On the KTM 690 Enduro, we left Bangkok behind us, crossed the range, tooled around on some back roads and now, finally, we'd reached the dirt-road turn-off into wilderness. Tracks and trails led in all directions, some to town or villages I will not even try to pronounce. I'd skirted around the edges of this area many times, and occasionally dipped in a little way, but never really explored it properly. With a quick nod from my girlfriend, we took off down the road.

The next turn took the KTM 690 Enduro and the BMW G 650 X-Moto into thicker vegetation. The next into steeper country. The third into fields of rice weaving in the wind. The road had given way to muddy-red-brown-clay 8 or 10 kilometers back, and the track was getting worse as rapidly as our hearts were pumping.

A bit of air here, a satisfying power-slide there, and a plenty of weaving and dancing. The KTM 690 Enduro is just super.

The last time I had been so far from any form of tarmac or paved road in the wild country, was on a 450cc Honda Enduro machine. I'd ended up riding like a pussy and blamed myself for it, but now I realized I was only half at fault; this time I was comfortably aggressive and loving it. And it was all because of the KTM 690 Enduro.

Team Yoshimura has confirmed that it will compete in three World Superbike Championship rounds as a Wild-Card entry this year.

The Japanese aftermarket parts manufacturer will race a Yoshimura-kitted Suzuki GSX-R1000 at the fourth round at Assen, Netherlands on April 25th, the 12th round at Imola, Italy on September 26th, plus the final round at Magny Cours, France on October 3rd.

Suzuki’s long-serving World Superbike rider Yukio Kagayama, who this season will race in the British Superbike Championship, has been lined up for Assen and Magny-Cours whilst Yoshimura’s own team regular Daisaku Sakai will compete in Imola.

The BMW K 1300 R is about as high-end as a nakedbike can get. Duo-lever suspension, Automatic Stability Control and ABS brakes set it apart from other motorcycles in it's class.

The forward-slanting, 1293cc in-line-four-cylinder engine is an absolute powerhouse. It stomps the competition in overall torque to the point where it makes even torque kings like the Triumph Speed Triple feel slow and lethargic and the silky smooth fueling and throttle response, equipped with a slick quickshift gear-box means the BMW K 1300 R is a breeze to ride despite its size.

The BMW K 1300 R is a big bike but most of the weight is carried close to the center of the machine which makes the K 1300 R an excellent stably motorcycle, even with a full fuel-tank.

It' s amazing the speed at which you can change direction for a motorcycle of this length. The BMW K 1300 R is not lightning quick like some Italian big build machines but the BWM is a different motorcycle altogether. The speed of turn might be surprising but the accuracy definitely isn't. It never wavers from its chosen line mid-corner, possibly due in part to the fact it's fully-fuel-loaded 240kg weight.

Valentino Rossi led the way for the second day running in Sepang today, concluding the first test of the year on top of the standings. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo was also on the pace today, finishing the test third fastest behind Casey Stoner.

Rain this morning meant the track did not fully dry out until lunchtime and it was after one o'clock before Rossi left the garage on his 2010 YZR-M1. The World Champion, who turns 31 in ten days time, completed 32 laps and set a best time of 2'00.925, only half a second slower than the record pole time for the track, which he set last year. Lorenzo put in a few laps in the late morning but the track was still wet in places and so he, too, waited until after lunch to really get started. The 22-year-old made a big improvement from yesterday and felt much more comfortable on the bike, finishing third fastest in a time of 2'01.680 after 60 laps.

The team will return to Sepang at the end of the month for the second of three pre-season tests.

5 months, and 4 days ago 250GP history was made in Valencia, Spain, when the world 250 Grand Prix championship ended after 60 years and 716 races.

Spaniard Hector Barbera won the 27-lap race, after Italian title contender Marco Simoncelli crashed his Gilera out of the lead, and any possible chance of taking the last-ever 250cc world championship title. That historic accolade went to Japan's Hiroshi Aoyama riding a Honda, our own Thai Honda rider, Ratthapark Wilairot, managed to finish 8th.

The first 250cc race to be given world championship Grand Prix status was the seven-lap Lightweight event at the 1949 Isle of Man TT. Ireland's Manliff Barrington took the win on his Moto Guzzi single. The Italian factory won that year's title with countryman Bruno Ruffo at the controls. 37 other riders, have claimed the title at least once since then.

For the possible future of Honda Thailand, we visited India. Hero Honda has developed a new 223cc motorcycle with fuel-injection, the development was a joint operation with Honda Thailand. To insiders Honda Thailand's contribution was mostly concentrated on the engine development, especially the fueling of the engine.

