'Don't feel bad. You're not the first 750cc rider to get blown off by a Yamaha 350cc,' said the Yamaha RD350 ad in 1975, showing a dazed rider. The Yamaha RD350 has been the most revered performance motorcycle in many countries. Renowned for its prowess on road and track, the Yamaha RD350 with its stock output of 39 horsepower at 7500rpm.

The Yamaha RD350 is infamous for its terrible handling. At its heart is an air-cooled parallel twin two-stroke engine displacing 347cc, fed by twin carburettors and reed valves. The Yamaha RD350 owes its origin to Yamaha R5, one of Yamaha's first attempts at making a street legal racer. Yamaha modeled the frame along the TZ-series of racers in the production guise. An extended front rake-compared to the TZs was main cause for the lazy turn-ins. What makes it an icon is breakneck acceleration in straight line and power-to-weight ratio closer to race motorcycle than street motorcycle.

<img width="200" height="111" class="floatleft" src="https://motorcycleinth.com/images/articles/The-1962-Parilla-250-Wildcat-Scrambler_1.jpg" alt="" />Most serious motorcycle collectors concede that the Parilla 250 Wildcat is a cult collector bike. The Parilla 250 Wildcat is a “high-cam,” 250cc dirt bike that came with the road race engine from the relatively expensive Parilla Grand Sport model. The Parilla 250 Wildcat Scrambler was built strictly for the American market.

Moto Parilla was founded in 1946 in Milan, Italy by Giovanni Parrilla. Giovanni created a full-bore, thoroughbred, 250cc overhead-camshaft racer that was soon rivaling Moto Guzi for the checkered flag. In the years to follow, the Parilla engine would shrink to 175cc, yet power was increased to over 20 horsepower. In 1958, Giovanni traveled to America with Parilla factory rider Giuseppe Rottigne to race the 250cc Daytona Grand Prix. Unknown in America, the 175cc Parilla machine won the 250cc Grand Prix by a convincing margin.

<img width="200" height="146" class="floatleft" src="https://motorcycleinth.com/images/articles/The-Anti-Dive-Systems-of-the-Late-80s_1.jpg" alt="" />Most manufacturers had an anti-dive system and an associated acronym. Honda's NS500R had TRAC (Torque Reactive Anti-Dive Control), Kawasaki's GPZ600R used AVDS (Automative Variable Damping System) while Suzuki used NEAS (New Electrically Activated Suspension).

All these systems were based at the bottom of the fork leg and simply tried to reduce the rate at which forks dived under braking. Most systems worked by using brake fluid pressure to force a piston down against adjustable spring pressure and then closing a valve to restrict fork-oil flow, thereby making the compression damping stiffer. There were different ways of making anti-dive work.

<img width="200" height="135" class="floatleft" src="https://motorcycleinth.com/images/articles/The-Norton-Rotary-Engine_1.jpg" alt="" />When Norton announced in December of 1987 that the company was going to produce 100 motorcycles powered by its air-cooled rotary engine, they were all spoken and paid for up front within a few weeks.

Quite astounding really, except these buyers were mainly savvy collectors, knowing that their purchase would surely increase in value. If the number had been 10,000, which is what the Norton would have had to sell in order to expect reasonable profit, maybe the results would have been different.

The story of the Norton Rotary engine is a pretty messy one, one of misdirection and missed opportunities. It began back in 1969 when BSA/Triumph hired an engineer named David Garside because he had worked on a rotary-engine project with the Rolls Royce company. For those unclear on the concept, rotary engines make power by one or more rotors rotating, as opposed to reciprocating engines which have pistons going up and down. The rotary has the advantage of fewer moving parts than any four-stroke engine, but is way more complicated. It is also thirsty, and offers no compression braking.

As we would say in Thailand or China, 1969 was not a stellar year to have been hired by the British motorcycle industry, which was going into an irrevocable tailspin, but Garside went to work on the idea of a small rotry that would fit into a 250 chassis. In 1973 the remnants of the once-great industry was lumped into one large group, Norton/Villiers/Triumph, headed by an astute businessman, Dennis Poore. He realized that the old pushrod, kickstart engines were fast approaching extinction, but he had no real money for research and development. The best Poore could do under the circumstances was to develop the rubber-mounted Commando, but with this fellow Garside on staff he felt that the opportunity for a completely different engine was in the future.

Despite the worldwide recession, Honda is still investing heavily in new technology with a completely different cylinder-head design for the front and rear banks as the company goes all-out to eliminate the packaging problems that have traditionally made V4 engines awkward to fit into production motorcycles.

The new Honda V4 motorcycle engine will feature an incredibly compact front cylinder head design, with just one camshaft operation all eight valves in the cylinder-head, while the rear cylinder head is a tech-fest incorporating Honda's latest variable-cylinder and variable-valve management technology. It all comes in the desire to cut precious millimeters from the engine's length and height to create a tightly packaged machine.

