there, overall there's an impression it could take a bit of neglect and abuse.

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.

In the late '90s the Yamaha YZF1000 R1 was one of the most popular motorcycles on the market worldwide. The arrival of the YZF1000 R1 toke the motorcycling world by surprise. Back then, it was nothing short of incredible. The Yamaha YZF1000 R1 specifications said it all and, as expected, the YZF1000 R1 making 150 horsepower instantly became the motorcycle to have. Clichés like 'setting a new benchmark', 'ripping up the rulebook' and 'changing the face of biking' showed up in press reports of the time.

The first Yamaha YZF1000 R1 actually turned out to be a bit too much for some, and many of their riders ended up in ditches or even worse. Thankfully, by the time the 2002 model arrived, the rough edges had been smoothed and riders had a better chance of staying on the saddle.

By the very latest standards, the 2002 Yamaha YZF1000 R1 feels a little less sharp and able. But let's have a reality check here, shall we? Because, as long as you've got a sorted, well-cared-for-example, your riding ability is going to run out long before the motorcycle lets you down.

Steering isn't the lightest or fastest, but it can be improved by fitting sharper profile tires. But be warned, the already flighty front end may well become even more nervous should you do that. A steering damper is a very wise addition.

When in doubt – go large! That’s the axiom adopted by Triumph as you look at the Triumph Thunderbird Storm.

Big looking and muscular, the Triumph Thunderbird Storm, the Storm is Triumph’s Model Thunderbird, available in any color you like so long as it’s black, either jet gloss or matt.

The more aggressive-looking, tougher-styled Triumph Thunderbird Storm comes complete with an all-new Triumph tank badge as a break with tradition, and twin goggle-eye streetfighter headlamps presumably left over in the parts store after Triumph decided to bin them in producing the new Speed Triple…

It’s targeted at a younger customer demographic, whom views chrome as un-cool, and polishing it a waste of time and elbow grease, when you could be out riding what it’s covering. Except that, unlike Harley-Davidson, Triumph has applied the paint-it-black concept not to its entry-level America and Speedmaster models, although these have been updated not so long ago, but to the high-end largest-capacity member of its cruiser family, here with added cubes.

Now-a-day it's seems that bikers can only talk about engine capacities and power outputs when they meet. On paper, the Honda CBR250R and the KTM Duke 200 give each other a tough fight – 250cc versus 200cc, but both the same maximum power output.

So far as the torque is concerned, the Honda CBR250R has an upper hand at 22.9Nm as compared to the KTM Duke 200's 19Nm. Both are liquid-cooled, single-cylinder, have four valves and come with DOHC.

All this sounds very competitive theoretically. But once on the road, the engines put up a completely different show from each other. The Honda CBR250R engine, like a typical Japanese motorcycle, is extremely refined and smooth. The KTM Duke 200 comes nowhere close to it. On the performance front, the Honda CBR250R does a 0 to 100km/h sprint in 8.47 seconds, for which the KTM Duke 200 requires 9.18 seconds.

One would naturally ask why the Honda CBR250R, especially considering the fact that both make exactly the same amount of power and the KTM is 25 kilos lighter than its competitor. The answer lies in the manner in which these two motorcycles have been geared. The Honda CBR250R runs a much higher gearing than the KTM Duke 200, because of which it can touch the 100 km/h mark in a performance run in just the third gear while the latter has to go all the way up to the fifth gear to do the task.

The MV Agusta F3 675 is an important model to MV Agusta. You see, the latest 675cc three-cylinder is the epitome of what the late Claudio Castiglioni visioned as the perfect middle class sportsbike.

The three 50mm Mikuni throttle bodies each carry twin injectors, and are controlled via a full ride-by-wire system offering a choice of three preset maps – Sport, Normal and Rain – as well as a fourth Custom map which the rider can tune personally. There's an eight-level traction control program included as standard.

The DOHC 12-valve three-cylinder engine weights just 54kg - that is 3kg lighter than the three-cylinder engine of the Triumph Daytona 675. It's also 80mm narrower, than the Triumph engine. With its slant-block cylinders inclined forward at 35 degrees – much steeper than the more upright Triumph engine – the new MV August F3 675 measures 79x45.9mm against its British rival's much longer-stroke 74x52.3mm format.

A 128 horsepower output at 14,400rpm at the crank compares to a quoted 124 horsepower at 12,600rpm for the Triumph, whose maximum torque of 72Nm at 11,700rpm does fractionally better than the MV Agusta F3 675 claimed 71Nm at 10,600rpm. The redline for the MV Agusta is at 15,000rpm in the standard street package.

The exquisite-looking wet-sump engine uses gravity diecast crankcases within which the 120-degree plain-bearing crankshaft runs backwards – a first in volume production streetbike technology, and a feature which the late Claudio Castiglioni insisted on after watching Valentino Rossi's factory Yamaha inline four win successive MotoGP world titles with a similar engine format. Reversing the direction of the engine drives the Borg Warner silent camchain running up the left side of the engine, as well as the small primary gear on the right, and accepting the drive off the starter motor, while also driving the tacho.

An item that really should be standard on all liquid-cooled motorcycles with forward-facing radiators is a strong mesh guard of some sort. Our friends Yamaha FZ8 has such a radiator and as there is always the likelihood of picking a stone and the repair costing a significant amount of cash, Yamaha genuine accessories offer an 'FZ8' etched radiator guard, that maintains the manufacturer's warranty. Cost is almost 7,000 THB and boy has it tricked up the styling!

What do you think? If your manufacturer does not offer such a tasty item as Yamaha, remember there are always aftermarket supplies like Bike Bandit who have mesh guards for just about all makes and models.

Our friend has had the Yamaha FZ8 for a couple of months now and he has grown to love the power characteristics of the engine. You can ride it lazily around town under 6,000rpm, or punch it up into the meaty zone and really have some fun. Fuel economy varies more than with most other motorcycles, depending on which part of the rev range you choose. The only thing our friend still doesn't like is that it is a little reluctant to get away from standstill at low revs.