The Kawasaki Z750, Kawasaki's naked middleweight. The 100 horsepower engine's a sleeved down Z1000 lump. The simple steel tube frame's basically Kawasaki Z1000 too, with some geometry tweaks. It just hasn't sold that well in most countries, even in the more practical, half-faired Z750S guise, but it's huge in Europe. In France, it's the best-selling bike over 125cc, with nearly 7000 shifted last year, partly because it slips nicely under their 107 horsepower limit, but it's popular all... Read Full Story

Rizla Suzuki's Tom Sykes led both of today's third round races at the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park and declared his intentions for the rest of the season. In race one Sykes led in wet but drying conditions before eventually finishing in fifth place; and in the second dry race he led for the first 10 laps before clashing with another rider and crashing unhurt. Team mate Atsushi Watanabe scored his first top 10 finish of his British Superbike campaign in the... Read Full Story

Tom Sykes has put his Rizla Suzuki firmly on the front row of the grid in third place for round three of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park in Cheshire. The single 50-minute qualifying session was held in difficult conditions as the track was drying out following heavy rain which had fallen until just prior to the session. Sykes's team spent the weekend honing the chassis settings on his Rizla Suzuki which paid dividends during qualifying. His team opted to run... Read Full Story

Kawasaki's John Hopkins and Anthony West were left frustrated today, after rear traction problems left them unable to fulfill their true potential in this afternoon's 22-lap Chinese Grand Prix. Hopkins finished a difficult race in 14th position, with West crossing the line a further 20 seconds back in 17th place. After qualifying on the fifth row of the grid yesterday, Hopkins was quick to make up places from the start of today's race. The Anglo-American put himself in touch with the... Read Full Story

Red Bull KTM 250cc stars Mika Kallio and Hiroshi Aoyama mastered treacherous conditions in today's wet Grand Prix of China to score a fantastic double victory for KTM. It was the second one-two for the Austrian manufacturer in the 250cc category after Aoyama won the German Grand Prix last year ahead of his team-mate. Pole-sitter Alvaro Bautista had established an early lead, but when the young Spaniard crashed out on the ninth lap of the race, Kallio had a clear track ahead and rode to a... Read Full Story

Yamaha has made some significant changes for their now fifth generation Yamaha YZF-R1. The fly-by-wire throttle, variable length intake funnels, four-valve heads, six-pot brakes and the new slipper clutch being the most prominent. So, the question on my ever skeptical mind has been, have these gizmo's and updates made the Yamaha YZF-R1 a more powerful bike that is easier to ride fast? The very simple, and happy, answer is: Yes. The latest 2008 Yamaha R1 is clearly improved over the... Read Full Story

The Grand Prix of China began today with the first two practice sessions of the weekend. In perfect warm, dry conditions, the premier class field headed out onto the 5.281km circuit at Shanghai with Kawasaki riders, John Hopkins and Anthony West, aboard their Bridgestone-shod Ninja ZX-RRs. The 24-year-old Hopkins who, on starting Sunday's race, will become the youngest ever rider to achieve the landmark of partaking in 100 MotoGP rounds, came fifth fastest in both sessions, improving his... Read Full Story

That familiar swish from sole to ankle immediately marks these boots as being fashionable attire. All the kids are wearing Puma sneakers and their growth into the motorsport world is massive. With the cars conquered, Puma set their sights on our motorcycle world and their first attempt was the 1000 motorcycle boot. The latest model is the Puma Hypersport 1000 motorcycle boot from Puma. So they're new and funky, but are they an good? They're comfortable, I'll give them that. The... Read Full Story

Now is the time of the year when people tend to get the bolt-on horn. It's a common complaint. So imagine then, their instant utter disappointment when the bolts they need to be undoing won't budge. Stuck fasteners can be a problem regardless how old your motorcycle is. It's either caused by too much thread-lock or corrosion between the treads in the absence of any lubrication on them. So what do you do? Hopefully, at the first sign of a nut or bolt being stuck you won't simply apply... Read Full Story

The fantastic and unique-styled Yamaha Giggle has been given a thorough stamp of approval thanks to its official adoption by the Fiat Yamaha MotoGP team. The retro-sculpted 50cc fuel-injected four-stroke will carry the personnel of the factory squad around the circuits and paddocks of the 2008 MotoGP championship and no doubt the manageable engine (Yamaha’s only 50cc fuel-injected unit) and 33 litres of storage space will come in extremely useful, while the funky looks ensure that heads will... Read Full Story