Fifty years ago the word 'big' was applied to motorcycles of 350cc or over, at a time when the big single-cylinder machine was one of the mainstays of British motorcycling and there were models to suit the commuter, tourer, sporting rider and sidecare man. The lineage of some of their engines could be traced back to the 1920s, but although staunchly supported by many riders, few singles received much in the way of development in the late 1950s and as they gradually lost market share to the more glamorous vertical twins that British factories were then producing, big singles were the first models to be dropped as British motorcycle factories went into decline in the 1960s.

In 1956 Royal Enfield licensed its singles to be built in India and some 20 years later Roger Slater, of Egli and Laverda fame, began importing the Indian-built bikes into Britain.

Even in the 1950s, makers such as Ariel, BSA, Norton, Royal Enfield, Velocatte, etc... offered over 30 road-going single-cylinder models of 350cc or more, and several also marketed separate competition versions for use in trails, scrambles and road racing.

<img width="200" height="138" class="floatleft" src="https://motorcycleinth.com/images/articles/The_Two-Stroke_Enduro_and_Trialbikes_1.jpg" alt="" />Despite modern trends swinging the majority of us riders to high-tech four-stroke motorcycles, there's still a bunch of quality two-stroke trail and enduro bikes available. If the new four-stroke machines are so damn good, then why do manufacturers continue making two-strokes motorcycles?

The simple answer is demand. There are plenty of riders out there who grew up on two-stroke machines and will forever remain dedicated to the ring-ding oil burner. On yeah, the other reason these bikes keep selling is that they're good.

Most young riders do spend time riding two-strokes in their early years and the good times of two-stroking motorcycling are hard to shake. If you look around any endure or rally event you'll still see a good sprinkling of two-stroke riders out there.

The major Japanese motorcycle manufacturers have given up producing two-stroke endure and trail bikes, or at least, we can't get them here in Thailand. But over in Europe there's a abundance of bran new two-banger models rolling off the production lines every year.

Some of you may think these crazy Europeans are clutching at straws by continuing with the two-stroke bikes when four-strokes are clearly taking over.

<img width="200" height="138" class="floatleft" src="https://motorcycleinth.com/images/articles/The_MZ_1000S_anAppealing_Motorcycle_1.jpg" alt="" />Prior to the Iron Curtain getting scrapped, East German firm MZ was a Grand Prix racing pioneer and ISDT winner, as well as being known throughout Europe for producing simple, single-cylinder, two-stroke commuter motorcycles. The latter were as attractive and effective as a well-worn leather mallet.

After German reunification, MZ had to come to terms with losing its government-supported status and actually start competing in an open market. Malaysian investment followed a mid-1990s false dawn, but now, in Germany, only Honda sells more four-stroke 125s (and that's a popular sector in Germany).

Apparently buoyed by this success, MZ set its sights. Much higher. The fully-faired 1000S was first shown in about 9 years ago and delayed when MZ decided to part company with its engine-development partner and bring engine R&amp;D in-house. Finally on the market in late 2004, the MZ 1000S's edgy styling that initially set it apart had become a well-established trend.

Italian manufacturer Bimota is planning to become a chassis developer for private teams entering the new Moto2 600cc racing prototype class.

It's a return to the roots of the original company for Bimota, which began in the early 1970s making components for GP racing bikes.

The plan is to make chassis and swingarm parts that can be bolted onto the racing 600cc engines from whichever manufacturer the private teams choose to use.

<img width="200" height="118" class="floatleft" src="https://motorcycleinth.com/images/articles/Bimoto_ORONERO_at_EICMA_2008_Milano_1.jpg" alt="" />On June 2nd 2008, near the Adriatic Sea in Italy a new star was born, the 2009 Bimota DB7. This was the date of the international press launch of the newest Superbike from Bimota Motorcycles of Rimini Italy.

Journalists from around the world gathered at the demanding Misano Adriatico World Circuit in Italy to put the new DB7 to the ultimate test for a sport bike - professional pilots at full race speeds on a world-class racetrack. Misano challenged both pilot and the DB7 with blurring top speed, arm straining braking and kneedragging lean-angles hour after hour. The day began with journalists falling in love with the unique design and style of the DB7, described as &quot;sex on wheels&quot;. The day ended with applause for a motorcycle as capable on the track as its aggressive sporting look implies. Praise for the track manners, stability and ease of riding fast were poured upon the DB7 Superbike. Hand-built and available in limited numbers, the DB7 is the most sought after Bimota motorcycle ever.

The DB7 looks like no other Superbike, never to be mistaken for another brand. With the team colours of red, white and black applied to the carbon fiber body shaped by the pen and hands of designer Enrico Borghesan, the Bimota family dna is clear to see. Powered by the incredible Ducati 1098 Testastretta Evoluzione engine, the DB7 enhances the performance of the motor with Bimota chassis concepts and exceptional lightweight.