The engine used for the Indian motorcycle has the same combustion characteristics as the other 223cc Honda engines we can find in other regions in Asia. The engine is the first 223cc which is equipped with Honda's well know PGM-Fi (fuel-injection) unit and along with other minor changes, the maximum power output is 17.84 horsepower at a low 7,000rpm. The torque, stands at 18.35Nm.

The 223cc Honda bike engine has always been appreciated for its fuss-free nature as well as punchy midrange and equipped with Honda's latest fuel-injection system the punchy midrange only got better. The throttle response is very direct without being jerky and the engine feels eager to build up speed.

Not liking the idea of having to plug wires in everywhere, and the flip-top feature, were what sparked my interest in the Nolan N102 Flip-Top helmet.

The Nolan N102 Flip-Top front idea may not be the prettiest thing at times and it's no huge jump up and down feature, but it is very handy. For a start it's a one-handed operation. With a simple grasp between thumb and for finger... you get the idea. Handy. Very handy.

The Nolan N102 also has the pin-lock anti-fog clip-in visor. And then there's the adjustable sun visor. This little tinted half visor is great. It's like a small peak that folds down as a visor. Basically instead of having to choose between a dark visor, which are not allowed in Thailand, or sunglasses under your helmet, this thing just pivots down over you clear visor.

When I was going from bright sunshine into the shade of some trees, I found you can whip the sun part of the visor up. Just fantastic.

I've barely had time to slide my helmet off and whip out an earplug before a neighbor is asking questions. He's soon joined by a couple of friends, while the two boys from next door crane their neck over wall. Even the usually indifferent Chinese lady from down the street pauses for a nose. The KTM Super Duke R certainly has presence.

Which is what you'd want after an extra 110,000 Baht over the standard KTM Super Duke for one of limited number coming to Thailand. As the name suggests, this is the hot version of the already frantic KTM Super Duke, and as well as the visual changes has an adjustable steering damper, firmer spring in the suspension and a black nitride coating on the fork legs and shock rod; plus a single seat designed for extreme-hand-over and quick weight transfer. It also gets track-friendly Dunlop tires and tweaked geometry, with trail reduced to 93.9mm from 100.7mm and the head angle steepened from an already serious 23.9” to just 22.7”. By comparison, even a Yamaha YZF-R6 has a steering angle of 24. No wonder there's a steering damper.

With the anniversary motorcycle “40 Years of Berlin" based on the BMW roadster R 1200 R, BMW Motorrad not only celebrated 40 years of production at its plant in Berlin-Spandau in 2009. By auctioning the exclusive motorcycle on eBay in November 2009 BMW Motorrad at the same time supported the children's rights organization Save the Children Deutschland e.V.

The auction of the R 1200 R “40 Years of Berlin” finally raised a sum of 14,951 euros. The proud new owner is Stefan Thiel (53) from the Oldenburger Münsterland was already – with the exception of one season – rider of BMW motorcycles.

The 80 kW (109 bhp) R 1200 R “40 Years of Berlin”, upgraded with numerous special fittings such as a chrome exhaust system, ABS, white direction indicators heated grips, on-board computer, low-level comfort seat and sports windshield and finished in Mojave brown, was handed over on January 29th 2010 by the Head of the BMW Motorrad Berlin Plant, Hermann Bohrer. “I`m thrilled about my new motorcycle. And I´m proud to help children here in Berlin with the proceeds”, Mr. Thiel said.
In turn, Thomas Heilmann, Board Member of Save the Children Deutschland e.V., received a cheque with the entire proceeding of the auction: „I'm glad for Mr. Thiel, but first of all for the children we can help with our project. Thank you very much indeed!"

Do you weight less than 70 kilo? More? Don't know? Well, if you aren't average (weight-wise, speed-wise or height-wise), then the spring of your box-stock motorcycle is very likely not right for you.

How can this be? That's simple. Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha and other manufacturers didn't built the motorcycle for you – they built the motorcycle for a mythical person. That person is what they call the target audience. At Suzuki, that target audience is much lighter than the one that Yamaha aims for. But all manufacturers in Thailand don't specifically target foreigners living in the Kingdom.

So, it is likely that your shock spring was designed for someone else, somebody much lighter then you. Have no fear. We can tell you a simple way to determine whether your shock spring is too soft or too hard.

Setting sag is something that every rider thinks he can do but usually does wrong. Yes, you still measure from the fender to the rear axle (with and without your body on the motorcycle) – and the difference between the two numbers is the sag, but here are some more tips. 1) Do not measure the sag with the rider standing up. 2) Bounce on the suspension before measuring the sag. 3) Sit where you actually ride, not some dream position. 4) Measure in line with the arc of the rear wheel.